Posted on 09/18/2004 10:05:01 PM PDT by bunkerhill7
Nov. 18, 2003 7:28 | Updated Nov. 18, 2003 15:17
Mossad warns of Iranian nuclear threat
By NINA GILBERT
Iran will continue to develop nuclear weapons, a move that will put it in the position of being an existential threat to Israel for the first time, Mossad chief Meir Dagan told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday.
His assessment of Iranian nuclear capabilities did not differ from those held by the international community, which predicts Teheran could have nuclear weapons by late 2004 or 2005. He said nuclear missile capabilities could pose a threat not only to Israel, but also to Europe.
According to Dagan, the Iranians are developing ground-to-ground missiles with a range of thousands of kilometers in addition to developing an aircraft transport capability.
Dagan told the committee that the 100 megawatt reactor is Bashir is too large to be used only for electricity production. The Kashan uranium enrichment facility is close to completion and has the potential of producing material to make 10 nuclear bombs a year, he said.
Labor MK Ephraim Sneh said the United States has the ability to disarm Iran of its nuclear capabilities and should do so.
Dagan said Iran is trying to obtain nuclear weapons to become a nuclear power and to achieve the intimidating status of North Korea.
He also said the Mossad has information regarding "a number" of plans for attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets overseas by worldwide terrorist organizations that are working for the "Islamic cause."
He refused to give details on the current warnings, saying only that the information is given to the pertinent authorities, which decide whether to publish it.
Dagan said the Mossad did not have "a specific warning" of the attacks over the weekend on the two synagogues in Istanbul. Instead, he said there was a "general warning" of a plan to carry out an attack in Turkey. He noted that the vicinity was secured by private guards and Turkish police, and rejected reports that the sites were not protected.
Dagan's appearance before the main committee was the first by a Mossad chief in 18 years. Committee chairman Yuval Steinitz (Likud) said he would summon the Mossad chief to brief the committee on a biannual basis, as other senior officials do.
Dagan also discussed the new phenomenon of terrorist groups forming an "elaborate network" to fight against non-Islamic societies.
He noted that the Istanbul attack required extensive organization, planning, and financial support. He referred to the new Islamic network as a "world jihad" organization that is comprised of various Sunni Muslim groups, with al-Qaida being only one of them. Al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the attack in Turkey, but Dagan attributed it to the "world jihad." He said no country has been identified as a "sponsor" of the network. But some countries, such as Egypt, that feel threatened by the groups have begun to operate against them.
According to Dagan, the difficulty in fighting such an organization is the fact that even if one infrastructure is eliminated, there are others. He predicted that if any of these groups obtains chemical or biological weapons that they will not hesitate to use them.
Merry Christmas to all.....and to all a good night!
ping
Ping
Gee, I sure hope the Iranians are careful as they work with that fissile material. It would be a shame if they had an accident.
Yeah.... Wouldn't it be just terrible? Especially horrifying would be if their top nuclear scients were incinerated in the process?????
I know what the DUmmies would say: Karl Rove did it!
Oh I think they will have an accident alright, an "accidental" bomb drop on their reactor site by a couple of dozen Israeli jets.
Iran has enough native uranium ore for 40 tons.
40 tons of uranium is a LOT of nukes
Hopefully we take them out after GWBush wins re-election. Or Israel does it, but it won't be until after Nov 2nd.
they already have 40 tons ready to process or processing in one month= one hiroshima warhead per month starting november 2004
4 3 2 1 ... how soon before we have the pro-Iran chant of "let the students finish off the mullahs" joining in on this thread?
We should start a pool on when the reactors will be bombed out of existence.
And who will do it, Israel or the US.
Shoot, at this point it could be the Russians.
My prediction: American planes guided by uncredited Israeli intelligence to the tune of ineffectual Russian protests will take out the reactors and tertiary sites after the November elections are over. Massive artillery and rocket attacks will strike Israel in response and some SCUDs will be destroyed by ABM systems already in place. Gas and biological agents will be recorded, and thousands of Israelis will be sickened and hundreds will die. Nine out of 10 reprisals on American soil will be foiled. One will lead to casualties in excess of 5,000 American civilians.
The world will be silent except for China, which will be vociferous in its condemnation of the coalition's unilateralism.
Where will artillery and rockets hit Israel from?
And where will Scuds be launched from? Iran?
The Isreali government has "weeks" (not months), to act upon the threat. If they don't take action by November...it starts to become too late. My guess is that Iran has positioned numerous SAMS around the site and will shoot down anything approaching. So the options are simple: (1) send in two waves, thus taking out the SAMS first and then the site, (2) utilize a ground action and simply get close enough to destroy the site with some high-explosive, and (3) do nothing and allow the UN/EU/US take care of your situation.
The EU stood up this week and demanded (a tidy word) that a full report be given by mid-November by the UN Nuclear crowd. The report will likely be negative...but no one in the EU is saying what will happen next. Some political comments out of France and Germany hint at sanctions...but that means that you sit and wait for them to manufacture dozens of missiles with warheads...and pretend that they might have taken down the sites (the Saddam game). The US can do nothing because of its over-stretched situation. And amusingly enough, none of the Iranian neighbors care about this situation at all. Even Russia isn't bothered (the payoffs and bribes helped).
Is Isreal ever had a chance to clean up a nasty mess...its right now. Waiting doesn't improve your sitaution.
SCUDS: Syria. Rockets and artillery: the Palestinian held areas. Iran has subs, although I don't know what they can launch.
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