Israeli Preparing Iran Strike?

Is Israel preparing for a military strike against Iran’s nukes? AP says they are.

Israel’s defense minister hinted Saturday that the Jewish state is preparing for military action to stop Iran’s nuclear program, but said international diplomacy must be the first course of action. “Israel will not be able to accept an Iranian nuclear capability and it must have the capability to defend itself, with all that that implies, and this we are preparing,” Shaul Mofaz said.

His comments at an academic conference stopped short of overtly threatening a military strike but were likely to add to growing tensions with Iran.

Germany’s defense minister said in an interview published Saturday that he is hopeful of a diplomatic solution to the impasse over Iran’s nuclear program, but argued that “all options” should remain open. Asked by the Bild am Sonntag weekly whether the threat of a military solution should remain in place, Franz Josef Jung was quoted as responding: “Yes, we need all options.”

French President Jacques Chirac said Thursday that France could respond with nuclear weapons against any state-sponsored terrorist attack.

Israel’s military planners are surely planning for all contingencies, given how much is at stake. At the end of the day, though, I doubt very much that they are going to launch a strike.

While I have no doubt that they would do whatever was necessary to provide for their own security, world opinion be damned, I have yet to see a credible analysis that concludes that an aerial strike alone would be enough to end Iran’s nuclear program.

FILED UNDER: Uncategorized, , , , , , ,
James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. Elmo says:

    James, I know you’re not fond of the concept, and believe it to be impractical. But I’m now even starting to see an upside to a strike. Small, medium, or large (and glowing).

    While there is some interplay among reality, spoken bits in cyberspace. (Possible) planning among those possibly involved. And public statements by such. I believe we are ever faster approaching the point of no return.

    The frightened paranoid fear the world has harbored for sixty years about armageddon. Will turn to tisk tisk when the dust settles. I don’t know that we can contain the world’s Mad Mo’s forever. But we can certainly do it now, today (upside ….. more of doing what we say. Saying what we mean).

    The race is on, the proverbial clock is ticking. Will Ahmadinejad get a dose of smelling salts? Will Dub go conventional? Will Israel step up to the plate alone, and ahead of the line, and go ballistic?

    Stay tuned to this Bat Channel ……

  2. Jack Ehrlich says:

    If they were not suicidal, and they are, I would suggest locating an Ohio class sub in the Indian ocean and notifying Iran that the sub has instructions to launch a full nuclear response if Iran either tests or launches an attack on any nation. I believe an Ohio class has the capablity to deliver 240 100 KT mirved warheads.