Posted on 08/17/2010 6:41:37 AM PDT by Scythian
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Israel has "eight days" to launch a military strike against Iran's Bushehr nuclear facility and stop Tehran from acquiring a functioning atomic plant, a former US envoy to the UN has said.
Iran is to bring online its first nuclear power reactor, built with Russia's help, on August 21, when a shipment of nuclear fuel will be loaded into the plant's core.
At that point, John Bolton warned Monday, it will be too late for Israel to launch a military strike against the facility because any attack would spread radiation and affect Iranian civilians.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
He also says he thinks they’ve missed their chance. Not sure I agree with that.
Bombs away!!!!
Go Israel!
It’s not going to happen. Israel which claims it can go at it alone despite international criticism, really does care about what the world thinks. Think back to the 2006 war with Lebanon. Russia has a lot of vested interest in this plant, and a bunch of dead Russian scientist and Engineers will most definitely not go unanswered by V. Putin.
More like 4 days.
Alas Babylon
Maybe they will wait until the Russkies finish, then blast it. I do not think all scenarios need to be like the (preemptive) Iraqi strike.
“Make it so.”
And radiation is a bad thing? It would keep them from rebuilding in that location and also take out Irans fissionable material they paid bookoo bucks for. Strike after startup Id say.
It isn’t going to happen. The world will soon have a nuclear Iran. Devastating..
The Iranians are led by genocidal realists who seek a second Shoah. Israel must not flinch before these modern day human shields: self-defense must be her only concern.
They can bomb Bushehr to cr*p for all I care - but doubtless the artful IAF will find a way to punch penetrators through the containment vessels. Just enough to render the site unusable for decades.
One way or another, the US did not completely succumb to those initial threats.
But here we are today, both threats reborn, and I think their odds of success are substantially greater.
I agree. A relatively small amount of damage could render a facility containing nuclear material useless.
Loud proclamations that the facility will become “immune” are falling on deaf ears. It won’t become immune: it will become a liability.
yep, use a nuke penetrator too...let the eggheads figure out where the radiation came from...
Is Israel going to be making a declaration of war in order to strike a sovereign country inside its borders?
“because any attack would spread radiation and affect Iranian civilians.”
As an American that remembers 1979 and 444 days...so what?
Did they when they bombed the Iraqi and Syrian reactors?
A good point. Hit it a day after the reactor goes critical. A small amount of high level contamination would render the site useless while minimizing any significant airborn radioactivity.
For those who are interested, the Nuke Plant is clustered about:
28°49’49.93”N
50°53’7.74”E
Look at it in Google Earth. It’s probably the most vulnerable target in Iran - it’s right on the coast. An Israeli sub could offload Special ops through a torpedo tube.
Alternatively the IAF wouldn’t have to fly across Iranian territory to make a strike. Plus if they blew the plant to pieces, there’s no-one living nearby. It’s in the middle of desert.
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