Top U.S. Military Chief is Convinced Iranians Seek Atom Bomb

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Fox News he is convinced the Iranians are seeking to building an atomic bomb, “a very destabilizing possibility in that part of the world.” He stressed the U.S. had the capacity and the reserves to attack Iran as a last resort

DEBKAfile’s Washington sources stressed the special significance of Mullen’s statement on Sunday, July 20. The night before, a senior Israeli security official said that if the U.S.-Iranian talks failed, President Bush planned to use the three-month period between the November elections in America and his exit from the White House in January for an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Saturday night, too, Israel’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi arrived for a week’s visit as the admiral’s guest.

Mullen warned that while the U.S. has the capacity and reserves for attacking Iran, there could be “possible unintended consequences” and an unpredictable regional impact from any attack on Iran – a hint at a dangerous backlash from a possible Israeli strike uncoordinated with the United States.

“I’m fighting two wars and I don’t need a third one,” said Mullen referring to Iraq and Afghanistan.