(Jerusalem Post) Herb Keinon - Government officials in Jerusalem dismissed on Thursday the notion that former Mossad head Meir Dagan relieved pressure on Iran by saying two weeks ago that Tehran would not have the bomb at least until mid-decade. Dagan's comments did not lead to complacency, one official insisted. On the contrary, what he said should show the international community, which had believed that an Iranian bomb was a fait accompli, that a nuclear Iran was not imminent, and that there was still time to act. Another official said that Dagan had not taken the military option off the table by saying Israel should attack only if the "dagger was at its neck." Rather, he said, what Dagan did was step away from the portrayal of a crazy and irresponsible Israel that needed to be stopped from carrying out an action that could endanger the world. "The problem with that tactic is that then the international community thinks they have to stop Israel, not Iran, and that is the wrong focus." U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told NBC's "Today" show on Wednesday that the new Israeli estimates were "very significant." The delay, she said, "gives us more of a breathing space to try to work to prevent them from obtaining a nuclear weapon."
2011-01-21 08:36:01Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive