No subject

lped to oversee a series of reports designed to ring alarm bells about Iran=
 's nuclear research and to support closer US-Israeli ties in response. Las=
t summer, while advising Obama, he co-chaired a task force that produced a =
paper titled "Strengthening the Partnership: How to Deepen U.S.-Israel Coop=
eration on the Iranian Nuclear Challenge." That report opted for an alarmis=
t view of Iran 's nuclear program and proposed that the next president set =
up a formal US-Israeli mechanism for coordinating policy toward Iran (inclu=
ding any future need for "preventive military action"). Along with Holbrook=
e, Ross also helped found United Against Nuclear Iran, a group established =
to publicize warnings about Iran to the American public and the media. UANI=
's advisory board includes former CIA director James Woolsey and Fouad Ajam=
i, perhaps the top Middle East expert for the neoconservative movement.=20



In September, Ross served as a key member of another task force organized b=
y the Bipartisan Policy Center . The group assembled a flock of hawks under=
 the leadership of Michael Makovsky, brother of WINEP's David Makovsky, who=
 served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense in the heyday of the Pent=
agon neocons from 2002 to 2006. Its report, "Meeting the Challenge: U.S. Po=
licy Toward Iranian Nuclear Development"--written by Michael Rubin, a neoco=
nservative hardliner at the American Enterprise Institute--read like a decl=
aration of war.=20



The core of the Bipartisan Policy Center report predicted that diplomacy wi=
th Iran is likely to fail. Anticipating failure, Ross and his colleagues re=
commended "prepositioning military assets" by the United States --i.e., a m=
ilitary buildup--coupled with a US "show of force" in the Gulf. This would =
be followed almost immediately by a blockade of Iranian gasoline imports an=
d oil exports, meant to paralyze Iran 's economy, followed by what they cal=
l, not so euphemistically, "kinetic action."=20



That "kinetic action"--a US assault on Iran --should, in fact, be massive, =
suggested the Ross-Rubin task force. It should hit dozens of sites alleged =
to be part of Iran's nuclear research program, along with other targets, in=
cluding Iranian air defense sites, Revolutionary Guard facilities, much of =
Iran's military-industrial complex, communications systems, munitions stora=
ge facilities, airfields and naval facilities. Eventually, the report concl=
uded, the United States would also have to attack Iran 's ground forces, el=
ectric power plants and electrical grids, bridges and "manufacturing plants=
, including steel, autos, buses, etc."=20



Like virtually all of his neoconservative confreres, Ross does not argue th=
at negotiations with Iran should not proceed. Surrendering to the inevitabi=
lity of a US-Iran dialogue, they insist instead that any such talks proceed=
 according to a strict time limit, measured in weeks or, at most, a few mon=
ths. In November, Iran specialist Patrick Clawson, Ross's colleague at WINE=
P, described any US-Iran dialogue that might emerge as mere theater. "What =
we've got to do is...show the world that we're doing a heck of a lot to try=
 and engage the Iranians," he said. "Our principal target with these offers=
 [to Iran ] is not Iran . Our principal target with these offers is, in fac=
t, American public opinion [and] world public opinion." Once that's done, h=
e implied, the United States would have to take out its big stick.=20



The reality, however, is that negotiations between Iran and the United Stat=
es might take many, many months, perhaps years. Putting US-Iran diplomacy o=
n a short fuse, as Ross and his colleagues want to do, guarantees its failu=
re, setting the stage for harsher sanctions, embargoes and the "kinetic act=
ion" that Ross has suggested might follow.=20

About Robert Dreyfuss=20



Robert Dreyfuss, a Nation contributing editor, is an investigative journali=
st in Alexandria , Virginia , specializing in politics and national securit=
y. He is the author of Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash F=
undamentalist Islam and is a frequent contributor to Rolling Stone , The Am=
erican Prospect , and Mother Jones .=20