Abstract
The United States needs to be prepared to use its own asymmetrical operations against Iran. During 1987, CENTCOM and U.S. Special Operations Command developed a number of clandestine operations against the IRGCN. CENTCOM planners referred to such operations as “the invisible hand in reverse.” One of the more popular ideas was to use SEALs to plant explosives on the hulls of the suspected minelayers. There would be no evidence of U.S. culpability, and Washington could attribute their sinking to divine intervention. It was a high-risk venture, and Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger did not authorize it.8 Yet the concept still holds promise.
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