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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/world/middleeast/18iran.html
Gates Says U.S. Lacks Policy to Curb Iran's Nuclear Drive
(New York Times) David E. Sanger and Thom Shanker - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has warned in a secret three-page memorandum to top White House officials that the U.S. does not have an effective long-range policy for dealing with Iran's steady progress toward nuclear capability. The highly classified analysis came in the midst of an intensifying effort inside the Pentagon, the White House and the intelligence agencies to develop new options for President Obama. They include a set of military alternatives, still under development, to be considered should diplomacy and sanctions fail to force Iran to change course. One senior official described the document as "a wake-up call." A senior administration official described last week that there was a line Iran would not be permitted to cross. The official said that the U.S. would ensure that Iran would not "acquire a nuclear capability," a step Tehran could get to well before it developed a sophisticated weapon. "That includes the ability to have a breakout" and build a small arsenal, he said.