Kumbayah My Lord, And Prepare The Airstrikes
As Obama prepares to chat with mullahs, Israel gets into the new spirit of Obamist foreign policy and prepares to speak to mullahs in its own way. Jerusalem Post:
The IDF is drawing up options for a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities that do not include coordination with the United States, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
While its preference is to coordinate with the US, defense officials have said Israel is preparing a wide range of options for such an operation.
“It is always better to coordinate,” one top Defense Ministry official explained last week. “But we are also preparing options that do not include coordination.”
The Lord helps those who help themselves.
Israeli officials said last week that the drop in oil prices and the continued sanctions on Iran were having an effect, although they had yet to stop Teheran’s nuclear program. The officials said that while Iran was making technological advancements, it would not have the necessary amount of highly-enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb until late 2009.
“There is still time and there is no need to rush into an operation right now,” another Israeli official said. “The regime there is already falling apart and will likely no longer be in power 10 years from now.”
Maybe, but don’t forget the nuke program started under a so-called moderate. Anyway, 10 years is a long time.
The IAF was preparing for a wide range of options, OC Air Force Maj.-Gen. Ido Nehushtan recently said, adding that all it would take to launch an operation was a decision by the political echelon.
“The air force is a very robust and flexible force,” he told Der Spiegel. “We are ready to do whatever is demanded of us.”
On Monday, Teheran dismissed the possibility of an Israeli strike, saying it didn’t take Israel seriously.
“We think that regional and international developments and the complicated situation faced by Israel itself will not allow it to launch military strikes against other countries,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi told reporters in Teheran, according to the Press TV Web site. “Israel makes threats to promote its psychological and media warfare,” he said.
I wonder what international developments and complicated situations he’s talking about.
Israel Matzav is unimpressed by sanctions, and likes it when Iranians are kept guessing.
Hot Air notes some downsides to violating Iraqi airspace and ticking off the Iranian people, does the math and greenlights it.
Topics: Iran, Israel, Obama, nukes
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:33 am on Thursday, December 4, 2008
4 Responses to “Kumbayah My Lord, And Prepare The Airstrikes”
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December 4th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Go, Go, Go….GO !
Frankly, the USA should do it. But, looks like President Bush just doesn’t want the predictable disrespect and screechfest at the end of his term. So, Israel must do it before Bammo takes office. A precision placed storm of 5, 10 & 15,000lb Bunker Busters + some intel backed Ba-Booms where they’ll kill the most Nuke Scientists oughtta do fine. Follow it up by a Bibi Net Victory at the Ballot Box. Seasoned nicely. Ahhhhhhhhh…Yes !
December 4th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Hmm. Are you being facetious in your summary of the Hot Air item you link? My reading is completely different. The conclusion is:
“Would all of that be worth ridding the world of Iranian nukes? You bet it would — but only if it could completely destroy the Iranian nuclear program. That’s a long shot on the order of hitting the lottery, even with US cooperation.”
That doesn’t sound like a green light to me.
I do not think President Bush makes decisions based on what people think of him. He has shown himself to be pretty impervious to screeching disrespect. I think he honestly believes that a strike against Iran is likely to make things worse. And he might well be right. You can bet he knows a lot more about the specifics here than we do.
I’m all for keeping Iran guessing, so I’m happy to see stories in the press that make them nervous. But I doubt that anyone in the media really knows what has been seriously discussed between Bush and the Israelis in terms of military issues.
I don’t see how a strike by Israel against Iran would help usher in a Netanyahu victory. I think it might well do the opposite. There are too many doves in Israel.
I think the only chance for Bibi to be elected is if the war against Israel heats up in the next few months. And the Iranians are probably holding back their proxy war until after February for that very reason.
An extremely tough situation. I would love to hear your opinion, Jules, on what you think is the best course of action.
December 4th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Israel will always do whatever is in the best interest of Israel. Because they sure can’t count on anybody else… even us. As far as angering the world’s Muslims… they’re angry all the time anyway.
December 4th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Do the US and Isreal still not have a non-nuclear earthquake style bomb equivalent to the Britsh WWII 10 ton Grand Slam?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Slam_bomb
Bunker busters are nice, but violently shaking the base of an operating uranium centrifuge line would probably make most of the centrifuges unbalance and self destruct.