Nuke facility near Haft Juy, Iran
yitbos
Posted on 06/23/2008 12:58:34 AM PDT by forkinsocket
Israel isn't famous for welcoming public scrutiny of its most sensitive military plans. But we doubt Jerusalem officials were dismayed to see news of their recent air force exercises splashed over the front pages of the Western press.
Those exercises – reportedly involving about 100 fighters, tactical bombers, refueling planes and rescue helicopters – were conducted about 900 miles west of Israel's shores in the Mediterranean. Iran's nuclear facilities at Bushehr, Isfahan and Natanz all fall roughly within the same radius, albeit in the opposite direction. The point was not lost on Tehran, which promptly warned of "strong blows" in the event of a pre-emptive Israeli attack.
The more important question is whether the meaning of Israel's exercise registered in Western capitals. It's been six years since Iran's secret nuclear programs were publicly exposed, and Israel has more or less bided its time as the Bush Administration and Europe have pursued diplomacy to induce Tehran to cease enriching uranium.
It hasn't worked. Iran has rejected repeated offers of technical and economic assistance, most recently this month. Despite four years of pleading, the Administration has failed to win anything but weak U.N. sanctions. Russia plans to sell advanced antiaircraft missiles to Iran and finish work on a nuclear reactor at Bushehr, though spent fuel from that reactor could eventually be diverted and reprocessed into weapons-usable plutonium. Chinese companies still invest in Iran, while the U.N.'s chief nuclear inspector, Mohamed ElBaradei, has repeatedly downplayed Iran's nuclear threat.
As for the U.S., December's publication of a misleading National Intelligence Estimate that claimed Iran had halted nuclear weaponization signaled America's own lack of seriousness toward Iranian ambitions.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
I am reminded of a true and dramatic irony in history here. When Ayatollah Khomeini returned from his exile in Paris to Iran (1979 or so), all naive leftist idealists in the world applauded this. They were convinced that the then Persia had regained its true and only leadership: that of a traditional Islamic ruler. And that friend of the West, ‘fascist’ Sjah Reza Pahlavi, had been expelled, with Princess Soraya. The Revolution had become fact. Now, I for one know that the Sjah wasn’t a model democrat; he had totalitarian aspirations and a horrific secret service to keep his people in check (called the Savak, if memory serves). On the other hand, he kept a country together and stabilized the region.
And what we got in place was and is much, much worse, unthinkable then, undeniable now. Perhaps 1979 still was a year where the hippie dream of peace the world over for all times with all cultures co-existing together, even if their belief systems were horrifically contradictory, was the order of the day for the gullible.
Not so now anymore. We have to take Iranian leaders for what they say, and not for what many of us might want to believe in their dreams. If Iranian leaders state repeatedly that their chief mission is to destroy Israël, then not one single shred of misguided hope for them not really doing so is valid. If my neighbour makes it public that he’s going to do me in soon, then I’ll call the police and I’ll try to get him locked up. Why act otherwise with inimical nations.
As ever, just my two cents, respectfully submitted, A13.
Barak Obama is deeply offended that the WSJ accused him of appeasment.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Makes eminent sense. Please read my post above. To try to be a friendly neighbor with someone who’s aspiring to be your future killer is pretty lethal, it seems...
Nuke facility near Haft Juy, Iran
yitbos
Well, they haven't been asked politely by Hussein Obama's Secretary of State Mullah Farakahn.
yitbos
Sorry, I think you addressed the wrong author.
Respect anyway, A13.
bump
Should Israel pre-empt anything I'm sure they'll have this in mind also.
My feeling is that at this stage ‘strong blows’ is only empty rhetoric. Oh, they’d want to deal them in the near future, that’s for sure...
The American Left as useful tools for their Communist masters have enabled the US to be weakened by destroying allies, Iran during Carter’s rule. The communist infested US Government during and after WWII managed to “lose” China, Korea, Egypt, Vietnam and the domestic enemies have only grown within the policy making ranks of the Federal & State Governments, Academia, Media, non-profits and as we see they are poised to complete the takeover of our country.
Israel...taking out the worlds trash since 1948...and this Iranian trash definately needs taking out
ROFL! Excellent!
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