Israeli plan to attack Iran
In June 1981 then Israeli chief of staff Rafael Eitan announced the plan of Israeli air force to bomb Iraq's Ozirak nuclear facilities.
He said: "If we do not do that the result would be our destruction." Israel has adopted pre-emptive strike as a strategic option in order to prevent hostile Arab and Middle Eastern countries from obtaining nuclear weapons without any opposition or questioning by the international community, which has been accepting all the demands of the Jewish state.
Twenty years after the Israeli bombing of Iraq's nuclear plants, the Jewish state is facing another nuclear threat from Iran, especially after the United States and Europe have failed to convince Tehran to stop its nuclear program, especially its uranium enrichment program. Washington has imposed new sanctions on Iran. Israel has taken the opportunity to intensify its diplomatic efforts to convince the White House on the need to take a military option to force the Muslim country get rid of its plan to have a nuclear weapon.
Jerusalem Post reported on July 19 that Israel was successful in its efforts to convince Washington to weigh military option against Iran. Its conclusion was based on a report carried by the Time magazine with its headline "An Attack on Iran back on Table."
The Time report said the US military command has made remarkable progress in its plan to strike Iranian nuclear installations.
The important question is whether Israel is capable of attacking Iranian nuclear plants the way it did against the Iraqi plants and whether it is cable of taking the responsibility of its consequences? Israel's military capability to launch a pre-emptive strike against Iran is doubtful because of some reasons. While the Iraqi nuclear plants were concentrated in one place Iran has distributed its facilities in different underground locations making it difficult for Israeli warplanes to carry out attacks to destroy them. In addition to identifying the correct locations, Israeli bombers must ensure safe return after completing their mission. When Israel attacked the Iraqi nuclear plants, its planes had taken refuge in India. But in the case of Iran, the situation would be different.
A researcher at the Strategic Policy Institute in Israel said he did not believe the military option against Iran would be feasible as Iran has a totally different nuclear program and it will be not possible to carry out the hit-and-run strategy as it was successfully carried out in the case of Iraq. Despite these reservations, the Israeli Army is seriously considering a military strike against Iran.
At the same time there are reports that the joint Israeli-US strike using advanced weaponry may not achieve the purpose and may not prevent Iran from continuing its nuclear program. On the other hand, it would have dangerous consequences on the whole region because of Iran's political, economic and social strength. It seems that the Jews and Americans have underestimated the religious fervor of the Iranians. If attacked, Iran would respond by launching its missiles against Israel and US forces in the Arabian Gulf, transforming the Gulf countries into a long battleground. The American Patriot batteries would not be able to strike down more than 20 percent of Iranian missiles and the US would use tactical nuclear bombs to establish its dominance.
A Mossad report had predicted that Iran could obtain a nuclear bomb by 2007. I think the report is close to the reality. How can they say now that Iran has more than one nuclear bomb and is waiting for a suitable time to announce the status quo and conduct nuclear tests like India and Pakistan when all these political altercations, diplomatic overtures and economic sanctions would become meaningless and the world will be forced to acknowledge Iran as a nuclear power, and the US would be forced to reach an understanding with Iran.
— Hassan Tahsin is a political commentator based in Cairo. He can be contacted at: Hassan_tahsin@hotmail.com

Comments
MOHAMMED
Jul 30, 2010 18:14
Report abuseJul 30, 2010 18:19
Report abuseUMM KHALID
Jul 30, 2010 18:58
Report abuseEJAZ KAZMI
Jul 30, 2010 19:44
Report abuseMUHAMMAD
Jul 30, 2010 20:16
Report abuseThe prophet Muhammad saw said, That we have to keep practice the rules and hudud of Allah, otherwise our country will be conquered by enemy. The possible meaning about this is, if we want Allah help us to fight enemies we have to fight for Allah's rules and hudud first. Please tell Palestinian and all Muslim around the world about this.