Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark warned Tuesday on Newsmax that if the United States supplies Israel with bunker-busting bombs to strike Iran's nuclear sites, American military bases in the region could face retaliatory attacks from Iran or its proxies.
Speaking on "The Record With Greta Van Susteren," Clark, the former NATO supreme allied commander, responded to reports that Israel is preparing for a major military action aimed at Iran's remaining nuclear infrastructure, purportedly without U.S. GBU-28 bunker-buster bombs.
"They would not have gone in there and assumed that this would stop halfway or that they could let it drop halfway," Clark said. "But how will they do it if they don't have the bunker-busting bombs? They'll go after the tunnel entrances. They'll insert some special operations troops in there and do the best they can to seal it up and maybe bring in various cratering charges to really try to get down as deep as they can into the entrances."
When asked what could happen if the United States provides Israel with bunker-buster bombs and aircraft to deliver them, Clark said such assistance is being considered at high levels.
"Well, first of all, I think that option is definitely on the table," he said. "Secondly, I think the president's going to wait and see as this evolves whether it's actually necessary to make a decision like this.
"It's going to be a big decision. If he makes it, and it probably won't be just one bunker-buster bomb — because one won't necessarily do it. You probably want two, three, five over a period of several hours or days to be absolutely certain that you've got it taken care of."
Clark said the administration may be delaying action to reduce the risk of an immediate Iranian response.
"Let Iran expand its missiles," he said. "And the longer we wait, the less reaction we expect to get from Iran."
Pressed on the potential downsides of providing such support, Clark issued a warning.
"Well, other than the retaliation against the United States bases in the region, you're going to leave — presumably, if you don't get regime change — an angry, embittered regime that has lost its nuclear capacity," he said. "It will crack down harder on its own population and will seek other means to retaliate and punish the people who punished it."
He also suggested that such an operation could push Iran closer to other adversaries of the United States.
"You may drive it even closer into support from China and greater Russian support into Iran, [to the point] they're willing to compromise some aspects of Iranian or Persian sovereignty to accept greater help from countries that are not necessarily our friends," he said.
The people of Iran are "not particularly fond of this regime. So there is a chance that they could overthrow the regime if it's shown to be weak and incapable," he added.
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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