America’s spy chief was sent on a secret mission to Israel to warn its leaders not to launch a surprise attack on Iran without notifying the US Administration.
As Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, prepares to visit Washington, it emerged yesterday that Leon Panetta, the head of the CIA, went to Israel two weeks ago. He sought assurances from Mr Netanyahu and Ehud Barak, the Defence Minister, that their hawkish new Government would not attack Iran without alerting Washington.
Concerns have been rising that Mr Netanyahu could launch a strike on Tehran’s atomic programme, in the same way that Israel hit Saddam Hussein’s Osirak reactor in 1981. Israel has been preparing for such an eventuality. It has carried out long-distance manoeuvres and is due to hold its largest civil defence drills this summer. The country’s leaders reportedly told Mr Panetta that they did not “intend to surprise the US on Iran”.
Israel is a pretty amazing nation, actually. Surrounded by nations whose intent, declared openly by all of them at one time or another, to “drive the Jews into the sea,” the Israelis continue to do their best to let the world know what they are going to do, before they do it.
In this case, I would be fairly happy to wake up one morning, turn on the Today Show, and see satellite pictures of the Iranian rubble that used to be their “peaceful nuclear program.” Whether the rest of us get it or not, Israel would do the world a huge service by going ahead and taking care of business.
Well, JCK, what would the consequence be? A complete destabilization of Iraq. What would stop Shiites in Iraq from taking revenge on our soldiers?
The king of Jordan and Saudi Arabia have both offered Israel a peace plan. Where is the Israeli peace plan?
I have no doubt that the man on the street in the arab world would like to see the Jews pushed into the sea. It doesn’t help that Israel, the strongest nation in the middle east, won’t work with those Arabs who would like to end the conflict.
What would stop Shiites in Iraq from taking revenge on our soldiers?
The answer is pretty simple, really – – our soldiers would stop them, if and when we ever really allowed our soldiers to do what they are trained to do. As far as Iraq becoming “unstable–” I am not sure what would be new about that? In any case, a nuclear Iran brings unstability to the whole region. Israel can do what the world needs to have done; we ought to support her in that, or help her.
#2, the moment the Palestinians and contiguous Arab states offer a peace plan which does not include the “right of return,” I’ll agree with you.