Israel readies forces for strike on nuclear Iran

ISRAEL’S armed forces have been ordered by Ariel Sharon, the prime minister, to be ready by the end of March for possible strikes on secret uranium enrichment sites in Iran, military sources have revealed.
The order came after Israeli intelligence warned the government that Iran was operating enrichment facilities, believed to be small and concealed in civilian locations.

Iran’s stand-off with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over nuclear inspections and aggressive rhetoric from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, who said last week that Israel should be moved to Europe, are causing mounting concern.

The crisis is set to come to a head in early March, when Mohamed El-Baradei, the head of the IAEA, will present his next report on Iran. El-Baradei, who received the Nobel peace prize yesterday, warned that the world was “losing patience” with Iran.

A senior White House source said the threat of a nuclear Iran was moving to the top of the international agenda and the issue now was: “What next?” That question would have to be answered in the next few months, he said.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1920074,00.html

Nothing good can come out of this!

nukes. Israel, after all, introduced nukes to the Middle East.

Though the US did patrol the Middle East waters with nukes, of course.

No Nukes anywhere!

Thanks to "super-patriot:" Oliver North, who made sure they were armed to the teeth with our high-tech munitions.

Can you spell t-r-a-i-t-o-r ?

Yesteryears technology. It will be interesting to see how Israel does it. What with AWACS aircraft over Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Despite our relations with Israel, they have a disconcerting tendency to not tell us what will happen.

I wonder where they would do that. Syria? Jordan? Saudi Arabia?

If this goes down, don't be surprised if it originates from Iraq, rather than Israel, whether aircraft form up there, or Mossad agents infiltrate from there, or both.

And if that happens, all bets are off for the whole region.

NOT!

And Israel can always point to us and say pre-emptive action is an acceptable way to deal with perceived risks.

This is like the Middle East version of Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August, a book about the events in 1914 that triggered the First World War.

There is a complicated set of options on how the action might proceed, but they are all bad.

More or less in the same terms, over the last three years or so.

...I don't consider any threat made by Israel to be an empty one.

Like most governments ...

...Israel never bluffs. They can be dissuaded from a certain course of action, but they never bluff.

I'm surprised you don't know that.

Clearly, whatever Israel says, they do, no fooling around.

Gov't Officials Deny Plan to Strike Iran
10:36 Dec 11, '05 / 10 Kislev 5766


The Sunday Times in London reports that Prime Minister Sharon is preparing for a possible strike on secret uranium enrichment sites in Iran. Israeli officials deny.

Quoting unnamed military sources, the report states that Israeli intelligence warned its government that Iran was operating small enrichment facilities concealed in civilian locations. The Times says that Sharon has ordered the military to prepare for a possible strike by the end of March.

Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and sources in Sharon's office deny the Times report. "Israel is dealing with the Iranian issue only with diplomatic tools," Shalom said. Sharon staffers said the paper's report is totally untrue.

It is known that Iran will be able to build a nuclear warhead 2-4 year after it receives the technical expertise to enrich sufficient quantities of uranium - known as the "point of no return." No country will be able to bomb the reactor once this point is reached, for fear that the radioactive fallout will harm an unknown number of thousands of civilians.

http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=94571


I guess this is just more proof not to believe everything you read?

Or the Spring before. Some examples:

Sunday 29 August 2004, 14:00 Makka Time, 11:00 GMT
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/03398F16-8119-4A21-83E4-D93E5F161B55.htm

Not sure, about 18 months ago:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4907.htm

1 May 2005:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO505A.html

I personally, if I did intend to attack them, would do everything in my power to put them to sleep or mislead them about my intentions.

Israeli act of war?

it would get the Iranians behind him -- and make him more powerful. We can be sure that he will be well protected.

Sort of like bushie trying to get some nut cases to attack the US -- who was the real "winner" from the 9-11 tragedy? Not the people (victims) -- but bunny-pants bushie who sat in a classroom while people were dying.

Weapons grade uranium and warheads already?

Why has Bushco strengthened Iran's hand in Iraq by fighting the Sunnis and allowing Shiite militias to gain strength? I have a strong feeling of dread knowing how PNAC has taken control of our foreign policy and a belief they would welcome a limited nuclear strike as has been discussed lately as an option being looked at by the Pentagon.

against Israel's nuclear arsenal.

How do you spell Armageddon?

They want Armageddon.

I wonder what they will say when Jesus pulls a no-show after the nuclear exchange?

And go for best two out of three.

If a tornado hits a gay church killing everyone inside, they will say that GAWD was punishing gays for their abomination.

If the same tornado hits a fundie church killing everyone inside, they will say that GAWD had a different plan for their lives, that no one can discern GAWD's will, but that it was all done for some Divine purpose.

How can one debunk such a versatile theology?

will be a steaming pile of ashes. And there can be no second coming when there is no "there" there.

...that the timing of the alleged withdrawal of 60,000 U. S. troops from Iraq early next year is rather interesting considering the deadline with Iran in March?

And how about those 70,000 troops that were sent back to the U. S. from Europe about six months ago? And there was also the curious command structure in Europe with a 2nd executive officer being assigned to one of the primary combat organizations.

Let's see...that's a total of 130,000 troops that could be illegally invading Iran next Spring.

Who needs Avian Flu when we have the NeoCons in charge?

I've been checking the Israeli press and they are quoting The Times!



I wonder which side in the upcoming Israeli elections does Murdoch support? Bibi Netanyahu and Mofaz are staying with Likud, and they are the most vocal about war against Iran.

If Israel was indeed planning a military action, you wouldn't be reading about it in The Times or anywhere else. Israel can keep secrets!

...just like we did to Iraq before we illegally invaded that country.

the Likudniks are dropping like flies and switching to Sharon's new party.

Just this morning Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz left Likud to join Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new Kadima party.

Mofaz said on Sunday that he quit the Likud because "extremists" have hijacked the party.


http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/705911B1-4D27-406F-ACC1-B463F89F40A5.htm

Islam, etc.

The difference is that unlike Israel, the US is still stuck in the undemocratic 2-party system.

the Iranian Oil Bourse, planned to go into effect in....oh yeah...March. :eyes:

http://www.thetrumpet.com/index.php?page=article&id=1704

"The proposed March 2006 launch of the Iranian oil bourse (iob), if successful, would give the euro a foothold in the international oil trade, solidifying its status as an alternative oil transaction currency. This, in turn, could be a catalyst for a major currency flight from the dollar to the euro—and a disaster for America."

Chavez has been speaking about switching to euros, which has triggered a lot of attacks from the Bush regime.

Yep. If he'd just shut up and gone with the program. Not to be a broken record here; I've said this here before, but Arundhati Roy said Bush and Saddam are two CEOs and the war is about a business deal gone bad.

Does anybod here know how close to starting their nuclear reactor the Iranians are? It would be interesting if it was scheduled to come online at about the same time as the oil bourse.

and then I got to the end....

'Considering America’s industrial and agricultural heartland has been gutted over the last half century, this possibility could be grave. As one commentator put it, the impact of the Iran oil bourse on the U.S. dollar—and the follow-on effect on the U.S. economy—could be worse than Iran launching a “direct nuclear attack.”

Should Iran’s planned euro-based oil-trading mechanism get off the ground and gain international popularity, the U.S. dollar will weaken and the euro strengthen—helping to hasten the economic decline of the U.S. and propelling the European Union into dominance.

Though many economists consider the chances of Iran’s ambitions being successful as remote, we can know from Bible prophecy that the U.S. financial system will be brought down—along with the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency."



And I'm like, "where the hell did THAT come from". The US in the Bible? I had no idea! :crazy:

and I just lifted the paragraph about the oil bourse. Looking at the "about us" tab on their site, they're a fundie group.

their sinister intent could not be clearer. sad though, that they've seemingly signed up israel to do the dirty work. could be they'll form a little 'instant coalition' after playing the usual 'failed diplomacy/irrelevant un' game.

I was kind of hoping I'd never find out.

But then, my parents and grandparents found out. Wow, some family tradition, that.

comin on........

One two three four,
We don't want your rich man's war!!!

to happen.

It has always been about the petrodollars.

Petrodollar Warfare: Dollars, Euros and the Upcoming Iranian Oil Bourse
by William Clark

http://www.energybulletin.net/7707.html

Contemporary warfare has traditionally involved underlying conflicts regarding economics and resources. Today these intertwined conflicts also involve international currencies, and thus increased complexity. Current geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran extend beyond the publicly stated concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear intentions, and likely include a proposed Iranian “petroeuro” system for oil trade. Similar to the Iraq war, military operations against Iran relate to the macroeconomics of ‘petrodollar recycling’ and the unpublicized but real challenge to U.S. dollar supremacy from the euro as an alternative oil transaction currency.

It is now obvious the invasion of Iraq had less to do with any threat from Saddam’s long-gone WMD program and certainly less to do to do with fighting International terrorism than it has to do with gaining strategic control over Iraq’s hydrocarbon reserves and in doing so maintain the U.S. dollar as the monopoly currency for the critical international oil market. Throughout 2004 information provided by former administration insiders revealed the Bush/Cheney administration entered into office with the intention of toppling Saddam Hussein.<1><2>

. . .

Concerning Iran, recent articles have revealed active Pentagon planning for operations against its suspected nuclear facilities. While the publicly stated reasons for any such overt action will be premised as a consequence of Iran's nuclear ambitions, there are again unspoken macroeconomic drivers underlying the second stage of petrodollar warfare – Iran's upcoming oil bourse. (The word bourse refers to a stock exchange for securities trading, and is derived from the French stock exchange in Paris, the Federation Internationale des Bourses de Valeurs.)

. . .

The proposed Iranian oil bourse signifies that without some sort of US intervention, the euro is going to establish a firm foothold in the international oil trade. Given U.S. debt levels and the stated neoconservative project of U.S. global domination, Tehran’s objective constitutes an obvious encroachment on dollar supremacy in the crucial international oil market.<7>

what do they hope to do in Iran?

They've dealt with Iranians before (Hezbollah in Lebanon), and the results were not encouraging.