Cheney voices concern that Israel may attack Iran

The Jerusalem Post ^ | 20 January 2005 | JPOST.COM STAFF

[anotherview]

Jan. 20, 2005 22:25
Cheney voices concern that Israel may attack Iran
By JPOST.COM STAFF

Vice President Dick Cheney voiced concern Thursday that Israel may decide to act first against Iran to eliminate the possibility of a nuclear threat.

"If, in fact, the Israelis became convinced the Iranians had significant nuclear capability, given the fact that Iran has a stated policy that their objective is the destruction of Israel, the Israelis might well decide to act first, and let the rest of the world worry about cleaning up the diplomatic mess afterwards," Cheney said in an interview aired on MSNBC on the day that George W. Bush was sworn into office for his second term as president.

"You look around the world at potential trouble spots, Iran is right at the top of the list," Cheney said

[eccl1212]

What a fearless man.
He is such an incredible asset to our nation.

I actually hope Israel 'does' it.

That our special forces have infiltrated and are ready to 'hit' the mullahs and ayatollahs in a comprehensive purge... and that the jew hating, christian hating islamists who run Iran are deposed with extrem prejudice.

Time to move on to creating the next non-nuclear 'democracy' in the region.

[kingattax]

one specific mission for a MOAB is large enemy troop concentrations.

[eccl1212]

I'd worry about a million whacked out Iranian soldiers streaming into Iraq

---

I wouldn't.

[ThanhPhero]

Cheney voices concern that Israel may attack Iran

Or is he gently chiding Israel for being dilatory?

[mench]

LOL. Well said.

[okie01]

The Israelis do not have the capability to do this. I wish they did but it is up to us.

If I am not mistaken, the Israelis have submarines capable of launching cruise missles.

They do not have to fly over Iraq to attack Iran.

[Non-Sequitur]

Maybe he's afraid that they'll beat us to it?

[Marano NYC]

I will look on the net but I do not think they have submarines with this capability. They do have land based missiles but I do not know what the accuracy factor is with them. More likely the Israeli Navy has some surface ships with that capability.
Do they have enough missiles and platforms from sea. I tend to doubt it.

[Marano NYC]

I stand corrected they apparently do have the capability of submarine based cruise missiles. Do they have enough of them is another question ?
Cruise missiles are slow and can be be shot down but it is interesting. I do not think they would pack enough payload to do the job conventionally.

[okie01]

What if a pair of Israeli subs were seen traversing the Suez Canal, on their way to the Indian Ocean?

Would pucker some butts in Teheran, eh?

[Allan]

Maybe the headline writer should have called it a warning to Iran
rather than an expression of concern.

Loftus thinks Cheney might be hinting to Iran
that the new Iraqi government might be willing
to grant permission for Israeli planes to fly over Iraq

[Marano NYC]

Absolutely. The whole submarine class was apparently built with that in mind. These missiles are apparently nuclear armed . There would be no victory lap in Tehran.
Yet there is an increasingly unpopular regime. This regime has used 13 year olds to clear mine fields.
Iran could be in for a counter revolution within the next five years. An attack might strengthen the regime.

[okie01]

Iran could be in for a counter revolution within the next five years.

I believe today's inaugural speech might have advanced the timetable.

It is conceivable that, yes, an attack would strengthen the regime. But Cheney's statement smacks of "an ace in the hole" in the event it comes to a showdown before the regime has tumbled.

[Lijahsbubbe]

This is no feint

Agreed. The hit on Iran is definitely coming.

[edchambers]

I believe that Bush will not let it go on much longer without acting.

From your lips to Gods ears, I hope

[eddiespaghetti]

I wonder how the Israelis woould plan such an attack.
When attacking the reactor in osirak, or what it was called, they just had to fly over Jordan for a hit a run
Now they would have to fly over Jordan and Iraq.

Not necessarily. In '98, Israel and Turkey entered into a military pact of some sort. I'm not clear on all the details, but IINM, it involved letting Israel train in Turkish air space. (Turkey borders on Iran).

Of course, with the current Erdogan government in power in Turkey, who knows what the state of Israeli-Turkish military relations are?

es

[jokar]

late bump interesting conversation.

[Convert from ECUSA]

Ping

[Prophet in the wilderness]

I wonder ? if they can build new tankers from the new BOEING 747 ADVANCED ( but still will be the 747 - 500 series in my book, this is ? if they even go ahead with making a new version of the 747 ) if they can get the operational cost down of operating the 747 , could it make a nice sized tanker for the US military ?