Israel Hints at Pre-emptive Attack on Iran

[tekisui]

The sabre-rattling over Iran's nuclear progamme has grown louder as a defiant Tehran claimed to have conducted missile tests for a second day running, the US warned that it would defend its interests and its allies in the region, and Israel hinted it was ready to stage a preventive attack to destroy Iranian nuclear installations.

With the latest tests – and the wide front-page coverage given to them by the national media – Tehran is signalling it will not be cowed by international pressure to end a programme which the West suspects is aimed at producing nuclear weapons, and that any attack by the US or Israel will be answered in kind.

The tests, including launching the 1,250-mile range Shahab-3 missile that can hit Israel, should be "a lesson to our enemies", the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard was quoted as saying. But some of the talk may be bravado. Pentagon officials told CNN that surveillance suggested only a single missile was fired yesterday, apparently one that failed to launch on Wednesday.

Even so, the show of strength drew an unprecedentedly blunt response from Washington and Israel. No one should doubt US resolve, said Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, on a visit to Georgia. "We are sending a message to Iran that we will defend American interests and the interests of our allies."

More ominously, Ehud Barak, the Israeli Defence Minister, noted pointedly that while diplomatic pressure remained the preferred way of persuading Iran to halt uranium enrichment, Israel "has proved in the past it is not afraid to take action when its vital security interests are at stake".

Not by coincidence, the country also put on display one of its state-of-the-art Eitam spy aircraft, whose intelligence-gathering abilities would be vital in any co-ordinated assault on Iran's nuclear installations. This latest publicity only reinforces the message sent by Israel's recent military air exercises over the eastern Mediterranean, widely seen as a dress rehearsal for such an attack.

link: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-hints-at-preemptive-attack-on-iran-865068.html

[pinto]

1. Media pundits aside, I doubt any of the parties concerned want this

bluster to escalate beyond rhetoric. I realize that sabre-rattling is a form of "diplomacy", especially in the Mid East, but it is also a long played ploy. And all know the stakes at hand.

Makes for good headlines, though. And that may be the point.

[tekisui]

2. I think you are right.

Oil jumped back up $5 today, supposedly due to the missile tests. Israel, Iran and the US have a lot to lose and little to gain in a new Mid-East War.

But, then I found this:
US Confirms Offer to Iran on Nuclear Pre-Negotiations
http://voanews.com/english/2008-07-10-voa59.cfm


Negotiations on Pre-Negotiations are seemingly making progress.

[pinto]

11. And I assume talks are happening among numerous channels, Euro, Asian, ME, etc.

[Gman]

3. While "Reverend" John Hagee rubs his hands in glee

he's unable to contain his excitement! He was quoted as saying, "Oh, Boy! This is great! Jesus is right around the corner!"

[Obamanaut]

4. I don't think the Liberty was the recipient of similar hints. nt

[Behind the Aegis]

9. ...

:eyes:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. WWI was an unintended "mistake". 37 million casualties.

"If they want peace, nations should avoid the pin-pricks that precede cannon shots." Napoleon Bonaparte

[tekisui]

7. That is my fear.

This game of chicken in the tinder box that is the MidEast could drag us all into WWIII. All it takes is one sneeze.

[newmajority]

6. Those Likud bastards are fucking lunatics

Did anyone here see that 60 minutes story a few months back with the guy who leads the Israeli Air Force? That guy is so paranoid he literally thinks another Hitler is hiding under ever rock in the Middle East.

When was the last time Iran attacked ANYBODY?

Why don't the Israeli people get rid of these extremist morons and restore some sane leadership to their country. Isn't there another Rabin out there somewhere?

[tekisui]

8. One Israeli official was on BBC last night

claiming that Iran wanted another Holocaust, and was reporting that to Israeli citizens.

[Hardrada]

10. They shouldn't cry "wolf" so much.

I hope the average Israeli is skeptical of the leadership.