Don’t Get Too Excited About That “Israel To Nuke Iran” Story
Everyone’s all abuzz over this:
ISRAEL has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons.
Two Israeli air force squadrons are training to blow up an Iranian facility using low-yield nuclear “bunker-busters”, according to several Israeli military sources.
The attack would be the first with nuclear weapons since 1945, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Israeli weapons would each have a force equivalent to one-fifteenth of the Hiroshima bomb.
Under the plans, conventional laser-guided bombs would open “tunnels” into the targets. “Mini-nukes” would then immediately be fired into a plant at Natanz, exploding deep underground to reduce the risk of radioactive fallout.
“As soon as the green light is given, it will be one mission, one strike and the Iranian nuclear project will be demolished,” said one of the sources.
The plans, disclosed to The Sunday Times last week, have been prompted in part by the Israeli intelligence service Mossad’s assessment that Iran is on the verge of producing enough enriched uranium to make nuclear weapons within two years.
Israeli military commanders believe conventional strikes may no longer be enough to annihilate increasingly well-defended enrichment facilities. Several have been built beneath at least 70ft of concrete and rock. However, the nuclear-tipped bunker-busters would be used only if a conventional attack was ruled out and if the United States declined to intervene, senior sources said.
Israeli and American officials have met several times to consider military action. Military analysts said the disclosure of the plans could be intended to put pressure on Tehran to halt enrichment, cajole America into action or soften up world opinion in advance of an Israeli attack.
That last paragraph is perhaps the most important here: there are many reasons to leak a story like this, and it certainly doesn’t indicate an immiment Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, whether by conventional or nuclear weapons. It’s also worth remembering that the military makes plans for almost everything; that’s what military staffers do best. They plan for this, and they plan for that, and they plan for everything in between.
I can understand why the excitement is there: it’s a whopper of a headline…but at this stage, it’s more talk than anything else…
On Israeli Preparations for Iranian Nuclear Strike
For starters, should this be this a surprise to anyone? Not to me it isn’t. Indeed, Texas Rainmaker points out that the same paper made similar statements in December 2005 that Israel was preparing for strikes against Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
This story shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. The world has already seen the lengths that Israel is willing to go to keep nuclear weapons out of its enemies hands i.e Osirak 1981. I think this story was leaked to show the world just how serious Israel is taking this threat, and if need be will do it with or without outside support.