Israel's top general says Iran unlikely to make bomb

al-Reuters ^ | Wed Apr 25, 2012 7:12pm EDT | Jeffrey Heller and Maayan Lubell

[Olog-hai]

Israel's military chief said he does not believe Iran will decide to build an atomic bomb and called its leaders "very rational"—comments that clashed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's assessment.

Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz's remarks, in an interview published on Wednesday in the left-wing Haaretz newspaper, drew little attention in Israel on its annual remembrance day for fallen soldiers, when political discourse is suspended.

But they will add fuel to an internal debate on the prospects of Iran weaponizing its uranium enrichment program and the wisdom and risks of any Israeli military strike to try to prevent Tehran from becoming a nuclear power.

"Iran is moving step-by-step towards a point where it will be able to decide if it wants to make a nuclear bomb. It has not decided yet whether to go the extra mile," Gantz said.

But, he said, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei could opt to produce nuclear weapons should be believe that Iran would not face reprisal.

"In my opinion, he will be making a huge mistake if he does that and I don't think he will want to go the extra mile," Gantz said.

"I think the Iranian leadership is comprised of very rational people. But I agree that such a capability in the hands of Islamic fundamentalists, who at some moments may make different calculations, is a dangerous thing." …

Tehran denies seeking the bomb, saying it is enriching uranium only for peaceful energy purposes and that its nuclear program is a threat to no one.

Speaking on CNN on Tuesday, Netanyahu said he would not want to bet "the security of the world on Iran's rational behavior." A "militant Islamic regime", he said, "can put their ideology before their survival." …

[Tallguy]

Iran probably has a bomb that hasn’t been assembled yet, together with the atomic material that just hasn’t been enriched to sufficient levels.

The ‘go slow’ approach is being dictated by the delivery system. I think that Iran realizes that if their missiles can only hit Israel they lose. I think that they want to be able to target Europe and possibly the United States. Kick the international supports out from under the state of Israel.

If they had an A-bomb that they couldn’t deliver then they’d just make themselves a target in the way Saddam Hussein did.

[cranked]

Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz is smoking an Israeli version of crack..... =.=