Britannia Radio

'Israeli strike on Iran unlikely (???) in '09'

Apr. 2, 2009
HILARY LEILA KRIEGER and Jpost staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

 

 

 Gen. David Petraeus

Countering comments made by a top US general on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the Financial Times that Israel was not likely to launch a strike against Iran in 2009 to prevent the country from developing nuclear weapons.

"I guess I would say I would be surprised…if they did act this year," Mr. Gates said in an interview published on Thursday.

When asked whether, according to his assessment, the Islamic regime would cross "a red line" this year which would make the development of a bomb inevitable, Gates answered, "I don't know, I would guess probably not".

"I think we have more time than that," he continued. "How much more time I don't know."

"It is a year, two years, three years," Gates assured. "It is somewhere in that window."

On Wednesday, Gen. David Petraeus, the top US commander in the Middle East, told Congress that when it comes to its nuclear activity, Teheran's "obstinacy and obfuscation have forced Iran's neighbors and the international community to conclude the worst about the regime's intentions."

He said that could cause Israel to take matters into its own hands.

"The Israeli government may ultimately see itself so threatened by the prospect of an Iranian nuclear weapon that it would take preemptive military action to derail or delay it," he said.

Petraeus, who appeared before the US Senate's Armed Services Committee to provide an update on the situation in Afghanistan and the wider region, backed the Obama administration's diplomatic initiatives as potentially helping to undermine Iran's bid for greater influence.

"A credible US effort on Arab-Israeli issues that provides regional governments and populations a way to achieve a comprehensive settlement of the disputes would undercut the idea of militant 'resistance,' which the Iranian regime and extremists organizations have been free to exploit," he assessed. He also argued that "progress on the Syrian track of the peace process could disrupt Iran's lines of support to Hamas and Hizbullah."

Petraeus supports greater military aid to Arab states allied with the US.

"Our cooperative efforts with the Arab Gulf states, which include hardening and protecting their critical infrastructure and developing a regional network of air and missile defense systems, can help dissuade aggressive Iranian behavior," he told the senators.

His remarks, part of prepared testimony for the committee, came on the same day that an article in The Atlantic magazine indicated that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was prepared to act unilaterally to prevent Iran from going nuclear.

The introduction to the piece, written by Jeffrey Goldberg, reported that Netanyahu has given US President Barack Obama a challenge to stop the Islamic republic from developing nuclear weapons, or else watch Israel do so.

The quotes from Netanyahu, however, seemed more opaque and supportive of American attempts to use diplomacy and sanctions to curtail Iranian ambitions.

"Since the dawn of the nuclear age, we have not had a fanatic regime that might put its zealotry above its self-interest. People say that they'll behave like any other nuclear power. Can you take the risk? Can you assume that?" Netanyahu asked in the story.

And while the prime minister reportedly wouldn't provide a timeline for American efforts, an unnamed adviser said Israeli timelines were calculated in months, "not years," and estimated that Iran's defenses could be overcome - potentially without a green light from America.

Goldberg quoted an adviser as saying, "The problem is not military capability, the problem is whether you have the stomach, the political will, to take action."

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1238562884999&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull
[ Back to the Article ]