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Israel, Iran, and WW3
Written: 8-31-08
Rapture Forum Staff: Chris
The last few days have seen a flurry of activity relating to the possible coming Israeli strike on the Iranian nuclear facilities. There are rumors and speculation that Israel and possibly the United States are in the final stages of plans for finally taking care of the Iranian nuclear threat. With the current situation with Russia and Georgia having distracted the world, Iran has taken advantage of the situation and is proceeding full steam ahead towards their evil nuclear goals. Let us review the articles from the past few days and see what is happening on the ground.
The Daily Times in Pakistan has reported in reference to a UK newspaper the United states is currently planning a military blitz attack against the Iranian nuclear sites. The Daily Times article reports:
Strategists at the Pentagon are drawing up plans for devastating bombing raids backed by submarine-launched ballistic missile attacks against Iran�s nuclear sites as a �last resort� to block Tehran�s efforts to develop an atomic bomb, the Sunday Telegraph reported on Friday. The British newspaper reported that US Central Command and Strategic Command planners had been identifying targets, assessing weapon-loads and working on logistics for an operation. �This is more than just the standard military contingency assessment,� the newspapers quoted a senior Pentagon adviser as saying. �This has taken on much greater urgency in recent months.�
The Daily Times went on to describe in some detail the projected methods of dealing with the Iranian threat:
It said the steady flow of disclosures about Iran�s secret nuclear operations and the anti-Israeli threats by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had prompted the fresh assessment of military options by Washington. The most likely strategy would involve aerial bombardment by long-distance B2 bombers, each armed with up to 40,000lb of precision weapons, including the latest bunker-busting devices, the newspaper reported.
In another article by the Jerusalem Post it was stated that Israel had decided that it won't let Iran go nuclear. These kind of comments have been made in the past but with the flurry of recent news articles coming out from the US and Israel it could be a sign that something significant is coming down the road. Of course with the way things progress in the Middle East, only time will tell for sure. The Jerusalem Post article reported:
Israel will not allow Iran to attain nuclear capability and if time begins to run out, Jerusalem will not hesitate to take whatever means necessary to prevent Iran from achieving its nuclear goals, the government has recently decided in a special discussion.
Further:
According to the Israeli daily Ma'ariv, whether the United States and Western countries succeed in thwarting the Islamic Republic's nuclear ambitions diplomatically, through sanctions, or whether a US strike on Iran is eventually decided upon, Jerusalem has begun preparing for a separate, independent military strike.
With the GWB administration tied up with wars in Afghanistan and Iraq it appears that Israel is finally deciding that they will probably have to tackle the Iranian nuclear threat by themselves. I believe the Israelis have always had a plan that if it came down to it they would go it alone, but the preferred scenario is one in which Israel and the international community worked together to reign in the Iranians. However, the preferred scenario has been slow to materialize and with the Iranians proceeding daily with their enrichment activites, time is slowly but surely running out. Israel simply can't afford a nuclear Holocaust and will do whatever it takes to ensure that Iran does not go nuclear.
Iran for their part has increased their psychological warfare by making statements saying that any attacks on their nuclear facilities would basically start WW3. These statements and threats are designed to try to deter an Israeli attack as well as undermine international support for Israeli military actions. Iran knows the international community is already strained and divided on the issue of what to do about the Iranian nuclear program. Iran hopes that by making these statements that they can get the international community to eventually accept a nuclear Iran.
A Jerusalem Post article highlighted these recent statements by the Iranians:
Should Israel or the United States attack Iran, it would be the start of another World War, Iranian Deputy Chief of Staff General Masoud Jazayeri warned on Saturday. "Any aggression against Iran will start a world war," the Iranian state news agency IRNA quoted the top Iranian official as saying. "The unrestrained greed of the US leadership and global Zionism... is leading the world to the brink of a precipice. It is evident that if such a challenge occurs, the fake and artificial regimes will be eliminated before anything," he said.
In another interesting move, King Abdullah of Jordan threw his hat in the ring and made the following remarks on an Israeli military strike:
The news agency also quoted Jordan's King Abdullah II as saying that if an attack was launched against Iran, it would fail to achieve its objectives. "Israel doesn't have the ability to completely destroy the atomic reactor in Teheran," Abdullah claimed, reiterating that the Islamic regime insists that its nuclear program is not for military purposes but rather for civilian use alone. "What Iran is trying to tell us, in my opinion, is that we must recognize [the country] as a key international player," the Jordanian king said, warning that "any military action against Teheran will have serious consequences on all of the Middle East, and the states in the region will be forced to deal with the situation."
The comments by Abdullah are particularly interesting to me as it is no secret that many Arab states in the region are on edge about the possibility of a nuclear Iran, however none of them want to be on record for supporting an Israeli strike. I tend to view Abdullah's remarks as a form of appeasement to the mad mullahs in Tehran. Jordan is right in the epicenter of the conflict with the Palestinians and Israelis. Iran could cause alot of trouble for Abdullah if he made them mad by siding openly with the Israelis.
On the Russia and Iran front it is being reported that both sides will be meeting this week to discuss the completion of the Bushehr nuclear reactor power plant. In a Jerusalem Post article it is reported that:
A delegation from the Russian power construction company Atomstroyexport will be heading to Iran to discuss the completion of the 1,000-megawatt power plant on Monday. Bushehr, an $800-million project, is Iran's first nuclear power plant and is being built on Iran's coast with Russian assistance under a 1995 contract.
Further:
The Russian ambassador to Iran has given assurances that Bushehr will be supplying nuclear energy by early next year. Russia sent the eighth and final nuclear fuel shipment to Iran in January. The latest development is a source of concern in the West, which is pressuring Iran to abandon its nuclear program. The reactor in Bushehr is also worrying the countries surrounding Iran. Iran's Sunni neighbors are unhappy with the prospect of Iran becoming a nuclear power in the region, and are concerned about the environmental damage and health hazards that could be inflicted in the case of a nuclear disaster.
As we can see this was a busy week in terms of activity surrounding the Iranian nuclear program and the ongoing efforts to stop it. Eventually the situation will reach a peak and something will have to give. From the looks of things we are definitely moving closer to a conflict over the Iranian nuclear program. On top of all of this, the Palestinian terrorists are continuing to arm and stock up on weapons for the next conflict with Israel. Iran will surely use their terrorist proxies in any effort to deter Israel from making a military move on them if the situation worsens. We need to remain alert and watching as time is clearly ticking away. When we least expect it, something serious could happen and shake the Middle East. Til next time....
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