Editorials & Other Articles

xchrom

(108,903 posts) Tue Mar 6, 2012, 10:15 AM Mar 2012

Israel, Iran and the Battle for the Bomb

Last edited Tue Mar 6, 2012, 01:39 PM - Edit history (1)

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,819312,00.html

Twelve hours is an agonizingly long time for endurance athletes as they punish their bodies, pushing themselves to the ultimate limit in events like triathlons or mountain bike races.

Twelve hours is also an agonizingly long time for politicians, acting under the pressure of an ultimatum, to prevent a war that would mean the inevitable deaths of large numbers of people.

In 1914, the German Reich gave the Russians 12 hours to stop mobilizing their troops. In 1956, the French and the British gave then-Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser the same amount of time to withdraw his troops from the Suez Canal, which he had just nationalized, and allow Israel to use the waterway again. A war ensued in both cases, partly because those who had threatened to use military force knew that it would hardly be possible to comply with their demands so quickly. In other words, they wanted the situation to escalate.

An Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities would apparently also involve a 12-hour lead time. According to intelligence sources in Tel Aviv, Israeli politicians told Martin Dempsey, the US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that the Israeli leadership intends to give the White House only half a day's notice once it has decided to proceed with a military strike. In other words, Israel wants to be sure of two things: on the one hand, that US President Barack Obama is not taken completely by surprise by a possible attack, and on the other that he is not in a position to seriously question his ally's decision and undermine it with diplomatic efforts.

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Israel, Iran and the Battle for the Bomb (Original Post) xchrom Mar 2012 OP

Israel is tying the hands of Obama by both keeping him in the dark as long as possible no_hypocrisy Mar 2012 #1

Obama, Netanyahu Differ On How To Deal With Iran xchrom Mar 2012 #2

That is a bad link... MicaelS Mar 2012 #3

you are correct. link is corrected. thanks. nt xchrom Mar 2012 #4

You're welcome n/t MicaelS Mar 2012 #5

no_hypocrisy

(46,150 posts)

1. Israel is tying the hands of Obama by both keeping him in the dark as long as possible

Reply to xchrom (Original post)

Tue Mar 6, 2012, 10:24 AM

Mar 2012

and expecting him to command our military to defend Israel for actions that the White House didn't endorse or acquiesce to.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)

2. Obama, Netanyahu Differ On How To Deal With Iran

Reply to xchrom (Original post)

Tue Mar 6, 2012, 10:47 AM

Mar 2012

http://www.wbur.org/npr/148012958/obama-netanyahu-differ-on-timeline-of-iran-strike

In several hours of talks, President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to have different timelines and red lines on the issue of Iran's nuclear program: Obama said he prefers diplomacy and pressure; the Israeli leader made clear his country reserves the right to attack pre-emptively, saying Israel must remain master of its fate.

Obama tried to do a couple of things in Monday's meeting with Netanyahu at the White House. One was to reassure Israel that the U.S. is determined to keep nuclear weapons out of Iranian hands. The other was to persuade Israel to give diplomacy and sanctions some time and not rush to military action.

"When I say all options are at the table, I mean it," he said. "Having said that, I know that both the prime minister and I prefer to resolve this diplomatically. We understand the costs of any military action."

Cost Of War

Obama also said there is a "window" that allows for a diplomatic resolution. But Netanyahu didn't sound very patient Monday night when he addressed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobby. He said he has been warning the world about the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran for the past 15 years.