Telegraph | News | Attack Iran, US chief ordered British: "Attack Iran, US chief ordered British
America's military commander in Iraq ordered British troops to prepare a full-scale ground offensive against Iranian forces that had crossed the border and grabbed disputed territory, a senior officer has disclosed.
An attack would almost certainly have provoked open conflict with Iran. But the British chose instead to resolve the matter through diplomatic channels.
Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez
'If we had attacked the Iranian positions, all hell would have broken loose,' a defence source said yesterday.
'We would have had the Iranians to our front and the Iraqi insurgents picking us off at the rear.'
The incident was disclosed by a senior British officer at a conference in London last week and is reported in today's edition of Defence Analysis. The identity of the officer is not given.
'Some Iranian border and observation posts were re-positioned over the border, broadly a kilometre into Iraq,' a Ministry of Defence spokesman said."
America's military commander in Iraq ordered British troops to prepare a full-scale ground offensive against Iranian forces that had crossed the border and grabbed disputed territory, a senior officer has disclosed.
An attack would almost certainly have provoked open conflict with Iran. But the British chose instead to resolve the matter through diplomatic channels.
Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez
'If we had attacked the Iranian positions, all hell would have broken loose,' a defence source said yesterday.
'We would have had the Iranians to our front and the Iraqi insurgents picking us off at the rear.'
The incident was disclosed by a senior British officer at a conference in London last week and is reported in today's edition of Defence Analysis. The identity of the officer is not given.
'Some Iranian border and observation posts were re-positioned over the border, broadly a kilometre into Iraq,' a Ministry of Defence spokesman said."
Comments