Israel has about two months to do what it needs to do and still have some [US] backing.After Jan 20, they will be alone.
Posted on 11/14/2008 10:40:19 AM PST by mojito
Israel will not tolerate a nuclear Iran, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad, the head of the Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau, has stressed to The Jerusalem Post in an unusually hard-hitting interview.
For now, Israel is backing diplomatic and economic efforts to thwart the Iranians, Gilad added, but it doubts these will work and it is keeping all options open.
Asked about the complexities of any resort to military action, particularly since Iran has built its facilities to withstand a repeat of the IAF's 1981 destruction of Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor at Osirak, Gilad replied, tellingly, that domestic critics 27 years ago said the Osirak raid "couldn't be done. And the fact is, it succeeded."
"Iran is a country with smart people that have capabilities," he noted. "It really would be a considerable challenge. Come the day, if and when this or that option is adopted, what will matter is the outcome."
Gilad was speaking to the Post at a time when some senior figures in the defense establishment have indicated in private forums that Israel might have to begin to prepare for the reality of Iran achieving its nuclear goals.
But he dismissed this notion and was adamant that there was no tendency whatsoever in the defense establishment to accept a nuclear Iran.
He said the assessment, which he shared, was that Israel could not be reconciled to a nuclear Iran - not only because it might press the button, but because the very fact of this regime having that weaponry would constitute an existential threat.
"The Iranians are determined to obtain nuclear weaponry," said Gilad. "Iran is controlled by an ideology and a regime that has set itself the goal to be rid of Israel."
While US President-elect Barack Obama has said he will engage in tough diplomacy to try to deter the Iranians, Gilad said flatly that "diplomatic pressure against a state this determined can slow processes, but cannot halt them."
As for economic pressure, that might work if Iran were facing "total isolation," he said. "But that's not happening."
The economic pressure was "much more impressive than is understood," he noted. "But the fact is, it is not preventing the dangerous process of a nuclear Iran."
On Wednesday, Iran announced it had test-fired a two-stage, solid-fuel rocket with a 1,200-mile range that could reach Israel.
Said Gilad: "They will continue. The picture is clear. They are building more missiles. They're dealing with uranium enrichment."
For Israel, he said, "this is indeed a situation that we can't tolerate. What can be done about it? First of all, we still stick with the diplomatic option, and all the options are on the table, as President [George W.] Bush said."
Beyond that, he said, "I can't go into details... Elaborating directly assists the enemy in its war against Israel. The test will be in the result - whether we are able or not to prevent this grave threat.
"The more we talk about it - however seductive that may be - the more we brag, the more we weaken our capacity to achieve. We cannot accept a nuclear Iran. We cannot be reconciled to it."
The full interview with Amos Gilad will appear in The Jerusalem Post next week.
It's worked so well in the past.
They’re probably already nuclear folks
Obama will allow Iran to have whatever it wants.
Israel had better do something while Bush is still in office.
Obama will not cover their back.
Ah ... nuclear midle east war by Christmas .... something to consider.
They may already have smuggled in a crude device near Isreal and will soon announce the fait accompli.
I’m in favor of Iran being given all the nuclear weapons they want... delivered ALL at the same time.
word from some influential and knowlegeable Indians is they are....
Anyone know how Israel, acting alone, can stop a nuclear Iran?
Because from what I’ve read, Israel doesn’t have the logistical capability to attack Iran without American assistance.
And I doubt President Obama will be providing any assistance.
Probably. Constructing a crude, workable nuclear device is not the problem. Making it so you can put in on a warhead, send it where you need it to go, and have it still function is. Unfortunately, we know there were problems in the 90s with W-88 warhead plans being stolen. Add that to the ill-conceived Operation Merlin conducted by Clinton and you have real problems. Now, the remaining question is whether the Iranian (with N. Korean help, no doubt) can successfully engineer a weapon from the plans. I’d say it’s only a matter of time.....and it’s quickly running out.
Israel can destroy Iranian facilities.
However, many of Israel’s pilots will not be coming back.
Israel has about two months to do what it needs to do and still have some [US] backing.After Jan 20, they will be alone.
Who's to say?
If Israel were prepared to use nuclear weapons against Iran, they could solve this problem very easily.
I hope Israel has plans to handle this on their own. Hussein will not help one iota.
Memo to Israel:
You’d better act while George Bush is still President...
When your very existence on this planet is threatened, it tends to focus your thinking in a way that differs from that of those who do not face such a threat. You do not confine your options to straightforward, brute-force attacks, such as bombing nuclear production facilities from aircraft with conventional weapons (although that may indeed be one of the tools in your toolchest).
For example, even if (some of) the nuclear fuel production facilities are heavily fortified, buried deep underground, and defended by batteries of SAMs, which makes direct attack problematic, keep the following points in mind:
etc.
There should be a coordinated strike by the US and Israel whereby Israel attacks the nuc facilities and the US attacks the terrorist camps, weapons depots, transportation systems, communications systems—anything that can be used in support of the “insurgents.”
In this matter, I’ll defer to Israeli intelligence over India’s...and even our own.
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