Israel Tamps Down Iran War Threats
ConsortiumNews
January 19, 2012
Exclusive: For months, Israeli hardliners and their neocon allies in the United States have been beating the war drums over Iran. But apparent resistance to war from President Obama has brought a softening of rhetoric in Israel, as ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern reports.
By Ray McGovern
In a stunning departure from recent Israeli threats to attack Iranian nuclear facilities, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday used an interview with Israel’s Army radio to assert that any attack on Iran “is very far off,” adding, “We haven’t made any decision to do this.”
When pressed as to whether “very far off” meant weeks or months, Barak replied: “I wouldn’t want to provide any estimates. It’s certainly not urgent. I don’t want to relate to it as though tomorrow it will happen.” The world should be thankful for small favors.
Even more intriguing was the phrasing that the Israeli newspaper Haaretz put under its headline, “Barak: Israel ‘very far off’ from decision on Iran attack.” In a sub-head, Haaretz highlighted an equally important change in Israel’s stance regarding Iran:
“Israel believes Iran itself has not yet decided whether to make a nuclear bomb, according to intelligence assessment to be presented later this week to U.S. Joint Chief of Staff [Martin] Dempsey.”
(More here.)
January 19, 2012
Exclusive: For months, Israeli hardliners and their neocon allies in the United States have been beating the war drums over Iran. But apparent resistance to war from President Obama has brought a softening of rhetoric in Israel, as ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern reports.
By Ray McGovern
In a stunning departure from recent Israeli threats to attack Iranian nuclear facilities, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday used an interview with Israel’s Army radio to assert that any attack on Iran “is very far off,” adding, “We haven’t made any decision to do this.”
When pressed as to whether “very far off” meant weeks or months, Barak replied: “I wouldn’t want to provide any estimates. It’s certainly not urgent. I don’t want to relate to it as though tomorrow it will happen.” The world should be thankful for small favors.
Even more intriguing was the phrasing that the Israeli newspaper Haaretz put under its headline, “Barak: Israel ‘very far off’ from decision on Iran attack.” In a sub-head, Haaretz highlighted an equally important change in Israel’s stance regarding Iran:
“Israel believes Iran itself has not yet decided whether to make a nuclear bomb, according to intelligence assessment to be presented later this week to U.S. Joint Chief of Staff [Martin] Dempsey.”
(More here.)
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1 Comments:
I am no expert on the "Rules of War", but it would seem odd to me that if you were going to make a surprise attack that you would announce it ahead of time ... yes, if you assembled troops (i.e. Bush's Iraq invasion) you might provide an advance warning of the obvious ... however, if you were launching a pre-emptive strike would you "deny, deny, deny" until it was done ... hence, my view is that Barak's suggestion that an attack “is very far off” is part of the "deny, deny, deny" strategy. Didn't Barak make similar statements before they took military action in other events ?
Second, it appears to me that General Dempsey's one-day visit is more to tell them not to do anything ... which the Israeli's would have anticipated, so why wouldn't Barak's pro-offer that the attack “is very far off” to appease American leaders ?
Third, do we know who decided, and why, the joint military exercise was postponed ... could it be that the Israelis do not want Americans any where nearby when they launch an attack (plus if Americans are there, they might pick up word of "when" and "what" was being planned, and attempt to stop them).
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