According to a 2009 State Department cable obtained by Wikileaks, the U.S. has two main priorities for such cases: keeping its diplomatic outposts secure and obtaining intelligence.

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It is technically impossible to effectively attack an enemy without first obtaining actionable intelligence about the enemy.

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The second level, remote intelligence gathering, requires obtaining information from external sources.

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The second development is that the White House has come to terms, in private, with the general consensus of the American intelligence community that Iran is at least five years away from obtaining a bomb.

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