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Is There a Military Option to Halt Iran's Nuclear Program?

(Ha'aretz) Ze'ev Schiff - * During war games at the Pentagon a few months ago, one scenario was of Israel using force to halt Iran's nuclear development program, as it did in Iraq in 1981. The question asked was whether Israel had the military means to do so. The popular thinking was that such an operation was beyond Israel's capability. It was believed that a small country like Israel, located so far away from Iran, whose planes would have to fly over other countries to reach the target and stay long enough to get the job done, would not be able to knock Iran's nuclear infrastructure out of commission. * A year ago, two retired generals - Eitan Ben-Eliahu, former commander of the Israeli air force, and Yitzhak Ben-Israel, former head of military research and development - took part in a symposium at Netanya College that touched on this matter. Both were cautious in presenting their views, but one could infer from what they said that Israel had the military capability. * The U.S. continues to debate whether it has the military might to eliminate Iran's nuclear program entirely. U.S. intelligence may not have all the data critical for such an operation. Yet military professionals believe the military option exists, and it is sufficient to zero in on a few strategic targets, where the most important work is being done, to create a setback of many years. President Bush says that military action against Iran has not been dropped from the agenda, although Washington is not pursuing this track at the moment. * The international community - as opposed to any individual country - could exercise the military option if a decision is made that Shi'ite Iran's status as a nuclear power poses an international danger or threatens the stability of the world, and not just the Middle East. What remains uncertain is whether such a decision will ever be reached.
2005-12-16 00:00:00
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