Thread: Israel outlines its plan of attack on Iran

Report: Israel Planning Nuke Raid on Iran Uranium Enrichment Sites

Saturday, January 06, 2007


Israel has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons. Two Israeli air force squadrons are training to blow up an Iranian facility using low-yield nuclear “bunker-busters”, according to several Israeli military sources.

The attack would be the first with nuclear weapons since 1945, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Israeli weapons would each have a force equivalent to one-fifteenth of the Hiroshima bomb.

Under the plans, conventional laser-guided bombs would open “tunnels” into the targets. “Mini-nukes” would then immediately be fired into a plant at Natanz, exploding deep underground to reduce the risk of radioactive fallout.

“As soon as the green light is given, it will be one mission, one strike and the Iranian nuclear project will be demolished,” said one of the sources.

The plans, disclosed to The Sunday Times last week, have been prompted in part by the Israeli intelligence service Mossad’s assessment that Iran is on the verge of producing enough enriched uranium to make nuclear weapons within two years.

Israeli military commanders believe conventional strikes may no longer be enough to annihilate increasingly well-defended enrichment facilities. Several have been built beneath at least 70ft of concrete and rock.
However, the nuclear-tipped bunker-busters would be used only if a conventional attack was ruled out and if the United States declined to intervene, senior sources said.

Israeli and American officials have met several times to consider military action. Military analysts said the disclosure of the plans could be intended to put pressure on Tehran to halt enrichment, cajole America into action or soften up world opinion in advance of an Israeli attack.

Some analysts warned that Iranian retaliation for such a strike could range from disruption of oil supplies to the West to terrorist attacks against Jewish targets around the world.

Israel has identified three prime targets south of Tehran which are believed to be involved in Iran’s nuclear programme:
—Natanz, where thousands of centrifuges are being installed for uranium enrichment
—A uranium conversion facility near Isfahan where, according to a statement by an Iranian vice-president last week, 250 tons of gas for the enrichment process have been stored in tunnels
—A heavy water reactor at Arak, which may in future produce enough plutonium for a bomb Israeli officials believe that destroying all three sites would delay Iran’s nuclear programme indefinitely and prevent them from having to live in fear of a “second Holocaust”.

The Israeli government has warned repeatedly that it will never allow nuclear weapons to be made in Iran, whose president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has declared that “Israel must be wiped off the map”.
Robert Gates, the new US defence secretary, has described military action against Iran as a “last resort”, leading Israeli officials to conclude that it will be left to them to strike.

Israeli pilots have flown to Gibraltar in recent weeks to train for the 2,000-mile round trip to the Iranian targets. Three possible routes have been mapped out, including one over Turkey.

Air force squadrons based at Hatzerim in the Negev desert and Tel Nof, south of Tel Aviv, have trained to use Israel’s tactical nuclear weapons on the mission. The preparations have been overseen by Major General Eliezer Shkedi, commander of the Israeli air force.

Sources close to the Pentagon said the United States was highly unlikely to give approval for tactical nuclear weapons to be used. One source said Israel would have to seek approval “after the event”, as it did when it crippled Iraq’s nuclear reactor at Osirak with airstrikes in 1981.
Scientists have calculated that although contamination from the bunker-busters could be limited, tons of radioactive uranium compounds would be released.

The Israelis believe that Iran’s retaliation would be constrained by fear of a second strike if it were to launch its Shehab-3 ballistic missiles at Israel.
However, American experts warned of repercussions, including widespread protests that could destabilise parts of the Islamic world friendly to the West.

Colonel Sam Gardiner, a Pentagon adviser, said Iran could try to close the Strait of Hormuz, the route for 20 percent of the world’s oil.
Some sources in Washington said they doubted if Israel would have the nerve to attack Iran. However, Dr Ephraim Sneh, the deputy Israeli defence minister, said last month: “The time is approaching when Israel and the international community will have to decide whether to take military action against Iran.”

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,242243,00.html

Israel did the same thing to Saddam when he was building nukes.......remember? But Israel didn't use nukes. The discussions in the UN were going nowhere. They were playing their endless game of talking in circles, US included. Israel is under the most immediate imminent threat and they didn't intend to get wiped out.

Israel flew right into Iraq one afternoon and took out all of Saddam's nuclear installations. They were out of there within the hour. Problem solved. Iran is a much bigger threat than Saddam was. I'd hate to see nukes dropped anywhere. It could trigger one heck of an international conflict. But if Israel again has to go it alone they can't hold back. The stakes are too high. We saw what happened when they gave in to world pressure in Lebanon. They could have easily defeated Hezbollah without UN interference. But they bowed to the UN. I don't think they'll do that again.

So the question is? Where is the UN in this? When will they learn? What will they do about it? We all know the world cannot allow a nuclear Iran. Iran has had one quest since the Ayatollah Khomeini took power in the 1970s after the Shah was overthrown.....Death to Israel and Death to America! They've been working on this end for 30 years. I fear we can't wait for the UN to get off it's duff and do their job......they just never do it.

Where is the UN in this?

Exactly where they have been instructed to be. The UN is the front for the banks/ globalists

When will they learn?

The question is when will we learn?

What will they do about it?

The will fan the fire until the region is in absolute caos assisting the collapse of the world economy.

Originally Posted by xanadu

Where is the UN in this?

Exactly where they have been instructed to be. The UN is the front for the banks/ globalists

[quote:3vjkshe4]When will they learn?

The question is when will we learn?

What will they do about it?

The will fan the fire until the region is in absolute caos assisting the collapse of the world economy.[/quote:3vjkshe4]
I don't see that it is Israel fanning the fire in this case, but rather Iran. After all, it is not Israel calling for an end to Iran, but vice versa. Israel is contemplating a preemptive strike against an enemy that has openly used rhetoric calling for the destruction of Israel in connection with its own nuclear ambitions.

What's more, I fail to see how a strike against Iran will inevitably cause a "collapse" of the world economy. Iran is a major oil producer, but not to the extent that even a complete shutdown of its production would collapse the world economy, even if we were to assume that such a shutdown would be a consequence of an attack by Israel. After all, Iran is more dependent upon revenues from its exports than the world economy is upon those oil exports.

I did not say the strike would cause it. I said the caos created in the middle east would cause it. I did not fault Isreal for defending itself. I do not promote Iran as a victim. I am simply pointing out that the UN will do what is best for its global masters with regard to the situation between Isreal and Iran.

Originally Posted by xanadu

I am simply pointing out that the UN will do what is best for its global masters with regard to the situation between Isreal and Iran.

xanadu; this comment hits the nail on the head. Not only in this potential conflict but in ANY conflict the UN should be deterring or trying to settle. A good example is the genocide in Darfur. And with the Kurds in Iraq as well. What was the UN formed for? Most decidedly to ward off genocide and nuclear war! They are as corrupt as the day is long and again the world asks......."Why isn't America stopping the genocide?". Once again they expect us to be the world's police but then condemn us for it. It's so frustrating to see an international entity like the UN sit on our soil, we fund it by 25%, and it bites us in the behind every time! Every time they fail, they blame us.

And every time we or Israel take matters into our own hands they breath a secret sigh of relief but then turn around and tongue lash us. They are just as worried about the ISLAMIST threat (and make no mistake, this is what it's really about; an ideology not Iran as a nation but the Regime in charge. There are many good people there suffering under the Regime) but the UN will not cross China and Russia who have extensive dealings with Iran; from oil to weapons sales.

And Bush wonders why people become nationalists? or separatists? I haven't gotten quite that far yet. But people tire of extending their hand to help only to have it bitten. At some point they start looking at survival; and we're seeing that more and more.