Real threat or just more tough talk? http://www.optonline.net/News/Article/Feeds?CID=type=xml&channel=32&article=20145208 "Israel might be forced to launch a military strike against Iran's disputed nuclear program - the clearest statement yet of such a possibility from a high-ranking official. "I am not advocating an Israeli pre-emptive military action against Iran and I am aware of its possible repercussions," Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh, a former general, said ... "I consider it a last resort. But even the last resort is sometimes the only resort." ... Israel crippled Iraq's atomic program 25 years ago with an airstrike on its unfinished nuclear reactor. Experts say Iran has learned from Iraq's mistakes, scattering its nuclear facilities and building some underground. Sneh's tough talk is the boldest to date by a high-ranking Israeli official. Israeli leaders ... stop short of threatening military action."
Re: Will Israel attach Iran again? as a last resort, as the articel states. This is no news. it is obvious.
Re: Will Israel attach Iran again? But what do you make of this: "I consider it a last resort. But even the last resort is sometimes the only resort"?
Re: Will Israel attach Iran again? if Israel has concrete evidence of the fact that Iran is planning on attacking Israel, then it will do what it has to at that time to prevent such attack.
Re: Will Israel attach Iran again? I would like Israel to refrain from any comments about attacking Iran, something that won't happen unless it's truly the LAST resort. Vis-a-vis Iran, Israel now must focus on nuclear deterrence.
Re: Will Israel attach Iran again? Israel does not have the power to attack Iran. And would not dare. As for the 'tough talk', the statements coming from Israel's new deputy defense minister, Sneh, were incoherent anyway! He seemed to be mostly mumbling. Even then, the Israeli government was wise enough to quickly distance itself from those statements. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3326625,00.html
Re: Will Israel attach Iran again? I am not defensive, but the statements by Sneh are being used by some to convince the Russians that if they don't back serious sanctions against Iran, the Middle East might be plunged into war by Israel. Iran, on the other hand, has little to fear from such statements, but does have reason not to want to see the Russians join in a UN resolution to sanction Iran. As for Sneh's statements, trying to make them coherent, he was suggesting that Israel needs to strengthen its military power viz a viz Iran, to give itself symeterical power against Iran.(1) Right now, while Iran can easily attack Israel's major economic, political, and military targets, using conventional means, Israel's only realistic power is to threaten nuclear war. --- (1) This quote from Sneh should tell you want you need to know about his statement.
Re: Will Israel attach Iran again? i just don't understand what gives you the credibility to be so certain of Iran's or Israel's military capabilities. You do realize that there is a lot of stuff that you won't wfnd on the internet or in a publishing. I give history credibility and so far, Israel hasn't been proven wrong on too many occasions.
Agreed. Whether Israel does it or not, no real purpose is served by discussing it in advance. I said attack, not invade. Israel has dared to attack Iran before. What did Iran do then? I've just agreed that Israel & its supporters need to stop posturing. I suggest that Iran & its supporters also need to stop posturing, even on BS boards!
Israel has never attacked Iran! Nor does it have the power to do so. Israel does not have missiles with the range to hit Iran. It has a few fighter planes that theoretically can reach Iran, but they won't really make it and even if they did, would not be able to deliver much of a punch. The only arsenal that Israel has to reliably attack Iran is its nuclear force. That is not just my view; that is the view of both the US as well as the Israeli military. Indeed, even Sneh's statement supports my contention. Iran, on the other hand, can hit Israel in many ways. It can launch Shahab 3 and Shahab 3D missiles, hitting any target it wants in Israel. It can launch long range cruise missiles similar to the Kh-55 and hit any target in Israel. It can have Hezbollah fire the Zelzal and other missiles it didn't authorize Hezbollah to use against Israel. It can have Hezbollah fire rockets as it did during the war between Israel and Hezbollah. And there are still many other means at Iran's disposal to attack Israel. These are the facts. There is no bravado involved in presenting them.
i only got this far and stopped. You, my friend, are not very bright. After US, Israel has the strongest Airforce in the world by far. So, please try to think before posting so much insane non-sense.
Re: Will Israel attach Iran again? I'm certain that Israel is more powerful than Iran militarily, and I'm sure IM realizes that. Yet Israel can not realistically stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Making idle threats accompishes nothing aside from harming Israel's credibility.
Re: Will Israel attach Iran again? agree, except i don't see how it really "harms" Israel's capability.
Re: Will Israel attach Iran again? I wish that dubya and his gaggle of dilettantes would realize this, too. The US has no realistic way of preventing an Iranian nuke, either.
Re: Will Israel attach Iran again? Aside from a few overzealous people, I think everyone understands that iran can not match Israel militarily. Also what seems to be forgotten is that Israel has subs that can launch missiles that can easily hit iran. After all, those subs can park themselves right off iran's coast and fire away. As for iran firing missiles back, well I don't think I would be too off target if I said that any missile fired that have to go over Iraq would be considered a threat to US forces and could and would likely trigger a counter strike from US forces which I don't think anyone can realistically doubt are far superior to anything anyone has in the ME. As for hezbollahs rockets, that is just silly. Those rockets and missiles have proven to be quite ineffective and inaccurate. I think if they fired all '22,000' of the missiles they claim to have at once that they may hit 5-10% of their intended targets. Plus that would open the door to Israel not only going back into Lebanon, but would bring about a smarter much harsher invasion with many lessons learned that would not be repeated. The bottom line is that while Israel is talking tough, it is unlikely to attack iran even though as has been shown numerous times before they can pull it off, especially with help from one very powerful and capable ally. If iran were to do the unlikely and attack Israel first, they would face a strong response not just from Israel, but also from the US. And despite any propaganda that may be spewed from people, I have yet to see anything that iran has that can match what the US has in the field.
maybe Iran can get a nuke and take care of their original enemies - you know Arabs On another note, IMO Israel, under right circumstances and under right back-up and leadership can and will strike Iran if nothing else is left to do and IMO, there is not such thing as impossible, when one is pushed into a corner as a wounded animal, when its survival is at stake.
Something not mentioned yet is that the only people talking about removing someone from the map is iran. And until this statement, it has been armanass talking trash and making not so subtle threats against Israel. I think Israel should respond with a very clear statement about what they will do if they feel that iran is serious about their statements and are intent on following up those words with actions. Also if iran continues on their path to building a nuke, then perhaps Israel would be wise to do a test of one of their nukes. If they have any....
I wouldn't want that. Before we know it, a half dozen Arab countries will have nukes. That's even scarier than mullah controlled nukes, if that's possible. Israel needs to show an iron-clad and overwhelming second strike ability. I don't think they're quite there yet.