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Ex-CIA Op: U.S. Could Destroy Iran's Nukes

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A former senior CIA operative says the U.S. can easily destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities with bunker-busting bombs and other weapons.

"We can dig those things out. We can destroy them," Gary Berntsen, who led the search for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in late 2001, told The Jerusalem Post.

"We can take care of it in a couple of days with air strikes and they wouldn't be able to stop us.

"It wouldn't be difficult to plan. There'd be some dangers but I think the United States can do it."

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  Berntsen, who left the CIA last June after more than 20 years of service, ruled out covert action because of the size of Iran's nuclear program.

"This is a huge system of facilities they have. This is not going to be a small sort of engagement,” he told the Post. "We are probably going to have to destroy 30 facilities in 30 locations. Or at least 15.”

Berntsen also ruled out a ground operation.

"This is huge country. There are 70 million people. We don't need to be getting into something like that.”

But despite U.S. capabilities, Berntsen believes that America should exhaust all political options before carrying out a strike.

"We should do what we're doing right now. That means taking them to the United Nations and [making] this 'the world against Iran,' because the Iranians appear determined to create a weapon.

"The Iranians have to know that we mean business,” added Berntsen, author of the best-selling book "Jawbreaker” about the search for bin Laden after al-Qaida's 9/11 attacks.

"They will either disarm or we will destroy their facilities. No ifs, ands, or buts. They present a threat to peace in the Middle East. They present a threat to Israel. We cannot accept that.”

Former Pentagon adviser Richard Perle said earlier this month that Iran's prime nuclear facilities could be devastated in one night by a small fleet of U.S. B-2 bombers.

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