U.S., Israel considering joint 'surgical strike' on Iran's nuclear facilities
Source: Haaretz
U.S., Israel considering joint 'surgical strike' on Iran's nuclear facilities
Former Clinton administration official David Rothkopf writes in Foreign Policy that attack, which he says could not be carried out by Israel alone, would only take a few hours and neutralize Republican criticism.
The United States and Israel are considering the possibility of a joint "surgical strike" against Iran's nuclear facilities, according to a Foreign Policy report by David Rothkopf published Monday.
While Israel and the U.S. still dont entirely agree on the "red line" which would trigger a military response, the report said that the Israelis are now suggesting a more limited attack than was previously debated.
Rothkopf, a former Clinton administration official and international relations expert, quoted a source said to be close to the discussions, which claimed that a small-scale attack is currently viewed as the most likely military option. Such strike, the source said, is likely to only take a few hours and would be conducted by air, using bombers and supported by drones.
In order to send the Iranian nuclear program back many years, such an attack could be carried out in a joint U.S.-Israeli operation, or by the U.S. alone. The report claims Israel would not be able to carry out this kind of attack on its own.
Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-israel-considering-joint-surgical-strike-on-iran-s-nuclear-facilities-1.468855
oswaldactedalone
(3,491 posts)bomb bomb Iran. Oh bomb Iran, that's the plan, bomb Iran.
Sung to the tune of Barbara Ann.
SamKnause
(13,107 posts)Sung by John McCain.
I remember it well.
FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)SamKnause
(13,107 posts)Did he change his tune ?
Has he stated he is against a strike against Iran now ?
FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)Bohunk68
(1,364 posts)nation. This would be the stupid. Russia is a friend to Iran and so is China. Just like with Syria. Ya want a nuclear Armageddon? Well, that's the way to do it. The Teabaggers and extreme Evangenitals would be wildly ecstatic.
Socal31
(2,484 posts)Russia delays the full roll-out of the S-300.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5igbfOLXp02XMK7ghdxIYL_guXqWQ
Obama delayed the newer "bunker-buster" weapons to Israel in 2010, although it is widely reported that we made a secret transfer in 2011 in return for a delay in the strike.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/julian-borger-global-security-blog/2011/sep/27/iran-nuclear-weapons
Nobody is going to launch nukes over Iran, with the exception possibly being Israel depending on how bad it would get. Which goes back to the point to the law of unintended consequences: we just don't know what will/could happen when/if the shooting starts.
The only obvious solution to all of this is for Iran to fully comply with the IAEA, and Israel to declare and dismantle its nuclear weapons under international scrutiny.
They are already under our nuclear umbrella, they don't need them. I don't see Iran giving up the pursuit for anything less than a nuclear free ME.
leveymg
(36,418 posts)The term "surgical strike" assumes the patient is helpless, knocked out or willing to lay down quietly on a table while you take sharp knives to his body and start hacking around to cut out organs, bones and guts. That's not the case here. Iran isn't Libya or even Iraq.
What an insane notion.
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)with one candy bar. Watch them rip each other to shreds.
leveymg
(36,418 posts)They can take all the arms and ammo they can carry with them.
Happy landings!
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)since it is obvious that whoever is making the real decisions is helpless to ward off the horrific effects of
"Republican criticism".
madrchsod
(58,162 posts)dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)is the background writing of the the person referred to above : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Rothkopf
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)A Kissinger protege.
GeorgeGist
(25,321 posts)SamKnause
(13,107 posts)That is the best suggestion and solution to this problem.
Ship them all over to Israel, starting with Sheldon Adelson and Mitt Romney.
I try not to hate people, but I am sick and tired of the lunatic fringe, religious fanatic Republicans controlling this country and invading, attacking, and occupying the world.
They truly sicken me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kindly Refrain
(423 posts)You can tell, they are giddy over it. It pretty much has come down to not "if" but "when". Obama may have to commit to bomb Iran or lose the election. The powers that be have spoken.
Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)Now that, my friend, might turn out to be very accurate.
No doubt any career politician would calculate it would be worth it, such is the sick so-called democracy under which we suffer.
on point
(2,506 posts)cstanleytech
(26,293 posts)but that doesnt mean that they will carry it out.
Coyotl
(15,262 posts)Because I am a Big Oil tycoon
torotoro
(96 posts)...and they say Thank you
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)Operation Circumcision ?
iamthebandfanman
(8,127 posts)as theres no factual evidence to back any of that up..
'a friend of a friend of a friend told me'
is essentially the source listed ;p
JackRiddler
(24,979 posts)He says he spoke with a source in Israeli-US military planning, but doesn't even say on which side this unnamed source is. Hence, an Israeli (because he'd say right away if it was US military talking like this). Okay, so an Israeli told him about how the Israelis presented their own idea for the United States to start an aggressive war on Iran, and in the reporting this turns into a subject of the talks, suggesting a joint plan.
Chef Eric
(1,024 posts)Hey, maybe we can provoke Iran into taking our embassy workers hostage!
SamKnause
(13,107 posts)NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!
Israel can not do it on their own. BS. The U.S. has armed them to the teeth. Why can't they defend themselves ?
Neutralize Republican criticism. I don't give a flying F*** about Republican criticism.
The consensus of the world is that Iran does not have nuclear weapons, has not made nuclear weapons and is not close to being able to produce nuclear weapons.
Netanyahu has been accusing Iran of having nuclear weapons since 1992.
Why is the United States being bullied by Netanyahu and the insane warmongering Republicans ???????
earthside
(6,960 posts)Right ...
Because the Iranians will just lay down and merely say "Well, we had it coming, so we won't retaliate."
And the Saudis will flood the world with oil to keep the wild speculation in petroleum prices completely tamped down.
Of course, there is no chance that a U.S. or Israeli planes could be shot down by Iran's Russian-made anti-aircraft system because nothing ever goes wrong in these kinds of attacks.
No errant cruise missile would hurt or kill any Iranian civilians, either.
Oh, and the release of radioactive material into the atmosphere? No chance of that?
David Rothkopf is an idiot. He worked in the Clinton administration as a trade official ... but after that he worked for Henry Kissinger's company.
Gosh all fishhooks ... I sure hope no one in the Obama administration is listening to this guy.
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)and the population would welcome us with open arms and give us their oil to pay for the cost of bombing them, remember?
That is EXACTLY what Rumsfeld and Bush said.
Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee
With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,
And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,
And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.
Bin gar keine Russin, stamm' aus Litauen, echt deutsch.
And when we were children, staying at the archduke's,
My cousin's, he took me out on a sled,
And I was frightened. He said, Marie,
Marie, hold on tight. And down we went.
In the mountains, there you feel free.
I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter.
What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
- Frisch weht der Wind
- Der Heimat zu
- Mein Irisch Kind,
- Wo weilest du?
"You gave me hyacinths first a year ago;
"They called me the hyacinth girl."
- Yet when we came back, late, from the Hyacinth garden,
Your arms full, and your hair wet, I could not
Speak, and my eyes failed, I was neither
Living nor dead, and I knew nothing,
Looking into the heart of light, the silence.
Od' und leer das Meer.
/... http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1321/pg1321.html
Pharaoh
(8,209 posts)how easily Iran could tale out the Saudi oil facilities.
That would totally fuck the US.
Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)such that significant profits could be booked as a result of such action.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)The fact that US has moved a bunch of ships, including minesweepers, to that area has some significance.
defacto7
(13,485 posts)if there is a downed aircraft and Americans are again paraded before cameras with blindfolds?
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)clydefrand
(4,325 posts)anywhere unless we are in danger.
Are we in danger now that Iran will be attacking us?
Have they said they will attack us and why they want to?
Are the nuclear weapons just for Israel?
Why do we keep talking about attacking them because they have nuclear weapons? We have had them for many years. We have more than they have or will get.
I have a feeling that most people in Iran don't even know what a nuclear weapon is. Now they are being punished by the embargo, while the rich are living well.
WHY CAN'T WE JUST GET ALONG?
Overseas
(12,121 posts)BlueToTheBone
(3,747 posts)I don't see a sign off from the SOS or POTUS.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,320 posts)Here's his FP blog: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/10/08/wanted_a_truly_credible_military_threat_to_iran
What he says is:
Indeed, according to a source close to the discussions, the action that participants currently see as most likely is a joint U.S.-Israeli surgical strike targeting Iranian enrichment facilities. The strike might take only "a couple of hours" in the best case and only would involve a "day or two" overall, the source said, and would be conducted by air, using primarily bombers and drone support. Advocates for this approach argue that not only is it likely to be more politically palatable in the United States but, were it to be successful -- meaning knocking out enrichment facilities, setting the Iranian nuclear program back many years, and doing so without civilian casualties -- it would have regionwide benefits. One advocate asserts it would have a "transformative outcome: saving Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, reanimating the peace process, securing the Gulf, sending an unequivocal message to Russia and China, and assuring American ascendancy in the region for a decade to come."
Now, I don't think that means he is saying the most likely outcome is a joint attack; I think it's saying that, if there is a military strike, then the most likely form it will take is a joint bombing one. And the fuzziness of "a source close to the discussions" may mean it's just some neocon, either in the USA or Israel, indulging in wishful thinking, even if they are involved in talks somehow. The advocate claiming a "transformative outcome" sounds delusional - hopefully they're someone not actually involved in government in any country. Daniel Pipes or John Bolton, perhaps.
JRLeft
(7,010 posts)War and pollution causing climate change. Greed is the culprit.
Behind the Aegis
(53,959 posts)AntiFascist
(12,792 posts)they are not considering doing this in order to "neutralize Republican criticism"!
If this were to escalate, how many people must die because Republican panties are in a wad?
Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)- Public Opinion: A public 'tired' of protracted war is more likely to support a no-muss no-fuss few hours of military strikes if it "sets back Iran's nuclear capabilities by years"
- Presidential Politics: It's no mistake that less than 24 hours after Romney accuses Obama of having no plan for Iran, that suddenly a plan pops out of the administration (albeit an anonymous one).
Other reports have framed Rothkopf's article as "the U.S. is considering," but in all likelihood, these plans were long ago considered, and are just now being released in light of Obama's slipping polls, Romney's aggressive stance, and the impending foreign policy debate.
/... http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-admin-to-romney-heres-our-plan-for-iran-2012-10#ixzz28px0J8Cc
AntiFascist
(12,792 posts)but of course they are kept in the dark.
Prior to the Iraq invasion there was an article that appeared in Forbes about how regime change in Iraq would be good for the oil industry and help the economy. I believe this article was instrumental in selling the war to the majority of non-warmongering Republicans. Of course, the invasion ended up costing 100s of billions (if not trillions) and only benefitted the war industry. Republicans then blame the Federal deficit on ongoing programs like SSI and Medicare, totally ignoring the vast increase in debt due to ongoing war!
Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)But then, there's the daily struggle for survival, and then to satisfy all those cravings, and then there's all that brainwashing that you just can't miss! It's so exciting isn't it so don't forget never to tune out and keep watching this channel! Big prizes!
Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)The source said the possibility is also aimed at having a regional effect: "Saving Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, reanimating the peace process, securing the Gulf, sending an unequivocal message to Russia and China, and assuring American ascendancy in the region for a decade to come."
According to the report, another consideration for a limited strike is a political one. Bringing up the possibility of a limited, aerial assault, could defuse Romney's criticism, since the likelihood of such an attack of being carried out is higher...
/... http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-israel-considering-joint-surgical-strike-on-iran-s-nuclear-facilities-1.468855
One would expect such an "unequivocal message" to provoke a quite "unequivocal response", n'est-ce pas?
Posteritatis
(18,807 posts)Response to TomClash (Original post)
Post removed
cpwm17
(3,829 posts)It's really harming the US and the world. Indirectly, Israel has great influence over our foreign policy.
This is a symptom of our corrupt government, the terrible media in the US, the ignorant public, and far too many selfish crazies in the US.
Douglas Carpenter
(20,226 posts)Middle East- this time not started by a Republican President? Remembering the history of LBJ and Vietnam - I'm afraid it is all too possible.
OldDem2012
(3,526 posts)...but I doubt seriously that anything will take place before the election, or anytime in the near future.
kickysnana
(3,908 posts)Warning:
The US has a long history of turning its back or worse on its assets in the Middle East ie Ben Laden and Saddam when our interests diverged from the interests of our assets.
We simply cannot do another war. We are broke and overextended but we do have the intelligence that says unlike Saddam Iran can mount a pretty good response (that would reach you before it reaches us.) Also they have some pretty big scary allies in Russia and China.
I would suggest you retire your hawks and pull out the diplomats and cold warriors cause nobody needs WWIII aka global annihilation especially since you claim your Messiah has not arrived yet so your future appears more uncertain than our crazy Christian hawks or the Muslims with the get into Paradise free if you are a martyr plan. If God of the Jews, Christians and Muslims takes sides in wars started over perceived threats.
Signed,
A disillusioned fan of Israel.
still_one
(92,213 posts)Such thing as a surgical strike, the nuclear facilities are underground, and why the fuck would they announce it, they don't want it to be a surprise
It would also be a stupid contra productive thing to do
fingrinn
(81 posts)Israel lies, people die.
The whole Iran situation is bullshit.
How many allied bases surround Iran with a massive arsenal pointed at them? 37, yes that's right 37.
And yet they are a threat to world peace?
The simple reality is Israel does not want to lose the balance of power if Iran makes nukes.
God help us if the do, the unthinkable will happen.
Stalemate.
cpwm17
(3,829 posts)Yes, it's total bullshit. The sanctions on Iran are criminal. Clinton played the same evil game against Iraq. We all know how that turned out. Plus the genocidal sanctions against Iraq helped provoke 9-11.
cpwm17
(3,829 posts)President Clinton had far too many officials like this.
Ash_F
(5,861 posts)primavera
(5,191 posts)It's like international law just isn't a thing to even be considered. Unless, of course, it works for us, and then we invoke it as inviolable.
Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)in polite circles. "Master Race" and/or "Chosen People" syndrome, otherwise...
History tells.
JackRiddler
(24,979 posts)How do these guys sleep?