Posted by
Cary Wesberry on Sunday, July 13, 2008 4:48:04 PM
President George W Bush has told the Israeli government that he may be prepared to approve a future military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities if negotiations with Tehran break down, according to a senior Pentagon official.
Despite the opposition of his own generals and widespread scepticism that America is ready to risk the military, political and economic consequences of an airborne strike on Iran, the president has given an “amber light” to an Israeli plan to attack Iran’s main nuclear sites with long-range bombing sorties, the official told The Sunday Times.
“Amber means get on with your preparations, stand by for immediate attack and tell us when you’re ready,” the official said. But the Israelis have also been told that they can expect no help from American forces and will not be able to use US military bases in Iraq for logistical support.
Nor is it certain that Bush’s amber light would ever turn to green without irrefutable evidence of lethal Iranian hostility. Tehran’s test launches of medium-range ballistic missiles last week were seen in Washington as provocative and poorly judged, but both the Pentagon and the CIA concluded that they did not represent an immediate threat of attack against Israeli or US targets.
“It’s really all down to the Israelis,” the Pentagon official added. “This administration will not attack Iran. This has already been decided. But the president is really preoccupied with the nuclear threat against Israel and I know he doesn’t believe that anything but force will deter Iran.”
The official added that Israel had not so far presented Bush with a convincing military proposal. “If there is no solid plan, the amber will never turn to green,” he said.
There was also resistance inside the Pentagon from officers concerned about Iranian retaliation. “The uniform people are opposed to the attack plans, mainly because they think it will endanger our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan,” the source said.
Complicating the calculations in both Washington and Tel Aviv is the prospect of an incoming Democratic president who has already made it clear that he prefers negotiation to the use of force.
Continue reading the report from the London Sunday Times at the link above. The same President who was ready and willing to aid Israel in an all-out attack on Hezbollah just a couple of months during their take-over of Lebanon, will not commit to aiding Israel against the even worse threat of Iran. This is a sad commentary on the current state of affairs in foreign policy.
Nearly all Israeli sources point to an imminent military strike on Iran by Israel; most likely before the election and for sure before January. While I fully support a military strike on Iran, Israel needs to understand they must totally destroy Iran's ability to produce nuclear weapons. They cannot simply cripple Iran's nuclear program or set it back, allowing Iran to reconstitute it in the future. Whatever military strike occurs must be an overwhelming one which sends a clear message to the rest of the Islamic fascist world on this issue. Israel will not sit by while enemies produce weapons capable of destroying their nation and that of others in the region.