Posted on 06/02/2011 8:31:56 PM PDT by lbryce
Speaking at Tel Aviv conference, Meir Dagan says use of force should be Israel's last option, adding that the IDF could not stop Tehran's nuclear program, only delay it. By Gili Cohen Tags: Iran nuclear IDF Mossad
Israel would not withstand a regional conflict ignited by an Israeli strike of Iran's nuclear facilities, former Mossad chief Meir Dagan said on Wednesday, adding that Israel did not have the capability to stop Tehran's nuclear ambitions, just to delay them.
In his first public appearance since leaving the post in September, Dagan said earlier this month that the possibility a future Israel Air Force attack on Iranian nuclear facilities was "the stupidest thing I have ever heard."
Speaking during a conference in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, Dagan continued his public rejection of a military move against Iran, saying that Israel didn't "have the capability to stop the Iranian nuclear program, only to delay it."
"If anyone seriously considers [a strike] he needs to understand that he's dragging Israel into a regional war that it would not know how to get out of. The security challenge would become unbearable," Dagan said.
The former Mossad chief reiterated his position, saying that the "military option is the last alternative, not preferred or possible, but a last resort. Every other alternative must be weighed before the use of force."
Referring to those who criticized him for speaking out on these matters soon after his retirement, Dagan said: "I feel obligated to express my opinion on certain matters. The prime minister and defense minister are the ones in charge, but sometimes good sense and a good decision don't have anything to do with being elected."
(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...
Dagan's words speak for themselves.
Most especially now that we have an Israeli hating muslim in the white house.
Obama will no doubt leave Israel twisting in the wind.
For two yrs this was a major issue. Now it’s not? Get ready for a attack.
Your analysis/observation makes perfect sense.
Horse crap.
Israeli subs should launch several nukes and take out irans everything.
Horse crap.
Israeli subs should launch several nukes and take out irans everything.
The man is probably right, but why is he making it public?
“We could not withstand an attack” seems to invite one.
That goes across any political/ideological/socioeconomic disagreements within the IDF and intel community.
THis isn't new thinking, Danny Ayalon and Ehud Barak have spoken similarly for years.
THe only politicians in Israel who are gun-ho about attacking Iran are Russian parties (heh, hint hint) who take on the position of firebrand at the request of the IDF/Mossad loyal to Sharon's grander longterm visions, to provide Israelis with a false sense of dichotomies in the democratic process.
Everyone in the neighborhood knows it, so it's not like Dagan speaking out at this point is going to be a epiphany revelation for interested parties.
The Samson Option is a term used to describe Israel’s alleged deterrence strategy of massive retaliation with nuclear weapons as a “last resort” against nations whose military attacks threaten its existence, and possibly against other targets as well.[1] Israel refuses to admit it has nuclear weapons or to describe how it would use them, an official policy of nuclear ambiguity, also known as “nuclear opacity.” This has made it difficult for anyone outside the Israeli government to definitively describe its true nuclear policy, while still allowing Israel to influence the perceptions, strategies and actions of other governments.[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samson_Option
Israeli subs and aircraft could take out every body's everything in the middle east if it comes to it.
Yup. All of a sudden they’re not ready? What a load of obama.
adding that the IDF could not stop Tehran's nuclear programThey slowed it down with Stuxnet. Israel has sufficient warheads (and delivery systems) to literally wipe out Iran's nuclear program and military bases, and still have plenty to spare. But Israel won't use those until the crisis is existential. This guy's referring to a conventional raid.
All true, but it would take just a few nukes to entirely wipe Israel off the map.
The Islamic World with a billion people can take 300 nukes and survive, I doubt Israel can take 3 nukes and stay together as a nation state.
If Israel were attacked from all sides with the full strength of the enemy's might they'd likely have to exercise the Samson Option to survive, and those enemies would then be incinerated. If the attack against Israel is less intense and conducted by only one or two nations, the Israelis would be able to handle it conventionally.
Either way, Israel survives.
But they can withstand nuke strikes from Iran?
“In his first public appearance since leaving the post in September, Dagan said earlier this month that the possibility a future Israel Air Force attack on Iranian nuclear facilities was ‘the stupidest thing I have ever heard.’”
The Israeli attack on Iran begins 3, 2, 1...
IMO, this is Psy-Ops!
The Israelis were not the least bit bashful when they blasted the Syrian nuclear facility in 2007. They just pretended that it didn’t happen until a week later when Bibi admitted it. There was no reaction from Arab states to the attack on Syria and Iran isn’t even Arab!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Orchard
“Operation Orchard[2][3] was an Israeli airstrike on a nuclear reactor site[4] in the Deir ez-Zor region[5] of Syria carried out just after midnight (local time) on September 6, 2007.”
“According to a Wikileaks cable, the Syrian government placed long-range missiles armed with chemical warheads on high alert after the attack but did not retaliate fearing an Israeli nuclear counterstrike.[56]
“No Arab government besides Syria has formally commented on the September 6 incident. The Egyptian weekly Al-Ahram commented on the “synchronized silence of the Arab world.” Neither the Israeli nor Syrian government has offered a detailed description of what occurred.”
I don’t think people in the Middle East really “get” this. We used to bitch that the Rooskies had more nukes than we did. Well, the truth was, you take out 20 cities in the USSR and the country would be effectively no longer exist. It really would take much more to knock out the US.
You take out 10 cities in the ME, that’s basically it for 6,000 years of Arabic civilization.
Samson option and I doubt anybody around them would stay together as a nation state either.
Heads of a bunch of snakes would be cut off to boot.
Not a good outcome for anybody, but that is the purpose of the *MAD* deterrent.
Agreed.
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