Israel Tells the U.S. It Will Retaliate if Attacked by Iraq

The New York Times ^ | 9/21/2002 | Michael R. Gordon

[ex-Texan]

Israel Tells the U.S. It Will Retaliate if Attacked by Iraq

By MICHAEL R. GORDON

JERUSALEM, Sept. 21 — Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has informed the Bush administration that he plans to strike back if Iraq attacks Israel, according to Israeli and Western officials.

Mr. Sharon's statements, made privately to senior American officials in recent weeks, represent a major shift in Israeli thinking since the 1991 Persian Gulf war, when 39 Iraqi Scud missiles struck without any Israeli response.

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The prime minister's position reflects a widespread belief among Israeli politicians and generals that Arab leaders perceived Israel's restraint in 1991 as weakness. Throughout his military and political career, Mr. Sharon has always held that any attack on Israel must be promptly and powerfully punished.

"I don't think there is a scenario in which Israel will get hit and not strike back," a senior Western official said. "I think the evolving strategy will be commensurate response."

Mr. Sharon's position has significant implications for the Pentagon, which fears that an Israeli entry would stir up Arab public opinion and make it harder for the Pentagon to maintain cooperation from the Arab states where Washington hopes to base American forces

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[VeaVictis]

"If one million Chinese troops came across the Yalu, do you seriously believe that 50,000 US troops could stop the onslaught?"

Yes, there is no way to hide 1,000,000 troops nowadays. We would be fully prepared. They would have to swim across.

[JRandomFreeper]

Please explain why coalition building is important.

War does decide things. If you don't believe me, ask the citizens of Carthage.

/john

[bonesmccoy]

Kuwait couldn't do jack without US forces. In addition, your analysis is also flawed because you don't understand where the actual nations originated. Do you feel that just because a person draws a line on a diplomatic map and creates a new nation that a new moral imperative exists?

[babygene]

"Your racist rhetoric"

Don't be silly... Islam is not a race. Nore is it a religion.

[bonesmccoy]

You are discussing the primary combatants. I am discussing the secondary ramifications of the conflict. Israel appears to want to become a primary combatant. That is silly for Israel to do when the United States, Russia, UK, and, for pete's sake, even the Japanese are participating in the coalition.

While Iraq is paying for the intifada, the reality is that it is the United States who will "decide things".

Coalition development is crucial to the post-war politics. If you don't believe me, ask the people who live in the nations of the former Warsaw Pact.

[bonesmccoy]

Oh please... stop with your racist bigotry...it's totally unAmerican! End of our conversation.

[bonesmccoy]

An interesting point. It suggests that the injection of PLA troops into the Korean conflict could have been handled differently if MacArthur had better recon. Is it correct to believe that Mac had no forewarning of PLA forces aligned against him? He certainly wanted to go across the Yalu.

[JRandomFreeper]

In addition, your analysis is also flawed because you don't understand where the actual nations originated.

In a drawing room in Great Britan? Duh. And the lines have had time (a generation, at least) to solidify.

My analysis is NOT flawed in the point of a nation, regardless of the accident of it's birth, has the right to defend itself against naked aggression. Period.

/john

[JRandomFreeper]

Do you work at State? You seem to have the skills to obfuscate the obvious. Just a moment of professional admiration. No insult intended.

/john

[babygene]

"Oh please... stop with your racist bigotry"

If I were racist, why would I support Israel? Do not the Arabs and the Israelis share the same race? The Islamic “religion” preaches hate, worships a false god, and is more of a government than a religion (no matter what race they are from).

Is it your policy to call people who disagree with you “racist”? It has nothing to do with race… It has to do with their politics.

[anapikoros]

Not even close - you were asked to back up your claim about Israel's stated "official policy". Where in this article is that stated.

[bonesmccoy]

if this is the case, how do define who's boundary to believe? Do you assert that a line drawn by a Brit is better than one drawn by an American?

[bonesmccoy]

I went looking for the policy statement. I think it was said on Fox News during the last week of August, but I can't find any text. Perhaps the speaker was talking without backing it with a written position statement or press release. Who knows. If Israel keeps to it's previous stance, then I got no problem with it.

[bonesmccoy]

The ethnic origins of the Jewry is so far from the topic matter that it is laughable. This is a sure sign that you have lost your argument!

Islam does not preach hate. I have had friends who were Jewish and friends who were Muslim. I've never heard one guy say that he hates the other. We're all Americans.

I'm sick and tired of the race baiting and racial hatred. Give it up... the worm don't squirm and toad don't croak!

[JRandomFreeper]

Do you assert that a line drawn by a Brit is better than one drawn by an American?

They were not our colonies to decide the lines. The Brits beat them, and ruled them, fair and square. You see, the middle east has been a bunch of losers for a long, long, time. Otherwise, they would be the folks drawing the lines. But that's just a dream, left over from the 14th century.

/john

[bonesmccoy]

Do I work at State?

No....ahem... but I know lots of people familiar with McLean, VA!

How's Tyson's Corner these days Virginian's???

LOL

The US modern military is a projection of our economic might. The fact we can field an offensive force is related to our need to project power more than hide behind walls. The reason 9-11 is such a devastating psychological blow to some others is that they felt very secure behind the ocean's distance.

These same people were the ones blowing their saxophones so loudly during the 1990's and who failed to properly defend America's interests.

Once again, the military is acting to project our strength in order to take the front lines away from America and into the home of our enemy. So, we are the primary combatants in this battle, not Israel. The ones really obfuscating things are the Israeli's.

While I am aware that the intifada is a perceived threat to Israeli security, it does not really threaten the IDF's stability. The intifada really seems more of a lawless uprising of criminals than a real military threat.

With this in mind, separating the combatants of the Intifada from the Iraqi or Iranian regimes is skillful. In a military sense, it separates the field troops from the supply lines. The US is attacking the body of the snake. The IDF is attacking the head.

Separating the two theatres/fronts seems reasonable. Thanks for serving our nation...

[bonesmccoy]

well, there's not much to argue with there. You are correct about your assessment, with the exception of the oil. That's why we need a strong force in Asia.

I still think we need to push for US-Russian joint oil exploration in Siberia and then bring the Japanese into the picture as consumers.

If we can ram up the Japanese economy and flush the funds back out through oil purchases by the Japanese, we all win.

[JRandomFreeper]

with the exception of the oil

We have more oil in and around the US than we can use in a generation. Access to it is blocked by internal enemies to the US; mainly the watermelons: green on the outside, red on the inside. All that is required to defeat them is the truth.

Night all. I retire from the field for the night.

/john

[bonesmccoy]

I prefer seedless watermelons.

ANWAR should have been opened, but the international politic of doing joint US-Russian oil exploration in Siberia could help things.

Thanks for the great conversation.

[weikel]

The right to self defense is the most basic right. Israel has it politics aside.