Admiral Mullen: Attacking Iran ‘Very, Very Destabilizing’

Joint Chiefs Chairman Warns of Unintended Consequences

by Jason Ditz, January 07, 2010

Again urging the nation to take another crack at diplomacy, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen warned against any attack of Iran.

The attack, Admiral Mullen cautioned, would be “very, very destabilizing” to the Middle East, and could have a series of unintended consequences across the region. The US has repeatedly threatened to attack Iran if it does not abandon its nuclear program.

The admiral is one of several officials and analysts that have warned against such an attack, with many emphasizing that the growing reformist movement would be basically forced back to supporting the government if war broke out.

The US had originally sought another round of sanctions against Iran this month, but the Chinese government has rejected the call and it now appears this move won’t even be debated in the UN Security Council. The US has accused Iran’s civilian nuclear program of hiding secret nuclear weapon ambitions, but has failed to produce any concrete evidence to back this up. In the meantime, the IAEA has repeatedly certified that none of Iran’s uranium has been diverted to any non-civilian use.

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