Iran: A careful look before a US leap
By Richard M Bennett
Asia Times
Despite all the military, political and moral doubts over the advisability or even the legality of a preemptive strike on Iran's nuclear-research infrastructure, it is a strange twist of fate that a critically important precedent was established for just such a violent course of action 27 years ago. Significantly, this was not established by either the United States or Israel, but by Iran itself.
On September 30, 1980, two US-supplied F-4 Phantom fighters of the Iranian Islamic Air Force bombed the Iraqi nuclear facility at Osirak. This occurred soon after the Israeli chief of army intelligence had publicly urged the Islamic Republic to destroy Osirak to prevent any chance of Saddam Hussein obtaining nuclear weapons.
It was as a direct result of the failure of the Iranian attack that Israel initiated the planning of "Operation Opera", which would lead to the destruction of the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak by 14 F-16 and F-15 fighters in the following year, on July 7, 1981.
Are all US options still open?
The options for a US and/or Israeli attack on Iran's military infrastructure may be reducing as the US presidential election gets ever closer and the dangers of such a strike become apparent. However, the alternative of attempting the destabilization of the Islamic Republic in the hope of allowing a more moderate government to gain power in Tehran would seem to offer an even smaller prospect of success.
So will the bombs begin to fall on Iran's nuclear facilities soon? Will advanced bunker-busting weapons such as the BLU-116 or the BLU-118S, a so-called thermobaric bomb, penetrate deep into the rock and soil, blasting through reinforced concrete to devastate secret weapons-research laboratories? Could such a massive aerial strike include the use of the ultimate weapon?
(Continued here.)
Asia Times
Despite all the military, political and moral doubts over the advisability or even the legality of a preemptive strike on Iran's nuclear-research infrastructure, it is a strange twist of fate that a critically important precedent was established for just such a violent course of action 27 years ago. Significantly, this was not established by either the United States or Israel, but by Iran itself.
On September 30, 1980, two US-supplied F-4 Phantom fighters of the Iranian Islamic Air Force bombed the Iraqi nuclear facility at Osirak. This occurred soon after the Israeli chief of army intelligence had publicly urged the Islamic Republic to destroy Osirak to prevent any chance of Saddam Hussein obtaining nuclear weapons.
It was as a direct result of the failure of the Iranian attack that Israel initiated the planning of "Operation Opera", which would lead to the destruction of the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak by 14 F-16 and F-15 fighters in the following year, on July 7, 1981.
Are all US options still open?
The options for a US and/or Israeli attack on Iran's military infrastructure may be reducing as the US presidential election gets ever closer and the dangers of such a strike become apparent. However, the alternative of attempting the destabilization of the Islamic Republic in the hope of allowing a more moderate government to gain power in Tehran would seem to offer an even smaller prospect of success.
So will the bombs begin to fall on Iran's nuclear facilities soon? Will advanced bunker-busting weapons such as the BLU-116 or the BLU-118S, a so-called thermobaric bomb, penetrate deep into the rock and soil, blasting through reinforced concrete to devastate secret weapons-research laboratories? Could such a massive aerial strike include the use of the ultimate weapon?
(Continued here.)
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