The Air Force has “a variety of assets” in theater to support Army Gen. John Abizaid, chief of US Central Command, should Abizaid be “asked to do something else” beyond operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. So said USAF Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley on Tuesday. Moseley declined to describe any options or planning going on in the event the US wishes to take action against Iran, which has proclaimed acceleration of its uranium enrichment program. However, he did say that the US has “a variety of weapons that can penetrate a mix of concrete and steel”—hardened underground facilities, such as those where Iran has secreted much of its nuclear research effort. Whether those weapons would be effective in taking out nukes in the making “depends on how deep” they are buried, “and how the structure is put together,” Moseley said.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
