Bush ‘OKed secret war on Iran’

The US has prevented Israel from opening a war with Iran by assuring that there are “secret ways” to sabotage Tehran’s nuclear efforts.

A Sunday article published by the New York Times has revealed that US President George W. Bush refused last year to equip the Israeli military with advanced bunker busters able to be used against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

The report cites unnamed upper US echelons and foreign officials as saying that US Defense Secretary Robert Gates had convinced Bush that an Israeli air attack on the Natanz nuclear complex would prove to be “ineffective” and would ignite and all-out war in the Middle East.

Bush then, according to the officials, rejected a request by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to give the green light for military action against Iran and instead opted for a covert operation against the country.

According to the officials, the covert operations included renewed US espionage activities against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and efforts to undermine the country’s electrical systems and computer networks.

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While the UN nuclear watchdog, in its September 15 report on Iran, declared that it could not find any “components of a nuclear weapon” or “related nuclear physics studies” in the country, Israel accuses Tehran of seeking nuclear weaponry.

A recent article published by the Guardian, meanwhile, had revealed that Olmert “seriously considered” striking nuclear facilities in Iran before being stopped by Bush in a May 14 meeting.

On Oct. 12, The Times touched upon the issue, reporting that there is the likelihood of Israel bypassing US warnings and unilaterally striking Iranian nuclear facilities in the same manner Georgia attacked South Ossetia.

“The experience of Georgia has given an amber, if not a green light to Israel (to attack Iran) and only Bush can switch that to red,” The Times asserted.

The revelation that Bush and Olmert have launched covert operations against Iran comes amid speculation that Israel waged war on Gaza as a prelude to a broader plan for the Middle East.