Biden warns Israel off any attack on Iran

[babylonsister]

Biden warns Israel off any attack on Iran

Vice President Joe Biden tells CNN that the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be 'ill advised' to try to strike Iranian nuclear facilities.

By Paul Richter
April 8, 2009


Reporting from Washington -- Vice President Joe Biden issued a high-level admonishment to Israel's new government Tuesday that it would be "ill advised" to launch a military strike against Iran.

Biden said in a CNN interview that he does not believe newly installed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would take such a step. Even so, his comment underscored a gap between the conservative new Israeli government and the Obama White House on a series of questions, including the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and Iran.

While the Obama administration has made a series of recent overtures to Tehran, the Israelis have grown more confrontational out of concern that the Islamic Republic's increasing nuclear know-how could one day become an existential threat.

Netanyahu signaled several times during his election campaign that he would not tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran. "I promise that if I am elected, Iran will not acquire nuclear arms," he said in one appearance, "and this implies everything necessary to carry this out."

With his brief comment Tuesday, Biden became the highest-ranking administration official to caution the Jewish state against a military strike. In the interview, Biden was asked whether he was concerned that Netanyahu might strike Iranian nuclear facilities.

"I don't believe Prime Minister Netanyahu would do that. I think he would be ill advised to do that," Biden said.

more...

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-biden-israel-iran8-2009apr08,0,2388127.story

[bdamomma]

1. maybe Netanyahu has cheney as an adviser.

what sick bastards.

[HereSince1628]

2. Well, that would certainly mean he gets ill-advice

In the end even the brainless W figured out Cheney was a wingnut.

[Kalyke]

3. While I agree, wholeheartedly, with Biden's admonishment,

I don't agree with him when he says, "I don't believe Prime Minister Netanyahu would do that."

Oh, yes, VP Biden, yes he would and more.

BiBi is as bat-shit crazy as Ahmadinejad.

[babylonsister]

4. I think Biden is practicing diplomacy, and I welcome that.

Why piss off Netanyahu? Bees, honey, yada yada yada. :)

[Kalyke]

8. Oh - I agree that Biden is practicing diplomacy, but it doesn't mean that

BiBi isn't bat-shit crazy. ;)

[Jennicut]

10. I think he is crazy but I also think the administration is sending a clear

signal to back off without totally saying that Netanyahu is major nutter. Of course, CNN had Wolfie and co bemoaning this and saying Obama would backtrack on Biden's statements. Why should he? Why does Israel constantly get a free pass?

[ClarkUSA]

5. Good for him... I'm glad Pres. Obama has an attack dog VP who growls softly but effectively.

If Iran's top leadership wanted a sign that things have changed since BushCo, this is definitely it.

[marshall]

6. Don't they have something that shoots down missiles?

They need to get their defensive ducks in a row and be ready if Iran for whatever reason sends something their way. Then just blow it out of the sky and wait for the rest of the world to step in.

[Marrah_G]

7. Patriot missile defense system

[14thColony]

9. Arrow ATBM system (n/t)

[karynnj]

14. I think that the concept that the Patriot missles did so well

was more "theatre" between CNN and the US military. A clever way to make Iraq think that what they were doing could easily be countered. Most scuds actually failed to reach Israel.

[LooseWilly]

17. Iran would be idiotic to attack the Israelis without provocation.

And they aren't likely to do it. In response to an Israeli first strike, however (such as what Netanyahu is suggesting), it wouldn't be so idiotic.
I don't think the Iranians have anything terribly effective in the way of conventional missiles. The notion that they "already have nukes" seems to be pretty much Western Hysteria-mongering. If anything... an Israeli strike will precipitate a response by Hezbollah, the Mahdi Army, and gods only know what other agents might be in what other places.

"something that shoots down missiles"? That sounds to me like worries about Iraq's WMDs. Bullshit boogeymen should just be ignored...
Ohh, and why, praytell, should the rest of the world step in if it's a response to an Israeli First-Strike??


Edited for typo...

[14thColony]

11. Is it possible we're seeing a good cop/bad cop routine at play?

Because no matter how many ways you do the math, Israel has extremely limited military options to deal with an alleged Iranian nuclear program.

The facts are these (to steal from Pushing Daisies):

1. The distances are too great and Israel's strike aircraft too few for an effective one-off strike, let alone the sustained air campaign that would be required to destroy even the top ten Iranian nuclear facilities.
2. Israeli Jericho missiles may not have the range to reach all of Iran, meaning at least some of the nuclear facilities are effectively immune to attack. Even if they can reach, the Jericho is very unlikely to have a penetrator warhead (see 3).
3. Some of the Iranian facilities are reportedly so hardened that no weapon short of a penetrating nuke could breach them, a type of weapon Israel is not thought to possess.
4. Israeli intelligence has admitted that even if by a miracle they destroyed every major facility, it would probably not stop an Iranian weapon program (assuming there even is one), but more likely just delay it for a few years.

So maybe this is all show to get Iran to come to the negotiating table? Of course Iranian military intelligence has almost certainly come to these same conclusions, in which case they'd know the 'bad cop' is full of shit.

Or is Bejamin Nut-and-Yahoo just plain crazy and Joe really does need to cool him off?

[Cali_Democrat]

12. K&R

[larry14]

13. Israel

should be able to defend herself against Iran

[vaberella]

15. What are you getting at?!

Did anywhere in the article state that Israel shouldn't be able to defend itself against any attack? No. However, there is no threat proposed by Iran as of yet in order for Israel to retaliate or even attack. The only time one defends oneself is when a threat has been declared...there is no threat as of yet and VP Biden did the right thing by stating any pre-emptive attack is out of order and not supported by the US end of story. I don't get your statement since it doesn't fit the situation.

[tkmorris]

16. Whatever in the world gave you the idea Israel is being prevented?

[LooseWilly]

18. If you'll read more carefully...

You'll notice that the real question is whether or not Iran should be able to defend herself from Israel.

It would appear that the consensus of the first world is "NO, Iran should not be allowed to defend herself from Israeli attacks."
Just as we've seen that Syria is "not allowed" to defend herself from Israeli attacks.
Lebanon is just plain incapable.
Iraq was under US interdiction... and just had to take it.

And, obviously, Palestinians can go fuck themselves if they think that they'll be "able to defend" themselves from Israelis. Even Obama won't go to a UN anti-racism convention that might label the Israelis racist against the Palestinians...

Ohh yeah, and the Iranians haven't actually done or said anything threatening toward Israel. The whole "wipe them off the map" hullabaloo is a literal translation, without context, of a bat shit loonie Iranian equivalent of GWB. Actually, Ahmadinejad proposed "wiping it off the map" by returning the name of Palestine to the geographical territory... and then allowing everyone in the territory, Jew and Muslim alike, to vote on the government that they want.
That portion doesn't make the major news clips... too reasonable, and reasonable doesn't sell papers/ads.
Ohh yead, and he doesn't actually deny the holocaust... he just points out that it has nothing to do with the Palestinians... and hence that the behavior of a bunch of Germans doesn't justify stealing land from Arabs.

Of course, the lesson of Might Makes Right, and steal what you can from your weaker neighbor... well those are lessons that it would appear that the Israelis were happy to put into practice as soon as Hitler was out of the way.