Israeli Air Force Ready for Iran's Nuclear Sites

[ToughOmbre]

From FOX News

Thursday, November 20, 2008

The Israeli Air Force is ready to attack Iran's suspected nuclear weapons project if diplomacy fails to persuade the Islamic Republic to halt uranium enrichment, said Commander Ido Nehushtan in an interview published Tuesday.

"We are prepared and ready to do whatever Israel needs us to do and if this is the mission we're given then we are ready," Nehushtan told German magazine Der Spiegel.

A strike against Iran's nuclear facilities "is a political decision," the IAF commander said, "but if I understand it correctly, all options are on the table ... The Air Force is a very robust and flexible force. We are ready to do whatever is demanded of us."

Asked if the Israeli military would be able to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities, which are spread around the country, with some built underground, Nehushtan said, "Please understand that I do not want to get into details. I can only say this: It is not a technical or logistical question."

While Israel has fought all its immediate Arab neighbors, its pilots have had limited capabilities to carry out missions as far away as Iran. A strike on Iraq's sole nuclear reactor in 1981 was an extraordinary exception at the time but analysts say the F-16I has made long-distance strikes more possible.

"Air power has been a major player in every war we've fought since 1948," Colonel Amon, who in line with Israeli military rules did not give his surname, told Reuters during the unusual opening of the Ramon desert base to the foreign media.

"This is the most capable aircraft in the Middle East," said Captain Grisha, a fighter pilot in his early 20s.

The Jewish state, widely believed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal, has said it will not tolerate an Iranian nuclear bomb and has refused to rule out a military option.

Speculation of a U.S.-approved Israeli strike on Iran, fueled by an Israeli attack in Syria last year and by reports of long-range bombing exercises this summer, has faded as the Bush administration prepares to hand over power to President-elect Barack Obama.

Iran, which has repeatedly called for Israel's destruction, said on Tuesday it aimed to commission its first nuclear power plant in 2009. Tehran insists the program has only civilian aims.

TO

[parsifal]

If the Israelis are forced to take this action, they have my full support.

This Iranian leader is an absolute nutter, he needs to be stopped....nothing to do with his religion....he is just a nut job

[Matt308]

It has everything to do with I'mAMeanOleWackJob's religion.

[Erich]

also remember they have found uranium development in Syrias nuke facilities as well.......

this is exactly what the little gift zwerq from Iran wants, under his guidance to unite all of Islam if attacked by the dreaded Jews

[Vassili Zaitzev]

Well, if Israel does attack, they have my support. The Iranian president is too much of a wackjob to just have the plant for 'civilian purposes'.

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Israel has my support as well. Iran has stated on several occasions they wish to take Israel out.

[syscom3]

The Arabs dont like the Iranians, and vice versa.

More than a few Arab govts are quietly cooperating with the Israeli's on this one.

[thewritingwriter89]

They're gonna have to. It's kind of sad that a few people in control of a government can be so much of a thorn in the side. Ahmadinejad is such a punk.

[Amsel]

I don't think the Isreali Air Force could effectively "take out" Irans' nuclear weapons project without using tactical nukes itself. It is going to take combined arms to achieve this I am sorry to say.

[thewritingwriter89]

Yeah, you're probably right Amsel. I don't think I would want to use tactical nuke either. I'm sure you know that in 1981, Iraq's nuclear program was brought to an end pretty decisively with just F-16s and F-15s. There really isn't any reason they couldn't do that today, especially with the advances in bunker-busting penetration bombs.

[Amsel]

Originally Posted by thewritingwriter89

There really isn't any reason they couldn't do that today, especially with the advances in bunker-busting penetration bombs.

Besides the fact that they are working deep underground. The U.S. planners say that Special Forces would have to go in if they want to destroy the program. The odds would be long so I imagine the only way to destroy the program militarily is to posture for awhile, build up international support, then invade Iran. This could precipitate a vicious war that might lead once more to total war. Depending on what the Russians and Chinese want to do about it.

[ToughOmbre]

*****UPDATE*****

Thursday, December 04, 2008

From today's Jerusalem Post as reported by FOX News.....

Israel Preparing to Strike Iran Without U.S. Consent

Israel is drawing up plans to attack Iran's nuclear facilities and is prepared to launch a strike without backing from the U.S., an Israeli newspaper reported Thursday.

Officials in the Israeli Defense Ministry told The Jerusalem Post that while they prefer to act in consultation with the U.S., they are preparing plans that would allow them to act alone.

"It is always better to coordinate," a senior Defense Ministry official told the newspaper. "But we are also preparing options that do not include coordination."

It would be difficult, but not impossible, to launch a strike against Iran without permission from the U.S., as the American Air Force controls the Iraqi airspace Israel's jets would have to enter on a bombing mission.

"There are a wide range of risks one takes when embarking on such an operation," a senior Israeli official told the Post.

Iran, the world's fourth-largest crude oil producer, maintains that its uranium enrichment activities are aimed at making fuel for a network of planned electricity-generating nuclear power plants and not for developing weapons.

However Israel intelligence sources say Iran has sufficient nuclear material to make an atomic bomb.

Last month, amid mounting fears in Israel that the U.S. was doing nothing to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power, Ehud Olmert, Israel's Prime Minister, warned President Bush the last chance of destroying Tehran’s nuclear bomb-making program was passing.

Iran dismisses the possibility of an Israeli strike.

"We think that regional and international developments and the complicated situation faced by Israel itself will not allow it to launch military strikes against other countries," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said, according to the Press TV Web site.

"Israel makes threats to promote its psychological and media warfare," Qashqavi said.

A report, published in September in Britain's Guardian newspaper, claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert requested a green light to attack Iran in May but was refused by Bush.

TO

[SoD Stitch]

Originally Posted by Amsel

Besides the fact that they are working deep underground. The U.S. planners say that Special Forces would have to go in if they want to destroy the program.

Sounds like it's time for Israel to use their F-15I Ra'am's and GBU-28's.

[fly boy]

Israel you have my support kick some possiable terroest A for me.

[Burmese Bandit]

Stopping nuclear proliferation, especially in such an unstable (economically, politically, and demographically) unstable country as Iran, is a good thing.

Whether only the Israeli air force (I am a great admirer, BTW) can do it all by itself...well, that's another thing entirely. IMHO the job is just toooooo big.