The Navy late last year asked a group of outside experts for advice in assessing the sea service's plans in the Persian Gulf, including the possibility of a "U.S. engagement" in Iran, according to a summary of the closed meeting, published earlier this year. The Nov. 29, 2007, meeting was a gathering of the Iran subcommittee of the Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel, or CEP. Members of the panel counsel the chief of naval operations, a post held by...