Thaindian News

London, Nov 9 (IANS) George W. Bush directed the Pentagon to plan an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the former US president has revealed in his memoirs.

He also considered a covert attack on Syria at Israel’s request, Bush disclosed in “Decision Points”, his 497-page account of his time in office, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Such attacks in the Middle East could have unleashed waves of revenge attacks against British and American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and might have seen Iran retaliate by blocking oil supplies to the west.

Bush wrote on Iran: “I directed the Pentagon to study what would be necessary for a strike.” He added: “This would be to stop the bomb clock, at least temporarily.”

He disclosed that his national security advisors were split over the proposed attack, with some arguing that destroying “the regime’s prized project” — its nuclear facility — would help the Iranian opposition, while others feared it would stir up Iranian nationalism against the US.

The former president said he discussed the plan of attack with Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, the report said.

Bush also disclosed in the book, published Tuesday, that he discussed an air strike or a covert special forces raid on an alleged nuclear facility in Syria at the request of Israel.

“We studied the idea seriously, but the CIA and the military concluded it would be too risky to slip a team into and out of Syria,” he wrote.

The Israelis carried out the attack themselves in September 2007.