U.S. Preparing NATO For Possible Strike On Iran

German media sources have recently reported that the Bush Administration is preparing its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies for a potential attack on nuclear sites in Iran. The "Der Spiegel" weekly emphasized that "Washington is now sending high level officials to prepare allies for a potential strike, as opposed to conducting talks that just hint at the possibility, which is what has been happening until now."The Berlin paper "Tagesspiegel" quoted NATO intelligence sources last week who said that "NATO members have received information that the United States is currently looking into all possibilities, including a military attack against the regime in Tehran." A German news agency quoted western intelligence sources, according to which CIA chief Porter Goss asked Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for logistical aid in event of an American strike against Iranian nuclear sites and military targets. According to the report, Goss, who visited Ankara on December 12, also asked Turkish intelligence for assistance ahead of a possible attack. In return, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government asked Turkey not to allow Israel or the U.S. to use its territory or air space to facilitate an attack, Iranian media recently reported. Experts belief these reports are being deliberately leaked to advance the Bush Administration's psychological warfare against Iran, ahead of talks between Iran and European Union representatives that are to take place in an attempt to halt Iran's uranium enrichment efforts. These talks will address Russia's suggestion that that the second and critical stage of uranium enrichment ? feeding gas into a centrifuge ? take place on Russian soil. Iran announced a few days ago that it is willing to consider the suggestion, after initially rejecting it. Sergei Kirienko, Russia's atomic energy minister and former prime minister, is expected to arrive in Tehran at the beginning of the coming year.