Report: US Military Ordered to Prepare for Iran Operation Between March and October

By F. Michael Maloof – “WASHINGTON – Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta believes that Israel could attack Iran in an April-to-June timeframe, and there apparently has been a decision made for the U.S. to help in an assault on the radical Islamic nation’s nuclear facilities.

U.S. military sources tell WND that the Pentagon has begun preparations for ‘a number of operational plans and counter-operations,’ with a Feb. 22 due date for submitting the plans.

There also is a request for identifying U.S. forces ‘by 1 March with a ‘through’ date of October.’

The military sources indicated that U.S. forces will be augmented by an Aegis warship, presumably one of the two in the U.S. carrier task forces scheduled to be in the Persian Gulf.

The U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln carrier task force already has re-entered the Gulf.

The Aegis combat system on U.S. Navy ships is used to track and guide weapons to destroy intended targets and to act as a protective shield to counter ballistic missile threats…

Pentagon spokesman Navy Cmdr. Bill Speaks told WND there was ‘nothing to what your sources are saying,’ but he also quickly added that the Pentagon ‘doesn’t discuss what future contingency plans we have, and I am not going to discuss this with you.'” Read more.

Writing On The Wall: US Senate Says Nuclear Containment Not An Option with Iran as Israel Leader Claims Sanctions Ineffective – “A bipartisan slate of senators announced this afternoon they would reject ‘any United States policy that would rely on efforts to contain a nuclear weapons-capable Iran.’ Drawing a clear line in the sand, the senators – among them Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) – demanded that President Obama reject ‘any policy that would rely on containment as an option in response to the Iranian nuclear threat,'” Read more.