Israel prepares to strike Iran

[Joanne98]

Israel prepares to strike Iran

One of the long-running debates here in Jerusalem is whether or not the US and Israel are preparing the ground for a military strike on Iran.

There is vast disagreement here on this issue - and there are no easy answers.

But wheels are in motion.

As McClatchy reported last week, Israel has been laying the psychological foundations for a strike on Iran.

Today, The New York Times reports that Israel has also begun training for a military strike on Iran.

While this doesn't mean that an Israeli strike on Iran is imminent, it does show that Israel's warnings are not simply Pyhrric saber rattling.

"It should not surprise anyone that we are training and preparing operationally for this, and it should not in any way be interpreted as we're going to strike Iran," Israeli analyst Yossi Alpher of Bitterlemons told me this morning.

Maybe not.

But plans are cleary being fine-tuned.

What remains to be seen is what impact these actions will have on the diplomatic moves to contain Iran's nuclear ambitions.

The Israeli threats and military training may all be part of an effort to compel Europe, the US and the IAEA to treat the Iranian nuclear issue with more urgency.

Some see the Israeli actions as an attempt to put pressure on the Bush administration to take more decisive action.

There's little doubt that there are folks in the Bush administration who are open to the idea of hitting Iran.

"There is a real possibility that Bush will end his woeful second and final term with a bang, not a whimper," commentator Ari Shavit recently wrote in Haaretz.

Vice President Dick Cheney came in March to confer with both Israeli PM Ehud Olmert.

Even in leak-loving Israel, no Israeli officials were willing to tell reporters what Cheney came to talk about.

Continued>>>
http://washingtonbureau.typepad.com/jerusalem/2008/06/are-plans-afoot.html

[sam sarrha]

1. THEY LOST THE LAST SKIRMISH.. THIS WILL DESTROY THEM.. economically, etc

[hokies4ever]

2. Very interesting animation concerning attacking Iran's nuclear facilities

http://www.ucsusa.org/global_security/nuclear_weapons/nuclear-bunker-buster-rnep-animation.html

The take home message is that it's not as straight-forward as one might think, since their nuclear facilities are deep underground protected by concrete.