Israeli official: Iran pulled back from the brink
Unbeknownst to the general public, the "red line" on the Iranian crisis was moved back by several months this past summer, averting what could have turned into a major international crisis, an Israeli official said Tuesday.
Iran quietly chose recently to use more than a third of its medium-enriched uranium for civilian purposes, thus delaying their ability to make a nuclear bomb, said Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak in an interview with the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
The move "allows contemplating delaying the moment of truth by eight to 10 months," Barak said.
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Much has been made in the U.S. and elsewhere this year over the "red line" on the Iranian nuclear situation, which would be the moment at which Western allies and Israel would feel forced to act militarily to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
Barak said that while Iran's recent decision to use some enriched uranium for civilian purposes delayed the need to decide on a possible military strike, Western powers would likely still have to face the decision again in 2013.
Iran's nuclear capability a hot campaign issue
CBS News correspondent David Martin reports Mitt Romney spelled out what he considers his "red line" in early October, saying: "The United States and our friends and allies will prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons capability."
That last word -- "capability" -- which he also uses on his campaign website, significantly shortens the time before Iran would reach Romney's red line. His campaign refuses to specify what he means by capability, but the term usually refers to Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium.
President Obama appears to have a "red line" that would allow more time for diplomacy, insisting Iran has not yet made a decision to go for the bomb. Even with enough enriched uranium, Mr. Obama has implied Iran would still need a year or more to actually build one.
"America wants to resolve this issue through diplomacy and we believe that there is still time and space to do so," President Obama said.
In his Tuesday interview, Barak echoed the sentiments of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he cast doubt on the ability of diplomacy and sanctions to solve the crisis.
"To tell you the truth, out of long experience of the Middle East, I am extremely skeptical about the chances that it will lead the ayatollahs to sit together at any point in the foreseeable future and decide to give up their intention to go in the footsteps of Pakistan and North Korea and turn into a military nuclear power," Barak said.
Both Barak and Netanyahu have indicated Israel's "red line" on Iran is much closer to Romney's. In a speech at the U.N. in September, Netanyahu said next summer would be the point of no return for Iran's nuclear program, much like Barak did in his most recent interview.
Netanyahu said Iran's nuclear program must be stopped "before Iran gets to a point where it's a few months away or a few weeks away from amassing enough enriched uranium to make a nuclear weapon."
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It will not be anything less than a UNITED declaration by many nations in the area who will be fully informed of the technical work and bomb making the Iranians were engaged in prior to the destruction.
Whether parallel fabrication of the plates is taking place or sereptitious manufacture is attempted, the reduction of the stockpile and movements of critical personnel is key to this process. There is no hiding this portion of the disputed activities of Iran.
The manufacture of fuel pellets for power generation does NOT require the incredible high yield and high heat of this processed uranium. The nuclear 'football' is in plain sight and when furture manufacture begins, listen to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UME, Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan as well as Israel, UK, France, Germany, Italy and the US make a joint statment and cooperation in keeping the Strait of Hormuz open while Iran has its nuclear toy disarmed by military means.
Poor Nuttin-yahoo, now he will have to wait another three months to cry about Iran's threat to humanity! All the while, Bennie lives in his Apartheid state with numerous undocumented nukes. The world can do with his like. Iran didn't attack the USS Liberty, Israel did.
But some points I would like to make:
1. We DO have nukes and have had a history of using them in war.
2. WMD's, the justification for Bush II's invasion and attempt at colonizing Iraq have never been proven. Iran's nuclear ambitions beyond "peaceful" likewise have never been proven. And anything Israel provides as "proof" is no more creditable than "facts" provided by FOX.
3. While Ahmadinejihad is as big a threat to the peace and stability of the Middle East as Al Qaida and Netanyahu; and while Iran's saber rattling has won her far more enemies than friends; and while Iran is THE example of why church and state should NEVER be mixed - and while Iran should not possess anything more dangerous than a pair of scissors and definitely shouldn't be allowed nukes........
4. .....Neither should anyone else, including us.
And now, guess what?
It seems that the sanctions are actually working. And guess who told us? None other than Israel.
This article proves that we need to re-hire Obama, who instigated the sanctions, and fire the entire war-mongering, lyin'-Ryan, Shifty-Mitty GOP.
If Obama really believes that a terrorist sponsoring state like Iran is going to negotiate in good faith, he's sadly mistaken!
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Same goes for the terrorist government of Israel. Even the US agrees with over 60 of the UN human-rights violations lodged against them.