JERUSALEM, Aug. 7, 2008
Israel Bolsters Its Ability To Strike Iran
As Tehran Flouts International Demands, Israel Buys More Jet Fighters, Nuke-Capable Subs
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In this Dec. 27, 2007 photo, an Israeli Air Force fighter plane lands during an acrobatics display at a graduation ceremony at the Hatzerim Air Force Base near the southern Israeli city of Beersheba. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
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Timeline Iran Nuclear Chronology Events in development of Iran's nuclear program since it first came to light.
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Timeline The U.S. And Iran Key events in once friendly, now contentious relationship between Washington and Tehran.
Still, the Syria action seemed to indicate that Israel would also be willing to use force preemptively against Iran.
"For Israel this is not a target that cannot be achieved," said Maj. Gen. Aharon Zeevi-Farkash, former head of Israel's army intelligence.
However, it's unlikely Israel would carry out an attack without approval from the United States.
Recent signs that Washington may be moving away from a military option - including a proposal to open a low-level U.S. diplomatic office in Tehran and a recent decision to allow a senior U.S. diplomat to participate alongside Iran in international talks in Geneva - are not sitting very well with Israel.
That may help explain recent visits to Jerusalem by Mike McConnell, the U.S. director of national intelligence, and Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, each of whom delivered a message to Israel that it does not have a green light to attack Iran at this time.
Senior Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they do not wish to appear at odds with their most important ally, said they were concerned about a possible softening of the U.S. stance toward Iran.
Apparently to allay Israeli concerns, Bush administration officials last week assured visiting Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak that the U.S. has not ruled out the possibility of a military strike on Iran. And the U.S., aware of Israel's high anxiety over Iran's nukes, is also hooking Israel up to an advanced missile detection system known as X-Band to guard against any future attack by Iran, said a senior U.S. defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions over the issue have not been made public.
With sanctions and diplomacy still the international community's preferred method to get Iran to stop building the bomb, an Israeli strike does not appear imminent.
If it did attack, however, Israel would have to contend with upgraded Iranian defense capabilities, including 29 new Tor-M1 surface-to-air missile systems Iran purchased from Russia last year in a $700 million deal.
Russia has so far not gone through with a proposed sale to Iran of S-300 surface-to-air missiles, an even more powerful air defense system than the Tor-M1. An Israeli defense official said the deal is still on the table, however. This is a big source of consternation for Israel because the system could significantly complicate a pre-emptive Israeli assault on Iran.
Military experts say an Israeli strike would require manned aircraft to bombard multiple targets and heavy precision bombs that can blast through underground bunkers - something Israel failed to do in its 2006 war against Hezbollah. It's widely assumed that Israel is seeking to obtain bunker buster bombs, if it hasn't already done so.
Elite ground troops could also be necessary to penetrate the most difficult sites, though Israeli military planners say they see that option as perhaps too risky.
America's ability to take out Iran's nuclear facilities is far superior to Israel's.
Unlike Israel, the United States has cruise missiles that can deliver high-explosive bombs to precise locations and B-2 bombers capable of dropping 85 500-pound bombs in a single run.
Yet the cost of an attack - by the U.S., Israel or both - is likely to be enormous.
Iran could halt oil production and shut down tanker traffic in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which could send the price of crude skyrocketing and wreck Western economies.
It could stir up trouble for the U.S. in Iraq by revving up Shiite militias there just as Washington is showing some important gains in reining in Iraqi chaos.
It could activate its militant proxies in both Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, from where Israel could come under heavy rocket attack. And it could strike Israel with its arsenal of Shahab-3 long-range missiles - something Israel is hoping to guard against through its Arrow missile defense system.
Perhaps most importantly, any strike on Iran - especially if it's done without having exhausted all diplomatic channels - could have the opposite of the desired effect, "actually increasing the nationalist fervor to build a nuclear weapon," said Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-born Israeli and expert on Iranian affairs.
Whether an attack on Iran would be worth its cost would depend on how long the nuclear program could be delayed, said Chuck Freilich, a former Israeli deputy national security adviser and now a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.
"A two, three-year delay is not worth it. For a five to 10-year delay I would say yes," he said.
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Michelle Obama tells how her role as the First Lady has changed her perspective.
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See all 243 CommentsIran is to be taken seriously...lunatics are very eratic, irrational and the complex of superiority may take them to a dark place....so!
Now that we have establish the reality of things...
and with the volatile situation in the region (with the fact that Russia is belic)...
Everyone should bolster and get ready
Posted by babooph at 10:38 PM : Aug 08, 2008
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i dont mean to bust your bubble buddy boy..but iranians pays taxes up the arse AND HARDLY GET SH*T BACK..
thier weaponry looks ''cool'' after a few strokes in adobe photoshop...
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I dont think they need any help in any military strike...israel, if done right and quick, can end iran...yes..end it. but they are not terrorists..they dont send jews to iran with bomb vests and blow any iranian citizens..nor do they bombard palestine with shells or rockets BECAUSE it happens to be a good day to do it.
STOP THREATENING ISRAEL..STOP ATTACKING ISRAEL..and everything stops..seeesh its that simple.
-DJ... Los Angeles...
that IS THE REASON why i am not suprised that majority of true hard core left winged liberal THINKS like these terrorists
We no longer need the Suez Canal as a strategic interest.
Nor do we need Israel.
Bye, Israel, good luck with your God''''s protection.
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Posted by tuckerndfw at 11:24 PM : Aug 07, 2008
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come on..I dont think you care about american strategy..bridges..money..I can sense that all you care about is killing jews..
itan wants to do it..you want to do it
iran is islamic..you are a liberal
connect the dots brother..
DEATH TO HAMAS!!! Pay back time is coming..
Posted by guadalcanal3 at 11:15 PM : Aug 07, 2008
-Iran would not attack Israel, rightly because the proximity of Israel to Hezbollah land in Southern Lebanon, next to Israel! Nuclear Fallouts would be catastrophic for Israel but for Hezbollah as well.
Posted by trishab4 at 01:29 AM : Aug 08, 2008,,,
Western thinking and western logic do not apply! Suicide bomber mentality could care less about collateral damage! This is why mutuality assured destruction thinking will not work with Islamic extremist Iran, Iran doesn`t care if it gets destroyed in the same sense a normal nation would care, the Islamic extremist in Iran are death worshipers!
Posted by guadalcanal3 at 11:15 PM : Aug 07, 2008
-Iran would not attack Israel, rightly because the proximity of Israel to Hezbollah land in Southern Lebanon, next to Israel! Nuclear Fallouts would be catastrophic for Israel but for Hezbollah as well.
Posted by guadalcanal3 at 11:15 PM : Aug 07, 2008
-Iran would not attack Israel, rightly because the proximity of Israel to Hezbollah land in Southern Lebanon, next to Israel! Nuclear Fallouts would be catastrophic for Israel but for Hezbollah as well.
It would be great if Israel bolstered its ability to make peace too, and created conditions to make peace possible!
Posted by nordeck52 at 07:47 PM : Aug 07, 2008
Let''s try to put a bit of logic into this situation. Let us say, for the sake of argument, you are my mortal enemy. That implies that I hate you, your family, your friends and anything you are associated with to include your ideals to include any freedoms you have. Let us further assume I begin to and continue to threaten you and everything you stand for with complete and utter annihilation. You suspect what means I may use to carry out such a diabolical scheme. I may be a farmer that has access to fertilizer materials I could easily employ to build a bomb. You call the cops because I''ve made such overt threats and you are scared for your life. The cops show up and I tell them to get bent. They can''t come into my property to investigate anything based on the inane ramblings of someone I feel threatens my beliefs. I have every right to own those materials you are so afraid of because they support my livelihood. Meanwhile, you happen to discover I''ve perfected a way to maximize the effect of a weapon to employ against you and you believe your fate is imminent. Nobody believes when you tell them your story as I have consistently maintained mine. You have the means to stop me as you have all along. what do you do?
Posted by libsluv2spit at 06:26 PM : Aug 07, 2008
Actually, our interests ran deeper than the oil. We had to deal with the opposing interest of the U.S.S.R. I''m not saying it was wrong for us to be involved in Iran. We just blew it by not understanding how disaffected the populace was, realiing how rife they were with fundamentalism and failing ro act to protect our interests.
Thank Carter for that one
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Posted by lovegetpeace at 07:57 PM : Aug 07, 2008
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israel''s greatest threats are radical islam and its liberal zombies..just like a christian who sees the face of the lord jesus on a dog sh*t..liberals beleives what they want to believe..they believe in it SO MUCH that for them, it becomes reality..
DONT YOU CONCUR?
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Posted by lovegetpeace at 07:58 PM : Aug 07, 2008
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considering that the state of israel is literally surrounded by other states that TRIED several times and had publically declared its demise..its not convinience its more of a necessity
Anyone can give himself/herself this right they see most convenience.
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Posted by nordeck52 at 07:47 PM : Aug 07, 2008
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you said it yourself...israel has that right..
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