US downplays reported plan for strike on Iran

bostonglobe: The White House sought yesterday to dampen the idea of a US military strike on Iran, saying the United States is conducting "normal defense and intelligence planning" as President Bush seeks a diplomatic solution to Tehran's suspected nuclear weapons program.

Administration officials -- from Bush on down -- have left open the possibility of a military response if Iran does not end its nuclear ambitions. Several reports published yesterday said the administration was studying options for military strikes; one account, in the New Yorker magazine, raised the possibility of using nuclear bombs against Iran's underground nuclear sites.
Jack Straw, the British foreign secretary, called the idea of a nuclear strike "completely nuts."

Dan Bartlett, counselor to Bush, cautioned against reading too much into administration planning. "The president's priority is to find a diplomatic solution to a problem the entire world recognizes," Bartlett said yesterday. "And those who are drawing broad, definitive conclusions based on normal defense and intelligence planning are ill informed and are not knowledgeable of the administration's thinking on Iran." Read more

db: As far as I can see the nuclear strike option remains 'on the table' given the absence of a categorical statement to the contrary. It is no secret that the US is developing a new generation of 'usable' nuclear weapons - in clear contravention of the NPT.