NATO and the US have begun plans for a possible attack against Iran says the Jerusalem Post. The German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel reports similar indications from NATO that they are studying the possibilities and ramifications of such a strike.Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Prime minister of Turkey was asked by CIA Director Porter Goss on Dec 12, 2005 to allow the use of military bases in 2006. The bases presumably would be for the launching of aircraft and air assault troops in an attack of Iran. Without offering a concrete time frame for an assault, the neighboring countries of Arabia, Jordan, Oman, and Pakistan have been briefed on the possibility of an air assault operation, claims the German DDP news agency.
The on-line Der Spiegel refers to a January 2005 article in the New Yorker that American Special Operations Forces entered Iran in 2005 to identify and mark possible targets. As was posted here at FAIR, Dec. 11, 2005, the Israelis have also established signals intelligence gathering stations in northern Iraq aimed at identifying Iranian nuclear sites and providing targeting data during an attack.
The ultra-pious Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, appears to Western analysts and Iranian moderates to be hellbent on an open confrontation with the West. Talking tough and demanding Israels destruction or removal of Israel to Europe has not endeared Ahmadinejad to Western nations, not least of which are the states of Old Europe. To die a martyr's death against the infidel forces, thus gaining the ultimate closeness with Allah would be a dream come true for Ahmadinejad.
Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former President and current opponent of Ahmadinejad, has been attempting in recent weeks to humiliate the President. Trying to ameliorate worldwide condemnation, Rafsanjani last week announced, "We have no problem with the Jews." Living in Iran, mostly undisturbed, are more than 30,000 Iranian Jews. They attend synagogues, have parliamentary representation, and live in fear of the state as does any Iranian.
After so many years of loosening the Khomeini era restrictions, there is a generation of young Iranians who are very opposed to the reinstatement of strict Sharia law by the current ruling council and wish to return to the reforms of Khameini and Rafsanjani. The news out of Iran has been of sporadic street demonstrations, arrests of protesting students, and the imprisonment of Iranian bloggers. The poor response to the recent series of earthquakes in Iran has not garnered points for Tehran either.
There are rumors in Tehran, reports Der Spiegel, that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may not have many days left in office. Iran's political elite would rather not see a Western attack, nor do they wish to see Iran become more of an international pariah than it is already. There may be pragmatic forces preparing for a coup to take place before the Israeli March 28, 2006 deadline for the nuclear facilities bombing to commence, or the possible Western invasion. Either way, time is running short for Iran.
The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.
