In what seems to be an increasing number of statements regarding Iran from the US military Mike Mullen. I wonder if this is just more sabre rattling or if something is going on behind the scenes.

The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday that while a conflict with Iran was not a desired course of action, American armed forces couldn’t ignore the possibility.

“We have certainly focused on Iran for a long time and recognized . . . what the potential could be there,” Adm. Mike Mullen said at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank. “And at the same time, we’ve looked to do all we can to ensure that conflict doesn’t break out there while at the same time preparing forces, as we do for many contingencies that we understand might occur.”

The U.S. military chief also said he had no doubt that Iran, despite denials by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was attempting to develop a nuclear arsenal.

“I believe they’re on a path that has a strategic intent to develop nuclear weapons, and have been for some time,” he said.

Mullen said that a strike against Iran could be “very, very destabilizing,” but worried about its “unintended consequences for the Middle East.

“That part of the world could become much more unstable, which is a dangerous global outcome, much less regional, for the world we’re living in right now,” Mullen said.

Tehran already has been hit with three rounds of UN sanctions for refusing to comply with demands that it halt sensitive nuclear activities. The U.S. and its allies have said it is time for a fourth round of sanctions, but diplomats say Russia and China are resisting.

President Barack Obama has offered Iran the possibility of deeper engagement with the U.S. if it cooperates on removing fears about its nuclear program and on other issues. Obama had given Iran until the end of 2009 to respond to his overtures and to an offer from six major powers of economic and political incentives in exchange for a suspension of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program.

Iran ignored the deadline.

Mullen also pointed to Yemen as another area of focus, especially in light of the revelation that the plot to bomb Northwest Flight 253 on Christmas Day was hatched there.

“We’ve engaged with [Yemen's] military. . . . [it] is a country, as is Somalia, that I’ve been concerned about for some time, in terms of becoming the next safe haven for Al Qaeda, and certainly, you now see that very much in the fore as a result of this incident on the 25th of December. And from a standpoint of capability and what, I think, we need to be able to do, I’m very comfortable that we can do that right now.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/01/08/2010-01-08_war_with_irans_not_desired__but_were_ready_says_joint_chiefs_of_staff_chairman_.html#ixzz0cgptiHYz

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