Lost opportunity!

Front Page Magazine has an interview with 90-year-old Ret. Admiral Ace Lyons.

THE LOST OPPORTUNITY FOR REGIME CHANGE IN IRAN: AN ADMIRAL'S LAMENT
Adm. (Ret.) James "Ace" Lyons recalls the military plan that could have changed the course of history -- and who sabotaged it.

Once the terrorists were located at the Sheik Abdullah Barracks above Baalbek, we made up a four plane A-6 attack aircraft strike plan (to be modified by the Carrier Task Group Commander as necessary) that was going to make the Lebanese Sheik Abdullah Barracks look like a plowed cornfield in Kansas. I personally briefed the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Vessey, and then the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff, who all approved. I then briefed Secretary Weinberger in his office. The day of the NSC meeting with President Reagan, John McMann, Deputy CIA Director called me and said, “Casey is back from his trip and insists on taking the meeting.” I asked if it was going to get screwed up. He said there is nothing he could do about it. I was not invited to the meeting.

At the meeting, Secretary Weinberger told the President that he thought there were Lebanese army troops in those barracks. The President turned to Bill Casey and asked, “What about it?” Casey, just back from a trip, couldn’t answer. President Reagan told both of them to sort it out. Earlier, I had called the Sixth Fleet Commander, and had him load the planes because it was going to be a first light strike.

At the next meeting with the President, it was ascertained that there were no Lebanese Army troops in the barracks. Bud McFarlane, National Security Advisor, told me that Weinberger said that if we go ahead with the strike, we are going to lose all our Arab friends. He threw enough “dust” in the air to confuse the President so that we couldn’t get an “execute order.” In short, he sabotaged the strike. We could have changed the course of history. We are now living with that failed decision.

JP: What is your opinion of the Iran Nuclear Deal, and how should the Trump administration deal with it?

JLJ: The first thing you have to know is that it is an “unsigned” agreement. It should be immediately cancelled. The agreement, in my view, borders on treason. Further, the total Iranian infrastructure must be dismantled or destroyed. There can be no negotiating with the apocalyptic mindset of the Khamenei regime. There will be no sense of stability in the Middle East until there is a regime change in Iran.
Read more here.