Israel: US report on Iran may spark war

Israel: US report on Iran may spark war</p>

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JERUSALEM - <span id="lw_1197746979_0" class="yshortcuts" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;">Israel</span>'s public security minister warned Saturday that a U.S. intelligence report that said <span id="lw_1197746979_1" class="yshortcuts" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;">Iran</span> is no longer developing nuclear arms could lead to a regional war that would threaten the Jewish state.</p>

In his remarks &mdash; Israel's harshest criticism yet of the U.S. report &mdash; <span id="lw_1197746979_2" class="yshortcuts" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;">Avi Dichter</span> said the assessment also cast doubt on American intelligence in general, including information about Palestinian security forces' crackdown on militant groups. The Palestinian action is required as part of a U.S.-backed renewal of peace talks with Israel this month.</p>

Dichter cautioned that a refusal to recognize Iran's intentions to build weapons of mass destruction could lead to armed conflict in the Middle East.</p>

He compared the possibility of such fighting to a surprise attack on Israel in 1973 by its Arab neighbors, which came to be known in Israel for the <span id="lw_1197746979_3" class="yshortcuts" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;">Yom Kippur</span> Jewish holy day on which it began.</p>

"The American misconception concerning <span id="lw_1197746979_4" class="yshortcuts" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;">Iran's nuclear weapons</span> is liable to lead to a regional Yom Kippur where Israel will be among the countries that are threatened," Dichter said in a speech in a suburb south of <span id="lw_1197746979_5" class="yshortcuts" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;">Tel Aviv</span>, according to his spokesman, Mati Gil. "Something went wrong in the American blueprint for analyzing the severity of the Iranian nuclear threat."</p>

Dichter didn't elaborate on the potential scenario but seemed to imply that a world that let its guard down regarding Iran would be more vulnerable to attack by the Islamic regime.</p>

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had disputed the U.S. intelligence assessment this month, saying that Iran continues its efforts to obtain components necessary to produce nuclear weapons. Tehran still poses a major threat to the West and the world must stop it, Olmert said.</p>

Israel has for years been warning that Iran is working on nuclear weapons and backed the United States in its international efforts to exert pressure on Iran to stop the program. Israel considers Iran a significant threat because of its nuclear ambitions, its long-range missile program and repeated calls by its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for the disappearance of Israel.</p>

Iran says its nuclear program is for purely peaceful purposes.</p>

Israel will work to change the American intelligence agencies' view of Iran, said Dichter, a former chief of Israel's Shin Bet secret service agency.</p>

"A misconception by the world's leading superpower is not just an internal American occurrence," Dichter said.</p>

Any future faulty U.S. intelligence on the actions of Palestinian security forces could damage peace efforts, Dichter said.</p>

"Those same (intelligence) arms in the U.S. are apt to make a mistake and declare that the Palestinians have fulfilled their commitments, which would carry with it very serious consequences from Israel's <span id="lw_1197746979_6" class="yshortcuts" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;">vantage point</span>," Dichter said.</p>

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Nastrodamus said this would happen/</p>

 

I think a war between Israel and Iran would lead to a WW3.</p>

It doesn't benefit anyone and hopefully Israel knows that, and I don't think Iran is that dumb to attack Israel first, since the US would strike land within hours and pretty much destroy everything in sight.</p>

 

If Iran were to attack Israel with non-conventional weapons, the US wouldn't even have the chance to wipe Iran out, as it would trigger the Samson Option.</p>

 

We need to cut our ties with Israel. Who cares if they get taken over. Our alliance with them seems to be the fuel to the fire of hate against the USA in the Middle East. I say this as an Israeli too, with family in Israel. It is just plain idiotic to keep up this alliance with such a weak nation, who is yet so very troublesome because they know they have USA backing them up. Lets see how much of a bully Israel tries to act like without the United States backing them.</p>

 

Considering that you have family there, you should be better informed than you appear to be.</p>

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1) The alliance between the US and Israel has, in actuality, very little to do with Israel per se, and everything to do with leverage in the Middle East. By exercising alternating control and aid to Israel, the US has ensured itself of an integral role in any Middle East-related developments, with corresponding opportunities to increase its sphere of influence. Furthermore, this control has already resulted in considerable benefits for the US, with Kissinger's realpolitik being the most notable example. By exercising control over Israel in every phase of the Yom Kippur War, the US placed itself as a viable alternative to the Soviet Union, even as it ensured that Israel did not accomplish too much, and thereby damage US political goals in the region.</p>

2) Nor is the alliance (if such be called) as simple a matter as people seem to think. The biomedical and technological developments that continue to spring from the US-Israeli relationship are, simply put, incredible - and not to be thrown away because deluded people in the Middle East find it convenient to blame the US for Israel (and even vice versa).</p>

3) Israel is far from weak, and it's weaknesses are not only known to the US, but in many instances the result of US policy. To give but one example, several years ago there were efforts to improve Israeli-Indian relations, including significant arms sales. The US refused to allow it to happen, arguing on the one hand that since the military technology had been developed in conjunction with the US, Israel did not have the right to sell it to third parties. Underlying this was the need for the US to continue as Israel's closest ally, for reasons either explicitly or impliedly stated above.</p>

4) Far from backing Israel, the present administration has, under that guise, placed more pressure on Israel to make concessions than any administration in history - including the Yom Kippur War and even the slanted embargo in 1948. Don't confuse perception with reality.</p>

5) Building on the perception versus reality concept, Israel has been anything but a bully. Bullies, as a rule, do not make concessions left and right, especially after they've seen the negative result therefrom.</p>

Shall I go on?</p>