[Mr. Mojo]

And, while the Western world might express 'dismay' at a Moscow-led sneak invasion, it is unlikely that it will risk nuclear war with the Russians over Israel.

Perhaps, but the real question is why would Russia risk annihilation, especially considering Israel has nothing they want (natural recources, land, etc.)? What does Russia have to gain from this "sneak invasion"?

Israel may not have ballistic missiles that can reach Moscow from Israel proper but you can rest assured that they'd find a way to get at least a few of their hundreds of nukes over there if the Russians led an invasion force to annihilate Israel.. I can see the Russians "sacrificing" their major cities if their own survival was at stake, but that's obviously far from being the case here.

[carl in alaska]

I agree that this is a faulty analysis of the Russian position. If Israel thought there was any chance of a Russian invasion you can bet they would acquire some short-range cruise missiles, put a few nukes on the missiles, load the missiles onto ships and move their ships within range of Russia's port cities. Or they would find some other way to retaliate against Russia with nukes. Then they would tell Russia that they have the ability to retaliate with nuclear weapons, but not where and with what method.

Russia's role in Iran is probably not as simple and obvious as many people think. Putin was a KGB officer and he knows how to create illusions and play on both sides of the game. Moscow may have given the reactor to Iran because they wanted to maintain control over the reactors and the nuclear fuel, rather than let China or Pakistan build the reactors for Iran. Notice how recently Iran rejected the Russian proposal for Russia to maintain control of all the nuclear fueld used at the reactor. Putin may also know the location of some of the secret nuclear facilities in Iran. This article is a simplistic analysis at best. I also am naturally doubtful about writers who say their prediction "matches this Biblical prophecy exactly." If it's such an exact match, then they don't need to say so because that will be evident to the reader.

(Why do people have to justify their statements?....because they aren't entirely true.)

[Travis McGee]

I think the IDF/AF practices long range low level nuke capable F-16 missions, as their last option. They have also practiced launching missiles from subs, I do believe.