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Report: Israel May Launch Massive Aerial Assault On Iran's Nuclear Facilities
allheadlinenews ^ | 35 mins ago | Mayur Pahilajani

Posted on 04/18/2009 12:14:50 PM PDT by jessduntno

Mayur Pahilajani - AHN News Writer London, United Kingdom (AHN) - The Israel Defense Force is preparing to launch a massive air strike on Iran's nuclear facilities upon order by the authorities, a British newspaper reported Saturday.

The Israeli military is ready to launch dozens of aerial assaults within days of being notified by the new government, The Times said, citing unnamed Israeli defence and intelligence sources.

"Israel wants to know that if its forces were given the green light they could strike at Iran in a matter of days, even hours," one senior defence official told the paper.

The official added, "They are making preparations on every level for this eventuality. The message to Iran is that the threat is not just words."

Tension between the Jewish state and Tehran has increased as Iran has repeatedly refused to stop enriching uranium, which the international community fears may be used to build nuclear weapons.

A group of six nations, called the P5+1 and composed of China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, has offered Iran a proposal of incentives in exchange for halting its uranium enrichment activities.

The international community along with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have been seeking an end to the uranium enrichment since Tehran's secret enrichment plant in Natanz was exposed in 2002. But the Islamic Republic has denied developing nuclear weapons and has insisted that the country's nuclear activities are meant to generate electricity for a growing population.

One of the steps taken by the Israeli forces to prepare for the alleged areal assault was to acquire three Airborne Warning and Control (AWAC) aircraft and to carry out regional missions to simulate the attack.

(Excerpt) Read more at allheadlinenews.com ...


TOPICS: Israel; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: airstrikes; iran; iraniannukes; israel
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"We would not make the threat [against Iran] without the force to back it. There has been a recent move, a number of on-the-ground preparations, that indicate Israel's willingness to act," said another official from Israel's intelligence community told The Times.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who took office early this month, has reportedly said that Jerusalem will not tolerate Iran to continue with its nuclear activities as it may use the weapons against the Jewish State.

Ephraim Kam, the deputy director of the Institute for National Security Studies, was quoted by The Times as saying that it was unlikely that Americans would approve an attack.

"The American defence establishment is unsure that the operation will be successful. And the results of the operation would only delay Iran's programme by two to four years," he said.

According to the paper, Israel could target sites include Natanz, where thousands of centrifuges produce enriched uranium; Esfahan, where 250 tonnes of gas is stored in tunnels; and Arak, where a heavy water reactor produces plutonium.

1 posted on 04/18/2009 12:14:50 PM PDT by jessduntno
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To: jessduntno
Israel could also launch an all out nuclear attack if that were indeed its only alternative. The threat from Persia would be completely eliminated along with 95% of its population. It would be in Obama’s best interest to approve any measure without delay.
2 posted on 04/18/2009 12:19:45 PM PDT by Camel Joe ("All animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others"- The Pigs)
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To: jessduntno

I always give something reported in a British newspaper a grain of salt. They are frequently used in disinformation campaigns so the story will be reported in the US media without directly planting the story with a US outlet.


3 posted on 04/18/2009 12:19:50 PM PDT by zaphod3000 (Free markets, free minds, free lives)
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To: jessduntno

I hope it happens today im tired of hearing about Susan Boyles


4 posted on 04/18/2009 12:20:56 PM PDT by al baby (Hi Mom)
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To: jessduntno

The Iranian installations that are in bunkers are what really need destroying to stop their nuclear program.

Nuclear bunker busters might be used, but even a 400kt device like our B61-11 might have difficulty penetrating to a sufficient depth to contain the blast and thus prevent massive fallout when the blast breached the surface and spewed many tons of radioactive debris into the sky. And although a 400kt or even 1 megaton warhead is a very powerful thing...it is quite weak underground when the target for destruction is a fortified bunker. It would be the shock wave that would need to destroy the bunker and for that a 400kt device would need to detonate very close to the bunker, perhaps as close as 400-700 feet. The problem is that even though you know where the entrances to the bunker are the actual bunker might be anywhere within a mile or so from those entrances. This means you would need to somehow get a precise location of the bunker by placement of seismic sensors ahead of time (listening for the sounds from industrial machinery and determining where the sound originates from)

A much more promising attack would be to destroy all the entrances and exits to such an installation and then control the area for an extended time.

The actual installation itself would remain intact unless a fool had designed it poorly. The engineers and workers would soon be dead, but the equipment would remain untouched.

To hold such an area from the types of assaults the Iranians could bring to bear would require creating your own underground fortifications near the entrances to the bunker.

Massive mine laying would be required to protect against human-wave attacks such as were used in the Iran/Iraq war.
Iranian missile attacks would be totally ineffective against even hastily made Israeli underground defenses and could be dismissed as a real threat.

Chem/biological weapons would be used and so preparations would need to be made for protection.

It might in extreme circumstances be necessary to use neutron weapons to keep attacking forces at bay... this would require the Israelis to first actually possess such weapons (likely) and be willing to use them in extreme circumstances (also likely), they would also need to be able to protect themselves from the heavy neutron bombardment...this can be done but is not an easy thing to engineer quickly in the field so preparation would need to be underway immediately upon taking control of the area.

The neutron weapons would be able to immediately incapacitate attackers (even inside tanks) inside a blast radius of about 1/3 mile with a radiation dose of roughly 80 Gy...after such a dose only a very few ‘walking deadmen’ would be able to remain active, and those for a very short time.
The small radiation weapons would release the force of about 1kt compared to a conventional nuclear weapon...this is a very small yield and would pose no threat at all to Israeli soldiers in even rudimentary underground shelter.

The Israeli force would need to be supplied with food and other essentials for a possible extended time...long enough to locate and destroy the Iranian underground installation by tunneling and then placing appropriate charges.

This would certainly call for a dedicated force of extraordinary men....but such men do exist and I’m certain Israel has enough of them to do the job.


5 posted on 04/18/2009 12:22:55 PM PDT by Bobalu (McCain has been proven to be the rino flop I always thought he was.)
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To: al baby

I hope it happens today im tired of hearing about Susan Boyles

This would give ME something to sing about...


6 posted on 04/18/2009 12:23:37 PM PDT by jessduntno ("I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.")
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To: jessduntno
"They are making preparations on every level for this eventuality. The message to Iran is that the threat is not just words."

Little bitty teensy weensy Israel against the mega country of Iran?

I'll go with David taking down Goliath on this one.
(Belittling the situation NOT intended)

7 posted on 04/18/2009 12:26:33 PM PDT by EGPWS (Trust in God, Question everyone else)
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To: Bobalu

April 4th - Jerusalem - Israel carried out a test launch of its Arrow II interceptor missile on Tuesday, the Defence Ministry said, a system designed to defend against possible ballistic missile attacks by Iran and Syria.

“There was a successful test today (Tuesday) of an improved Arrow [missile] that hit and intercepted a target more complicated than normal,” Defence Minister Ehud Barak told reporters after watching the launch from a helicopter.

The Arrow intercepted a target missile, simulating an Iranian Shehab, launched from an Israeli aircraft over the Mediterranean, a defence source said.”

Coincidence, maybe, but I think Israel is getting ready...


8 posted on 04/18/2009 12:31:00 PM PDT by jessduntno ("I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.")
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To: jessduntno

Again?


9 posted on 04/18/2009 12:31:33 PM PDT by dragnet2
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To: jessduntno

I hope they also have good intelligence on where to take out
the regimes leadership at the same time


10 posted on 04/18/2009 12:34:01 PM PDT by LeoWindhorse
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To: jessduntno

My heart says “Good! Enough talk! Let’s get it on!”
My head just sees bodies, thousands of bodies.

Shall we cut the Gordian knot, or continue to nurse things along? “Jaw, jaw is better than war, war” — but what we have now is just “war, war” by another name, isn’t it?

This is a problem only God can fix.


11 posted on 04/18/2009 12:37:40 PM PDT by B-Chan (Catholic. Monarchist. Texan. Any questions?)
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To: dragnet2

Again?

Yeah, huh? This is getting to be like all those stupid warnings about the Japanese in 1940...


12 posted on 04/18/2009 12:38:33 PM PDT by jessduntno ("I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.")
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To: Bobalu

And in any of the scenarios you post, there would likely be a general war in the Middle East as well. No way the Syrians would sit still, and there’d likely be a coup in Egypt, too.

Oh, and an oil embargo. I forgot the oil embargo.

And on top of it all, every mosque in America would suddenly be crawling with armed American Muslims screaming for jihad...


13 posted on 04/18/2009 12:42:24 PM PDT by B-Chan (Catholic. Monarchist. Texan. Any questions?)
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To: jessduntno

Ya mean the one where the Japanese kept exposing there invasion plans, and providing weekly details?


14 posted on 04/18/2009 12:44:37 PM PDT by dragnet2
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To: al baby

Susan has Boils? That’s awful.


15 posted on 04/18/2009 12:48:11 PM PDT by Vendome
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To: dragnet2

Ya mean the one where the Japanese kept exposing there invasion plans, and providing weekly details?

No, I mean the one where everyone kept saying they would attack and the “wise” ones said no way...


16 posted on 04/18/2009 12:49:32 PM PDT by jessduntno ("I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.")
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Comment #17 Removed by Moderator

To: B-Chan

That’s all going to happen anyway eventually.

I say Israel has a right to survive, regardless of the cost.


18 posted on 04/18/2009 12:50:53 PM PDT by Bobalu (McCain has been proven to be the rino flop I always thought he was.)
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To: B-Chan
And on top of it all, every mosque in America would suddenly be crawling with armed American Muslims screaming for jihad...

I wish they were that stupid.

19 posted on 04/18/2009 12:54:48 PM PDT by Stentor
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To: Stentor

In a way, I do too. At least it would finally all be out in the open and we could get it over with.

I wouldn’t blame God if He turned His Back on the whole human race, sometimes.


20 posted on 04/18/2009 12:57:47 PM PDT by B-Chan (Catholic. Monarchist. Texan. Any questions?)
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