Posted on 03/23/2014 7:37:29 AM PDT by Star Traveler
AP — A rising chorus of Israeli voices is again raising the possibility of carrying out a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities in what appears to be an attempt to draw renewed attention to Tehran’s atomic program — and Israel’s unhappiness with international negotiations with the Iranians.
In recent days, a series of newspaper reports and comments by top defense officials have signaled that the military option remains very much on the table. While Israeli officials say Israel never shelved the possibility of attacking, the heightened rhetoric marks a departure from Israel’s subdued approach since six world powers opened negotiations with Iran last November.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been an outspoken critic of the international efforts to negotiate a deal with Iran. He has spent years warning the world against the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran and fears a final deal will leave much of Iran’s nuclear capabilities intact.
But since the global powers reached an interim agreement with Iran last November, Netanyahu’s warnings about Iran have been largely ignored. A frustrated Israeli leadership now appears to be ratcheting up the pressure on the international community to take a tough position in its negotiations with Iran.
A front-page headline in the daily Haaretz on Thursday proclaimed that Netanyahu has ordered “to prep for strike on Iran in 2014″ and has allocated 10 billion shekels (2.87 billion dollars) for the groundwork. Earlier this week, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon hinted that Israel would have to pursue a military strike on its own, with the US having chosen the path of negotiations. And the military chief, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, said this week that Iran “is not in an area that is out of the military’s range.”
(Excerpt) Read more at timesofisrael.com ...
Obama has stalled, prevaricated, and dissembled to buy time for Iran. I think this reality has finally dawned on Israel. Israel is on its own.
Putin is doing all he can to help Iran get a bomb. He could stop it today, but he won’t. It’s another part of his scheme.
A major problem with a strike on Iran’s nuclear sites is unexpected: that the typical “Iranian on the street” *wants* nuclear weapons. So if their nuclear sites are destroyed, they will just build more, *no matter* who is in charge.
Iran was not very developed after World War II, and though the last Shah was in power and very pro-development, the popular Iranian international conscience missed out on the rise and fall of nuclear weapons culture.
So for modern Iranians, nuclear weapons are just seen as “big bombs”.
The way around this dilemma is very ugly. A nuclear accident, or facsimile thereof. Thousands of Iranians need to die horrible deaths so that hundreds of thousands won’t have to. As a people they must learn the horror of nuclear weapons, so as a people they turn against it.
Many years ago, this could have been done harmlessly, by broadcasting “nuclear TV” into Iran. Showing them the horror of nuclear war. But it is now too late to do that.
They must now see a nuclear accident with their own eyes. Radiation burns, poisoning, sickness, and death.
It's safe to say that if Israel had the means of carrying out a conventional strike offering a probability of success they would have done so long ago.
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