Times running out to attack Iran

What? Times running out? I'm not saying this to state I wish an attack to take place. Look at all my older postings and you'll see I am actively against American and Israeli attempts to sue, threaten and basically badger Iran into stopping what it considers non-threatening nuclear ambitions. What I mean by time running out is stance allies that would support an attack on Iran are losing power. Obama is on the march and Bush is the Lion of winter. I've half expected these actions and rhetoric to intensify rapidly with Bush nearing the end of his term as President of the United States of American, and now I am starting to see signs that it will happen. Bush and Co. know all to well that public opinion is against any new war, and they have had a terrible time trying to convince anyone Iran has hidden malicious intents regarding their nuclear programs other then the those who already think deep right or are power hungry enough to stomp on any country or person to get their way.

So enter Isreal. They can just attack Iran and America the ever faithful guard dog shall leap to their defense with forces already residing in the middle east. There, Iran taken care of, and I am sure if placed to the American public as a defence of an ally ( which gives 2 craps about the US other then ensuring they do as they are told), will buy the goods and enter another needless bloody war against people who are brown and muslim and have a lot of oil.

Check out recent news briefings :

U.S. tries to solve Iran's nuclear issue through diplomacy

www.chinaview.cn 2008-06-07 04:06:40

WASHINGTON, June 6 (Xinhua) -- The United States said Friday that it is trying to solve Iran's nuclear issue through diplomacy.

"We are trying to solve this diplomatically," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

"I understand that Israel is very concerned about their future and their safety when they have a neighbor in their region -- Iran-- that says they want to wipe them off the map," Perino said.

According to media reports, Israel's Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz threatened earlier Friday that Iran would face an attack from Israel if Iran continues to pursue its nuclear weapons program.

"If Iran continues its nuclear weapons program, we will attack it," Mofaz was quoted as saying.

The United States has accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program. Iran has denied U.S. charges and insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

Israel threatens war on Gaza and Iran

By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem

Last Updated: 10:24PM BST 06/06/2008

Israel braced itself for conflict on two fronts against militants in Gaza and an Iranian government persisting with its nuclear programme.

Ehud Olmert, the prime minister, said the "pendulum is closer" to a large scale military operation in Gaza after another Israeli civilian was killed by a mortar fired from Gaza on Thursday.

Amnon Roseberg was the 8th Israeli civilian to be killed by weapons fired from Gaza since Israel withdrew its settlers from the Gaza Strip two years ago.

While the number of Palestinian civilians killed in Gaza by Israel in retaliatory strikes dwarfs Israeli casualties, Mr Olmert's government takes every Israeli civilian death very seriously.

W hen asked by reporters as he flew back to Israel after a three day visit to Washington about the chance of a negotiated ceasefire with Gaza's militants, Mr Olmert said he thought military action more likely than a ceasefire.

"We are always checking between the various possibilities of reaching complete quiet that will bring security to the residents of southern Israel without having to get into a violent and serious clash against the terror organizations in Gaza, and the impossibility of reaching such an arrangement, which is likely to bring us closer to an operation that would be a lot more serious and resolute against the terror organisations," he said.

"Based on the data as I see it now, this pendulum is closer to a decision for a serious operation."

Israel has tried large-scale military action in Gaza several times before to silence the rockets and mortars. While it sometimes creates a short-term lull, the inevitable loss of Palestinian civilian lives sparks yet more militant attacks.

But while the precedent is not encouraging, Mr Olmert cannot be seen by the Israeli people as doing nothing.

On the Iranian front, Mr Olmert privately pronounced himself happy after his visit to the White House that Israel and America are of one mind over the possibility of military intervention against Tehran's nuclear programme.

In President George W Bush, Israel has a firm ally who shares its belief that Iran must be stopped at all costs from becoming a nuclear power.

One of Mr Olmert's party deputies, Shaul Mofaz, kept up the pressure on Iran saying an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites looked "inevitable" given the apparent failure of diplomatic and economic sanctions on Tehran.

"If Iran continues with its programme for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack it," he said.

"The sanctions are ineffective. Attacking Iran, in order to stop its nuclear plans, will be unavoidable."

It was the most explicit threat yet against Iran from a member of the Olmert government, which, like the Bush administration, has preferred to hint at force as a last resort should UN Security Council sanctions be deemed to have failed.

Israel has twice acted by itself to stop its regional enemies developing a nuclear capability, in Syria last year and Iraq in the 1980s.

Or how about :

Israel's Ehud Olmert: 'All possible means' must be used to stop nuclear Iran

By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem

Last Updated: 12:02AM BST 05/06/2008

Ehud Olmert, the prime minister of Israel, has sought to increase pressure on Iran by saying "all possible means" must be used to stop the Islamic republic from acquiring nuclear weapons.

GETTY

Ehud Olmert said the Iranian threat must be stopped by all possible means

The speech shortens the odds significantly on military action against Iran’s nuclear programme. Israel has twice acted by itself to stop its regional enemies developing a nuclear capability, in Syria last year and Iraq in the 1980s.

Mr Olmert used the keynote speech of his latest visit to America to hint at possible military action to stop Teheran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

"The Iranian threat must be stopped by all possible means," he told a pro-Israel audience from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

"International economic and political sanctions on Iran, as crucial as they may be, are only an initial step, and must be dramatically increased.

"The international community has a duty and responsibility to clarify to Iran, through drastic measures, that the repercussions of their continued pursuit of nuclear weapons will be devastating.

"Israel will not tolerate the possibility of a nuclear Iran, and neither should any other country in the free world."

His words echoed those used by President George W Bush in a speech last month to the Israeli parliament in which he said the free world had a duty to stop Iran from going nuclear.

"Permitting the world’s leading sponsor of terror to possess the world’s deadliest weapons would be an unforgivable betrayal for future generations," Mr Bush said.

"For the sake of peace, the world must not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon."

Mr Olmert will meet Mr Bush at the White House later today and the Iran question is likely to top the agenda.

Among Israeli supporters of military action against Iran there is concern something must be done before Mr Bush’s end of office next January as Mr Bush is perceived as closer to Israel than any potential successor.

The problem for Mr Bush is that after the problems of his 2003 invasion of Iraq the political backing in Washington for another military adventure in the Middle East is limited.

The Iranian nuclear issue is a much harder military problem than that posed by Iraq in the 1980s when Israel bombed the Osiraq reactor outside Baghdad, Saddam Hussein’s solitary nuclear facility.

In Iran today the nuclear sites are spread over a number of locations, some in tunnel systems hidden in mountains so from a purely military point of view they are a greater challenge.

And Israel’s relative distance from Iran means any warplane sent from the Jewish state would be acting at the furthest extreme of its range.

Any military operation would also require close co-ordination with the US air force which controls the airspace over Iraq, the most obvious air corridor to Iran.

While Mr Olmert faces acute political problems at home over a bribery scandal, any likely successor is likely to share his view that tackling Iran’s nuclear ambitions is of dire importance for Israel.

Israel is currently the only nuclear power in the Middle East and while its government never confirms this experts believe it has scores of its own nuclear weapons.

It regards the loss of this monopoly nuclear status in the region as a threat to its existence.