Posted on October 12, 2011 at 1:13am by
Tiffany GabbayTHE BLAZE
ISRAEL
The foiled terror plot allegedly orchestrated by Iran to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the U. S., as well as plans to bomb the Saudi Arabian and Israeli embassies in Washington D.C. are being construed by many as an act of war against the United StatesFormer National Security Advisor and Fox News analyst, KT McFarland, weighed in on the subject earlier today:
“This takes it to a whole new level of Iranian aggressiveness… [The U.S.] “will presumably ramp up efforts on sanctions, but technically you can construe this as an act of war,” said McFarland in an interview on Fox News Tuesday.Fox News Chanel’s Judge Andrew Napolitano also weighed in, indicating that: “Under the present state of law, if this was an act of war [Manssor Arbabsiar] would’ve been brought to Guantanamo Bay and charged before a military tribunal.” As it stands, however, “the American is in jail here in New York City. Safe from where he can’t produce any harm,” said Napolitano.
Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers, in an unusual display of unity from both sides of the isle, cited the plot as a cause for serious action against Iran.
Senator Mark Kirk, R-Ill., in an interview on Chicago’s WLS Radio, declared the plot an “act of war” and
urged the administration to revisit a request by dozens of senators to target the country’s central bank, calling it the “paymasters” for the Quds Force, a special unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
urged the administration to revisit a request by dozens of senators to target the country’s central bank, calling it the “paymasters” for the Quds Force, a special unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.When asked how the U.S. would collapse Iran’s central bank, Kirk said, “You cut them off from the central reserve system and the Bank for International Settlements, the backbone of international finance. At that point, the Iranian currency becomes almost unmanageable.”
Kirk added that “all but eight senators signed a letter behind this. And with evidence now of a plot to blow up targets in Washington, D.C., by the government of Iran, it’s pretty much time to go ahead and take this action.”
Of course, the plot “is not a trip wire for military action in Iran,” said an unnamed senior Defense official told Fox News. Nor should anyone “read into this as a pretense for any type of military response,” said another senior Defense official also speaking on condition of anonymity. According to these officials, The Pentagon sees the alleged plot as a criminal act that is correctly being handled by the Department of Justice.
Iran denied U.S. allegations of the plot at the United Nations, however, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the Associated Press Tuesday that the claims are “well-founded,” and that the U.S. would work with its allies to “send a very strong message that this kind of action, which violates international norms, must be ended.”
Given the Obama Administration’s tendency to pursue criminal prosecution of terrorists rather than engage the use of military tribunals in the war on terror, it is doubtful the thwarted plot would produce any serious military action against Iran.
