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US fears Israel may strike Iran's nukes!

 
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 18, 2003 7:57 pm    Post subject: US fears Israel may strike Iran's nukes! Reply with quote

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=329267&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Washington Post: U.S. fears Israel may strike Iran's nukes
By Nathan Guttman

A senior Washington Post columnist yesterday reported that after the latest meeting between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and U.S. President
George W. Bush in Washington, there is mounting concern in the administration that Israel might be planning to attack Iranian nuclear facilities.


The columnist, Jim Hoagland, opened his column yesterday by
saying: "A grim warning from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to President Bush that Iran is much closer to producing nuclear weapons than U.S. intelligence believes, has triggered concern here that
Israel is seriously considering a preemptive strike against Iran's Busher
nuclear reactor." According to Hoagland, who quoted U.S. and Israeli sources, Sharon brought Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant, his army liaison
officer, "to shower a worried-looking Bush with photographs and charts from a thick dossier on Iran's covert program."

Hoagland said Sharon told Bush that Israel believes Iran is much closer to a bomb than American intelligence suspects, and that as far
as Israel is concerned, the delivery date of Russian fuel for the Iranian project will be a point of no return. Hoagland noted that Israel
deliberately struck the Iraqi reactor in 1981 before it was supplied with nuclear fuel.

Haaretz diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn adds: Sharon still enjoys a reputation in Washington as a wild card, a reputation that the prime
minister put to good use leading up to the war in Iraq when his semi-veiled threats to take action if Baghdad struck Israel made Washington provide both a defensive umbrella for Israel and a hefty aid package.

But Sharon has been careful not to make explicit threats, lest they be tested one day and meanwhile cause unnecessary escalation. Instead, he has preferred to make vague statements that have left the Arabs, Iranians and Americans in a worrying fog.

Israel has made no secret that the Iranian nuclear program is the leading risk to its national security. Israeli intelligence believes the point of no return in the Iranian nuclear program is within two to three years, and some elements in Israeli intelligence apparently think it could come sooner.

But attacking Iran's nuclear facilities would be far more complicated than the 1982 strike outside Baghdad. First, Iran's nuclear program is dispersed at several sites, some of which are protected from conventional weapons; the distance to fly is much greater; and perhaps
most importantly, the Iranians could respond in a painful manner.

Therefore, Israel would prefer that the United States handle the problem through either diplomatic means or force. There have been recent reports that the CIA has shown some countries, although not Israel, plans for an air and missile attack on the Iranian facilities.

Israel would like to maintain a low profile and let the Americans lead the campaign against the Iranian program, so Israeli officials are not
commenting on it right now.
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