Former Israeli spymaster: Iran should be worried
JERUSALEM (AP) — A former Israeli spymaster on Thursday cautioned Iran not to dismiss Israel's talk about possibly attacking Iranian nuclear facilities.
The next 12 weeks will be "very critical" to Israel's decision on whether to strike, Ephraim Halevy said. That time frame coincides with the run-up to the U.S. presidential election.
"If I were an Iranian, I would be very worried about the Israeli talk about a possible attack, because Israel's threats sound serious and credible to me," Halevy, who left the Mossad a decade ago, told Israel Radio.
Iran contends its nuclear program is peaceful and designed to mostly produce energy. But Israel thinks Tehran's uranium enrichment activities are a cover for bomb-making, and like the U.S. has said it would not tolerate a nuclear Iran.
Israel considers Tehran to be its most fearsome enemy and does not lightly take multiple references by Iranian officials to the Jewish state's destruction. It says nuclear talks with Iran and tough sanctions against it have been ineffective — an apparent swipe at U.S. policy.
American officials oppose a near-term military strike on Iran and have pressed Israel to give diplomacy and sanctions a chance to work. A strike before U.S. elections three months from now would likely drive up oil prices and drag the U.S. into another domestically unpopular Mideast conflict during the election campaign
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this week that Israel hasn't decided whether to strike Iran. But before meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Wednesday, Netanyahu sounded impatient with U.S. efforts to curb Iran's nuclear program, saying Washington's strategy of diplomacy and sanctions was perilously close to failure.
"Right now the Iranian regime believes that the international community does not have the will to stop its nuclear program," Netanyahu said. "This must change, and it must change quickly because time to resolve this issue peacefully is running out."
The next 12 weeks will be "very critical" to Israel's decision on whether to strike, Ephraim Halevy said. That time frame coincides with the run-up to the U.S. presidential election.
"If I were an Iranian, I would be very worried about the Israeli talk about a possible attack, because Israel's threats sound serious and credible to me," Halevy, who left the Mossad a decade ago, told Israel Radio.
Iran contends its nuclear program is peaceful and designed to mostly produce energy. But Israel thinks Tehran's uranium enrichment activities are a cover for bomb-making, and like the U.S. has said it would not tolerate a nuclear Iran.
Israel considers Tehran to be its most fearsome enemy and does not lightly take multiple references by Iranian officials to the Jewish state's destruction. It says nuclear talks with Iran and tough sanctions against it have been ineffective — an apparent swipe at U.S. policy.
American officials oppose a near-term military strike on Iran and have pressed Israel to give diplomacy and sanctions a chance to work. A strike before U.S. elections three months from now would likely drive up oil prices and drag the U.S. into another domestically unpopular Mideast conflict during the election campaign
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this week that Israel hasn't decided whether to strike Iran. But before meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Wednesday, Netanyahu sounded impatient with U.S. efforts to curb Iran's nuclear program, saying Washington's strategy of diplomacy and sanctions was perilously close to failure.
"Right now the Iranian regime believes that the international community does not have the will to stop its nuclear program," Netanyahu said. "This must change, and it must change quickly because time to resolve this issue peacefully is running out."
If Iran has the bomb, then Israel has no choice but to attack them. Iran has stated over and over that they will see to the end of Israel. I hope that a war between them doesn't happen, but I fear that it's only a matter of time at this point. If it does come to war, the we (the US) has an obligation to help bury Iran. They (Iran) has been warned, sanctioned, threatened, even bribed to get along with it's neighbors, but they either can't or won't get their act together. Personally, I think if Iran attacks Israel there will be a phone call from a newly re-elected President Obama to China and Russia that says "just a heads up, we have Polaris missiles inbound from our subs in the Mediterranean Sea, Tehran will be gone in about 10 minutes. I'm sorry if they were your friends." I hope it doesn't happen, but Israel is a country of about 8 million people, surrounded by 20 million people that want them dead. The United States has a very vested interest in seeing that they do not succeed.
 @Motorcycle Now! The scariest part of your story is Obama being re-elected.
 @Middle Ground  @Motorcycle Now! Middle Ground, the scariest part or your post is the idea that Obama might not be reelected.  His foreign policy, by leaps and bounds, is far, far better and more oriented towards a world at peace than any "Republican" president, ever.Â
Israel has a choice to make and America will have a reaction to make.... stay tuned.
A war with Iran, either by the US or Israel would be a DISASTER!! The world economy would immediately go into a major recession, with gas prices and unemployment doubling what it is now.
 @Superman_1967 Wrong. Â
 @Superman_1967 A disaster yes, because any war by definition is a disaster. Major recession, no. Gas prices doubling, no. They'll go up for a short while but not for long. Doubled unemployment? Only in Iran.
 @Superman_1967 Can you post the data or article you extrapolated that from?
@Audio Cat @Superman_1967 Do you really not agree with this theory? I think it is painfully obvious
@Audio Cat @northwestsurfer @Audio @Superman_1967 When has war EVER drove America's economy up?
 @northwestsurfer  @Audio  @Superman_1967 Perhaps. Thing is, wars are funny things, some drive the money down, others bring it up - it just depends on whom is on which side. Iran doesn't produce enough oil to topple the balance, in and of itself - but -I would agree that Israel does represent a wild card politically, and could polarize the Islamic countries.
Â
It is hard to say which nation will jump which way when push comes to shove. The whole Sunni vs Shia thing is what will swing an Arab coalition one way or the other, more so then just Israel being on the opposing side. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and the smaller nations around the peninsula would love to see the Iranian regime topple.
@Audio Cat @Superman_1967 I think those are his thoughts... I happen to agree, though I think it is inevitable that Iran and the US will have a major conflict in the near future.
I actually hope they strike the facility. Â Up till now it has been way too nice for Iran. Â I doubt they believe anyone will strike. Â I say someone should prove them wrong.
@DeadRabitz no, trust me you really do not want this to happen. First, Iran will close the strait of hormuz, where Approximately 20% of the world's oil, which is about 35% of seaborne traded oil, passes through the strait (Wikipedia). Thats jut oil, not other commerce. Do you realize what this will do to the price of every other single foriegn import? Globalization has impacted everything, so if geopolitics and events that happen in a remote corner of the world, will affect the price of bread or gasoline here in the US.
Â
Dont make statements like that without doing some research, you really look foolish.
 @northwestsurfer  @DeadRabitz No, they won't close the Straight.  They will TRY TO close the straight.  They won't be successful-- the world, even Russia and China, won't allow it. Â
@northwestsurfer They might attempt to close it however any blockade would be swiftly cut down. I understand that it would have an effect on global trade, however the threat posed by a nuclear Iran is much greater. I have done my research, trust me. I simply believe that Iran is provoking this fight and if our words mean anything we must be prepared to back them up.
 @northwestsurfer  @DeadRabitz NO I WOULD NOT !!!!  I don't want a damn war, nor to see ten's of thousand or even hundreds of thousand killed. Shame on you. I simply recognize and see the evil that is that portion of Islam that is suicidal and is willing to murder innocents by blowing themselves up. I am just not foolish enough to ignore the threat and to continue to say stop, stop, stop, please stop, please stop, pretty please stop, pretty pretty please stop. At some point in time we are going have to stand up to these individuals once and for all. Â
 @northwestsurfer  @DeadRabitz China and Russia would do nothing other than complain. There are no mutual defense treaties between any of them. You also forget that China is preoccupied by a southern neighbor with whom they've fought three wars. Russia is hardly able to keep its ships at sea or its aircraft in the air.
Â
The only significant threat from Iran is if they gain a nuclear weapon.
@northwestsurfer That may be so however, Iran is still under UN sanctions among others and the Isrealies won't tolerate a fully nuclear Iran. Think of it like this, say you have some big friends. You pick a fight that you can not win because you expect your friends to back you. Except, with a fight against the US, Isreal and all our allies they will back down. Iran will be lucky to have any friends. The problem is that we have yet to really demonstrate our resolve. We keep talking and without action our words don't mean squat. How many friends did Iraq have when we made it apparent that we were going to attack? They all backed off.
@DeadRabitz Of course gaikokujin would like that.
I think you are seriously understimating the threat iran poses. They are allied with north korea, china, and russia. Those countries have economic and military interests and ensuring Iran's soveriegnty and survival.
 @DeadRabitz Warmongering much?
An unprovoked Israeli attack on Iran will unite the Mid East Arab countries against Israel. Israel, a formidable military power in the region on their own, will not be able to take on an Arab coalition and surely will require US help. So more American soldiers need to die for a vaguely defined cause. Sure, as long as you're not the one doing the dying it's all just a game and nothing personal.
Â
@Larry*X*K unprovoked? I see you don't keep up with things. Iran is currently under heavy sanctions because they refuse to stop refining nuclear material. We and the Israelis have attempted adnausium to get them to stop. I would say that Iran is provoking the US and Isreal. Or do you think Iran having nuclear weapons is a good thing?
@Gaikokujin I don't think we are quite the same as dealing with Germany in 1939 and we know that appeasement won't work. What we have to do is stop telling Iran that we will hit them and really do it. Otherwise we are just full of hot air and Iran will continue to thumb their nose at the world community.
 @DeadRabitz This video is straight out of Iran produced my the Iranian government politicians and Mullahs who want to instigate and apocalyptic war. It is amazing that people can't see what is happening & understand that we are right now basically at the same time period as Europe was in the Spring of 1939. All the evidence was there to see as to what Nazi Germany was about to do, but the world had so many politicians in governments that were acting like ostriches with their heads in the sand hoping it would go away. It cost tens of millions of lives because no one was willing to stand up to them. The same thing is about to happen, but on a more terrifying scale.
Â
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WwiadYT-N9k
 @Larry*X*K  @DeadRabitz Saudi Arabia would like nothing better then a puppet regime in Iran. Remember that all the members of the Arab League do NOT see eye to eye.
Sucha troubled part of the world.
Nobody seems to get along with anyone.
 @mstipton It's true, they have been kicking each others butts back and forth for the past 7000 years.
One commenter mentions Israels saber rattling. Got news for you was it saber rattling the last time the bombed a nuclear facility? If anyone does anything it will be Israel because Iran is in their back yard and they least of all want a nuclear Iran or any other country that maintains radical ideas like eliminating Israel. Those radical countries would be the first to set off a bomb if they had one.
Maybe the 9/11 victims can use Israel as their debt collectors for Iran's portion of the $6 billion they have been ordered to pay out?
Finally, someone who is willing to stop this evil regime.
The Israelis are as bad as the Middle Eastern despots when it comes to saber rattling.
Â
Go ahead and strike. There's nothing stopping you. You can all pray to your respective Gods for the destruction of your enemy. Get it over with already.