Posted on 08/24/2006 5:01:36 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, if he ever became the supreme decision maker in his country, would "sacrifice half of Iran for the sake of eliminating Israel," Giora Eiland, Israel's former national security adviser, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.
At present, Eiland stressed, the ultimate decision maker in Iran was Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 67, whom he said was "more reasonable." But, Eiland went on, "if Ahmadinejad were to succeed him - and he has a reasonable chance of doing so - then we'd be in a highly dangerous situation."
The 49-year-old Iranian president, he said, "has a religious conviction that Israel's demise is essential to the restoration of Muslim glory, that the Zionist thorn in the heart of the Islamic nations must be removed. And he will pay almost any price to right the perceived historic wrong. If he becomes the supreme leader and has a nuclear capability, that's a real threat."
In facing up to Iran's nuclear ambitions, Eiland said the United States had three possible courses of action, "all of them bad," and that a decision could not be postponed for too long, "since delay, too, is a decision of sorts."
The first option was "to give up" - to accept that Iran was going nuclear and try to make the best of it. By "making the best of it," Eiland said, he meant "isolating Iran economically, politically and internationally in the hope that this will eventually prompt an internal push for regime change."
This might also give other nations the sense that the political price of going nuclear was too high for them to contemplate, and might thus deter nations such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Algeria and others from seeking to emulate Iran and spelling the full collapse of the nuclear nonproliferation era.
Washington's second option was to launch a last-ditch effort at diplomatic action, he said. At this stage, a mixture of sanctions and bonuses would not be sufficient to deter Iran altogether, but it might seek to persuade Teheran to suspend progress for two or three years.
"In return, the US would have to open direct engagement with Teheran, with full recognition of the regime. This would boost the regime's credibility and standing at home and allow it to say it was voluntarily suspending the program for a while," he said.
The advantage for the Bush administration was that "Bush could then say, 'They didn't go nuclear on my watch, and it's up to my successors to keep things that way.'"
The third option, said Eiland, was a military operation - born of the sense that the diplomatic process would not work and that there could be no compromise with an axis-of-evil power. However, internal political realities and public opinion in the US were not conducive to this, he said, nor was international support readily available. Furthermore, said Eiland, "this would be action that would have to be taken within months.
If not, and if Iran continues enrichment, it will complete the research and development stage and have a proven ability which it can then duplicate at numerous sites. And at that point it could not be stopped by military action. Six months or 12 months from now would be too late, he said.
Tellingly, Eiland noted, it seemed to him that the difficulties facing the administration over that third course were growing.
As the crisis with Iran deepens, meanwhile, some Israeli sources believe the US has acted foolishly in spurning opportunities for international diplomatic cooperation against Iran in recent years, and that Israel mistakenly encouraged this course of action.
The US might have had more success isolating Iran two years ago, when Bush and French President Jacques Chirac were stronger, Iran was weaker and the situation in Iraq looked better, said the sources.
As recently as a few months ago, on a trip to Ukraine, which is a vital Russian sphere of influence, US Vice President Richard Cheney criticized the Putin regime's record on democracy, the sources pointed out. Against that kind of background, the US should not be surprised now, therefore, to find Russia less than willing to fully cooperate on its Iran strategy.
Israel, these sources went on, realized early the danger posed by Iran's nuclear drive but erred in supporting the US in hanging tough rather than pushing it toward cooperation.
As for Israel's military options, these sources spoke of an immense dilemma for the government. Declining to go into detail, they noted only that Israel was not as potent militarily as the US and mused about what might happen if a military action proved unsuccessful in thwarting the nuclear program. Iran might then complete its nuclear drive and, branding Israel a preemptive aggressor, claim legitimacy for a strike of its own at Israel.
I would he would say what 'half" he would sacrifice. Then maybe "that half" would revolt and run all the mullahs and him in the ground.
Try all.
Which half? Perhaps those that don't agree with him?
Sounds like they interviewed a bunch of liberal Israelis for this story.
Poor guy shouldn't have to settle for half. We can exterminate every Iranian vermin on the face of the earth! Let us help! Please!
LOL. He won't have to. He and his missiles will be gone before he gets the chance.
I'd say he's gonna get 9/10th and not destroy Israel.
Lebanon thinks they got a good trade for some dead jews
And that is exactly what Iran wants.
Iran might then complete its nuclear drive and, branding Israel a preemptive aggressor, claim legitimacy for a strike of its own at Israel.
More blather, Iran has already labeled Israel an occupying
force that must be driven into the sea, what more legitimacy
could they need.
So we can strike now and perhaps fail, or we can wait for
Iran to strike and perhaps succeed. Some choice!
Please, please, let ME push the button!!!
"not" s/b "Note". Arrrrgh.
I was thinking the same thing. The half that this crazy little bastid would scarifice better get their act together and get rid of "Little Hitler" and the Mullah.
Utter horsefeathers. An armored corps in downtown Teheran would stop it cold. So would a hundred nukes. Nobody here is remotely serious, they think "military action" means firing a few cruise missiles at empty tents. That is exactly the silly poll driven substitute for military thinking that got us 9-11, in the case of Afghanistan. Grown ups took the whole country in a few weeks, instead.
and a strange trilling sound was heard.
Substitute "Ahmadinejad" for "Democrats", "Iran" for "America" and "Israel" for "Bush"
Either way the Headline is about on target.
High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel.
also Keywords 2006israelwar or WOT [War on Terror]
----------------------------
Go for it you sick little twirp.
The Krauts and the Japs tried in the 1940's and history has a way of repeating itself.
Tehran doesn't rhymne with Hiroshima or Nagasaki but the effect would be the same.
"Sounds like they interviewed a bunch of liberal Israelis for this story."
Right, 'cause the conservatives would have said "all."
Ah, he'd sacrifice ALL of Iran and little Eddies like me would visit the nearest mosque to...protest...If you know whay Im sayin?????
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.