Traverse City Record-Eagle

Archive: Saturday

February 11, 2012

Another view: Concern about Iran, Israel

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There is growing concern worldwide that Israel might launch an attack on Iranian nuclear plants.

Is it a bluff, designed to bring about tough economic sanctions, or is this Israel's way of preparing the world for a major confrontation?

Washington Post columnist David Ignatius reports that Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta believes there is a strong likelihood that Israel will strike Iran in April, May or June ...

... President Barack Obama said ... he did not think Israel had made a decision yet about whether to attack Iran.

"I think they, like us, believe that Iran has to stand down on its nuclear weapons program," Obama told NBC News, saying there was close military and intelligence consultation between the U.S. and Israel. "We are going to make sure that we work in lock step as we proceed to try to solve this, hopefully diplomatically."

Both Israel and the United States believe Iran is in the planning stages or actual process of moving its uranium enrichment equipment and already enriched materials to hardened underground storage facilities which Israel alone could not destroy. Thus, there is incentive to destroy such plants before they are relocated.

The foreign policy goals of both Israel and America are for Iran to never have nuclear weapons grade materials. How to achieve that goal is now becoming a public disagreement between the two governments.

We support a goal that prevents Iran from gaining nuclear weapons. While few Americans want war with Iran today, many would agree that Iranian possession of nuclear weapons must be prevented. ...

Israel may well decide to take matters into its own hands and attempt to destroy Iranian nuclear plants with its own military power.

Then our internal debate shifts to handling Israel, as well as Iran, when the inevitable Iranian retaliation begins ...

The Joplin Globe, Joplin, Mo.

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