Iran: US opts for regime change, not force

WASHINGTON - In every statement on Iran, officials of the Bush administration routinely repeat the party line that "the president never takes any option off the table".

Despite the constant invocation of a possible military attack on Iran, however, a little-noticed section of the administration's official national-security strategy indicates that President George W Bush has already decided that he will not use military force to try to prevent Iran from going nuclear.

Instead, the administration has shifted its aim to pressing Iran to make internal political changes, based on the dubious theory that it would lead to a change in Iranian nuclear policy.

News coverage of the US National Security Strategy (NSS) issued on March 16 emphasized its reference to the doctrine of preemption. But a careful reading of the document reveals that its real message - ignored by the media - was that Iran would not alter its nuclear policy until after regime change had taken place.

cont'd...

http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HF22Ak03.html