Israeli: Strike Against Iran a Possibilty (AP)

[Eugene]

Israeli: Strike Against Iran a Possibilty

The Associated Press
Friday, November 10, 2006; 6:37 AM

JERUSALEM -- Israel's deputy defense minister suggested in comments
published Friday that Israel might be forced to launch a military strike
against Iran's nuclear program _ the clearest statement yet of this
possibility from a high-ranking Israeli official.

"I am not advocating an Israeli pre-emptive military action against Iran
and I am aware of its possible repercussions," Deputy Defense Minister
Ephraim Sneh, a former general, told The Jerusalem Post daily. "I consider
it a last resort. But even the last resort is sometimes the only resort."

Government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said Sneh's comments did not
necessarily reflect the view of Israel's government or Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert.

-snip-

Sneh's tough talk is the boldest to date by a high-ranking Israeli official.
Olmert and other Israeli leaders frequently discuss the Iranian threat in
grave terms, but stop short of threatening Israeli military action.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/10/AR2006111000254.html

[breakaleg]

1. Israel "might be forced to launch a military stike". Who is forcing them?

[bemildred]

2. This is drivel.

These sorts of statements have been coming out for years. The US cannot afford to annoy Iran while it remains stuck in Iraq. Meanwhile Iran is 10x the size of Israel and rapidly modernizing, and it has the means to reply in kind to attacks. What would appear to be developing is a MAD situation similar to what exists between Russia and the US. Of course if the US eventually gets it's ducks in a row WRT Iraq, that equation could change, but even then, and even given the loony belligerence of the Israeli gov't, it seems unlikely.

[IntiRaymi]

4. Yes, it is drivel.

Israel is too small, it cannot establish even a modicum of territorial buffer, while Iran is comparably vast. The only issue is whether Israel is not so valuable that it could be used as a sacrificial lamb in an effort to initiate a war with Iran.

[bemildred]

5. That seems a rather circuitous route to get into war with Iran.

What you would want in that (lunatic) scenario is a massive surprise attack using "death from above" in an attempt to destroy as much of Iran's military capability as possible. Israel is much less capable of that sort of effort than Uncle Sam.

[IntiRaymi]

6. you are right. Circuitous indeed.

But who knows wtf the strategery will end up being.

[bemildred]

7. It is true that relying on reason can lead you astray

when dealing with loons ...

[High Plains]

3. Gee, I wonder if Iran might not be "forced" to do a preemptive strike

[IndianaGreen]

8. American neocons and their Zionist allies are in a state of panic!

This is why Bush wanted Bolton to be confirmed by a lame duck Senate, and why the criminal Olmert government is telegraphing its allies in America to push for a war in Iran before it is too late.

[IntiRaymi]

10. That is not a smart way to think of this.

An attack on Iran will be predicated on the ability to do so, this is the absolute bottom line in doing this - if you can do it, you can do it. This is obvious.
With 150000 US Soldiers in Iraq, at the mercy Iran's agents, as well as being in a state of potential choke-off, via the closing of Hormuz, the USA is does not have this ability.
....
Ironically, pulling out of Iraq makes an attack more likely.

[Eugene]

9. Iran in UN protest over Israel 'military threats' (AFP)

Iran in UN protest over Israel 'military threats'

Sat Nov 11, 2:52 AM ET

TEHRAN (AFP) -
Iran has complained to the
United Nations over a "series of threats" after an Israeli official refused
to rule out a military strike against the Islamic republic, the IRNA agency
reports.

Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations,
submitted the complaint to Secretary General Kofi Annan and the
Security Council on Friday following the comments by Israeli Deputy
Defence Minister Ephraim Sneh.

"The letter, underlining threats from Sneh and other Israeli officials,
regards these statements as illegal, ridiculous and a sign of the Zionist
regime's criminal policies and terrorist intentions," the state agency said.

Sneh had told the Jerusalem Post on Friday he considered military action
against Iran as a "last resort. But even the last resort is sometimes the
only resort."

-snip-

Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061111/wl_mideast_afp/irannuclearpoliticsisraelun_061111074327

Pot, meet kettle.

[Scurrilous]

11. Olmert hints at possible military action against Iran

<snip>

"Prime Minister Ehud Olmert hinted on Sunday for the first time at the possibility of Israeli military action against Iran to thwart its nuclear efforts.

In a conversation with press aboard his plane to the United States on Sunday, Olmert said that "Iran will only agree to a compromise on the issue of its nuclear program if it has a reason to be afraid."

<snip>

"In an interview published on Sunday in Newsweek and the Washington Post, Olmert made statements about Iran that took on the harshest tones so far.

In the interview, Olmert compared Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Adolf Hitler and said "he has to be stopped."

"My position is clear," the prime minister said regarding Iran. "If there can be a compromise that will stop Iran short of crossing the technological threshold that will lead them into nuclear capabilities, we will be for such a compromise."

"But I don't believe that Iran will accept such compromise unless they have a very good reason to fear the consequences of not reaching it," explained Olmert. "In other words, Iran must start to fear."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/787238.html