Israel Prepares to Attack Iran

For the 3rd time in 3 months Israel has once again made threats to bomb the nuclear facilities in Iran. From what you read in Mainstream Media, you would think that they are serious this time!

 

I kinda doubt it. We have an election coming up and Obama and the Israelis are buddies. They want to see him reelected to insure continued funding. At the same time the ‘war of words’ isn’t working. Iran doesn’t seem to care about all the rhetoric and just continue on their way.

 

I am still not convinced that their ‘nuclear’ facilities and capabilities are a threat. Maybe, maybe not! I just can’t help but remember the WMD excuse to get us into a fight in Iraq. Is this yet another set up?

 

I am convinced that nukes in the hands of anyone are a threat to the continued existence of the human beings of the world. Once some nuke war starts how is that contained? Given the history of human beings in wartime, I just don’t think anyone will show any form of restraint. Billions will die in the much talked about Armageddon!

 

Having said all this. We can only pray that a solution is found that does not require force, especially initiated by a western power or one backed by them (Israel). Talk about destabilizing the entire region and the world!

 

I urge everyone to start vigilant and assess the news as it comes out with a very discriminating eye. Not everything is as it seems.

More saber rattling in Iran…WW III coming?

The news never stops when it comes to Iran vs. The West/Israel. It certainly looks as if an armed conflict is on the horizon. The belligerence from all parties is getting pretty intense in my opinion.

 

With Russia and China both supporting Iran, looks like they are itching to see the pawns at play…Will the U.S. take the bait? Or will someone in D.C. become suddenly enlightened and figure a way out of this mess.

 

A war will be devastating for the population and the world economy. Then again, going further down the bunny hole, maybe that is what the power elite want…less people and more control over resources…anything is possible in my opinion.

 Iran threatens to hit any country used to attack its soil

 

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran will target any country used as a launchpad for attacks against its soil, the deputy Revolutionary Guards commander said, expanding Tehran’s range of threats in an increasingly volatile stand-off with world powers over its nuclear ambitions.

 

Last week, Iran’s supreme clerical leader threatened reprisals for the West’s new ban on Iranian oil exports and the U.S. defense secretary was quoted as saying Israel was likely to bomb Iran within months to stop it assembling nuclear weapons.

 

Although broadened and sharpened financial sanctions have begun to inflict serious economic pain in Iran, its oil minister asserted Saturday it would make no nuclear retreat even if its crude oil exports ground to a halt.

 

Iran says its nuclear program is for civilian energy purposes. But its recent shift of uranium enrichment to a mountain bunker possibly impervious to conventional bombing, and refusal to negotiate peaceful guarantees for the program or open up to U.N. nuclear inspectors, have thickened an atmosphere of brewing confrontation, raising fears for Gulf oil supplies.

 

“Any spot used by the enemy for hostile operations against Iran will be subjected to retaliatory aggression by our armed forces,” Hossein Salami, deputy head of the elite Revolutionary Guards, told the semi-official Fars news agency Sunday.

 

The Guards began two days of military maneuvers in southern Iran Saturday in another show of force for Iran’s adversaries associated with tensions over its disputed nuclear program.

 

Sunday Israel appointed a new air force chief who last month, in his position as top military planner, warned publicly that Israel could not deal a knock-out blow to its enemies, including Iran, in any regional conflict.

 

The United States and Israel, Iran’s arch-enemies, have not ruled out a military strike on Tehran if diplomacy fails to resolve the nuclear stalemate. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to visit Washington next month, his office said Sunday, and Israeli political sources said he is likely to meet U.S. President Barack Obama while there.

 

Iran’s Salami did not identify which countries he meant as possible hosts for military action against it.

 

The six, U.S.-allied Arab states in the Gulf Cooperation Council, situated on the other side of the vital oil exporting waterway from Iran, have said they would not allow their territories to be used for attacks on the Islamic Republic.

 

But analysts say that if Iran retaliated for an attack launched from outside the region by targeting U.S. facilities in Gulf Arab states, Washington might pressure the host nations to permit those bases to hit back, arguing they should have the right to defend themselves.

 

The Gulf states that host U.S. military facilities are Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.

 

THREAT TO SHUT VITAL OIL CHANNEL

 

Iran has warned its response to any such strike will be “painful,” threatening to target Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf, along with closing the Strait of Hormuz used by one third of the world’s seaborne oil traffic.

 

Betraying nervousness about possible blowback from any military strike on Iran, two of its neighbors – Qatar and Turkey – urged the West Sunday to make greater efforts to negotiate a solution to the nuclear row.

 

Speaking at the annual Munich Security Conference attended by top world policymakers, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said an attack would be a “disaster” and the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program could be ended very rapidly.

 

“If there is strong political will and mutual confidence being established, this issue could be resolved in a few days,” he said. “The technical disputes are not so big. The problem is mutual confidence and strong political will.”

 

He added: “A military option will create a disaster in our region. So before that disaster, everybody must be serious in negotiations. We hope soon both sides will meet again but this time there will be a complete result.”

 

Turkey was the venue of the last talks between Western powers and Iran a year ago which ended in stalemate because participants could not even agree on an agenda.

 

Qatari Deputy Foreign Minister Khalid Mohamed al-Attiyah said an attack “is not a solution, and tightening the embargo on Iran will make the scenario worse.

 

“I believe that with our allies and friends in the West we should open a serious dialogue with the Iranians to get out of this dilemma. This is what we feel in our region.”

 

Tehran has warned several times it may seal off the Strait of Hormuz, throttling the supply of Gulf crude and gas, if attacked or if sanctions mean it cannot export its oil.

 

A military strike on Iran and Iran’s response, which might include an attack on the oilfields of No. 1 exporter Saudi Arabia, would send oil prices soaring, which could seriously harm the global economy

 

(Additional reporting by William Maclean in Munich and Michael Holden in London; Writing by Mark Heinrich; Editing by Sophie Hares)

 

I suggest prayer and lots of it might be in order here. Appears that the human logic to the situation is lacking.

 

You might want to consider preparing with some food and water stored up at home…just in case.

 

WW III…on the horizon?

In my mind WW III will begin with a strike on Iranian Nuclear facilities. China and Russia are firmly in the Iranian camp. That this will happen is almost a certainty now.

 

The best case is that the ‘super powers’ allow their pawns to fight it out and not get involved directly. Sure lots of covert business will most likely transpire but short of a ‘declaration of war’ or an invasion might keep the contest from spreading.

 

I personally hope and pray that all of this can be avoided. How is anyone’s best guess considering the belligerent stances of everyone involved.

 

By Nicole Gaouette and Jonathan Ferziger – Feb 3, 2012 2:21 PM MT

 

The U.S. and Israel are publicly disagreeing over timing for a potential attack on Iran’s disputed nuclear facilities, as that nation’s leader said it won’t back down.

 

The U.S. and Israel have a “significant analytic difference” over estimates of how close Iran is to shielding its nuclear program from attack, Aaron David Miller, a former Mideast peace negotiator in the Clinton administration, said today.

 

“There’s a growing concern — more than a concern — that the Israelis, in order to protect themselves, might launch a strike without approval, warning or even foreknowledge,” he said in an interview.

 

The differing views were underscored by public comments this week by senior Israeli and U.S. defense officials.

 

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said yesterday that Israel must consider conducting “an operation” before Iran reaches an “immunity zone,” referring to Iran’s goal of protecting its uranium enrichment and other nuclear operations by moving them to deep underground facilities such as one at Fordo, near the holy city of Qom.

‘Nearing Readiness’

 

“The world has no doubt that Iran’s nuclear program is steadily nearing readiness and is about to enter an immunity zone,” Barak said in an address to the annual Herzliya Conference at the Interdisciplinary Center campus north of Tel Aviv. “If the sanctions don’t achieve their goal of halting Iran’s nuclear weapons program, there will arise the need of weighing an operation,” Barak said.

 

The U.S. holds the view that “there is still time and space to pursue diplomacy” with Iran over its nuclear program, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said today in Washington. He added that the U.S. “is absolutely committed to preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons.”

 

In Iran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said today that his nation won’t abandon its nuclear efforts and warned that a strike against the nuclear program would damage U.S. interests in the Middle East “10 times over,” according to the Associated Press. He said, without providing details, that he would disclose a letter that he said President Barack Obama sent Iran’s leaders.

 

Referring to Israel as a “cancerous tumor,” Khamenei said in his Friday sermon that “if any nation or any group confronts the Zionist regime, we will help.” He said that Iran has assisted anti-Israel groups such as Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas.

SWIFT Sanctions

 

The U.S. Senate Banking Committee unanimously approved yesterday a bill that would increase the economic pressure on Iran. The proposal targets Iran-related banking transactions, Iran’s national oil company and leading tanker fleet, joint ventures in mining and energy projects. It also would require corporate disclosure of Iran-related activity to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

One provision calls on the administration to provide a report to Congress within 60 days detailing Iran-related financial transactions facilitated by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, the Belgian member-owned institution known as Swift, and its competitors. The measure would give the president authority to sanction Swift to cut off such services. A similar bill, with stronger language mandating the imposition of sanctions, was submitted in the House yesterday.

 

Within Israel, there isn’t consensus that striking Iran is either good or necessary. Ephraim Halevy, a former head of Israel’s Mossad security agency, is one of two former intelligence chiefs who have spoken against a strike.

Panetta’s Concerns

 

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta declined to comment directly on a report by Washington Post columnist David Ignatius that Panetta believes there is a strong likelihood Israel will strike Iran in April, May or June. Panetta and other U.S. officials have repeatedly warned Israel not to act alone.

 

“Israel has indicated that they’re considering this” through public statements, Panetta told reporters traveling with him yesterday in Brussels. “And we have indicated our concerns.”

 

Israelis think Iran will reach the immunity zone in “half the time the Americans think it will,” Miller said. “To take that difference and talk about a growing rift” between Israel and the U.S. “is by and large an overstatement,” he said.

Obama-Netanyahu Relations

 

Tension between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be complicating communications on the issue, a U.S. defense official said. “There’s no love lost between the two of them, and there’s a trust deficit,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the news media.

 

Defense officials have been concerned that Obama hasn’t warned Netanyahu directly enough about the risks of a Israeli preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, including for U.S. interests in the region such as bases in in Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar, according to the official.

 

James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence, said Jan. 31 that communication with Israel was good. “We’re doing a lot with the Israelis, working together with them,” he told the Senate intelligence panel.

Unknown Intentions

 

The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, has said it is “premature” to resort to military force because sanctions are starting to have an impact on Iran. In a Jan. 26 interview with National Journal, Dempsey said he delivered a similar message of caution to Israel’s top leadership during a visit to the Jewish state in early January.

 

U.S. intelligence agencies think Iran is developing capabilities to produce nuclear weapons “should it choose to do so,” said Clapper.

 

“We do not know, however, if Iran will eventually decide to build nuclear weapons,” he said.

 

While leaders of both countries agree that time must be given to gauge the impact of the latest set of economic sanctions on Iran, Israel’s patience is shorter than that of the U.S., Ephraim Kam, deputy director of Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies, said.

‘Too Late’

 

“It will take at least six months to see whether sanctions are effective and by then it may be too late,” said Kam, author of the 2007 book, “A Nuclear Iran: What Does it Mean, and What Can be Done.”

 

“We’re definitely using different clocks,” he said.

 

Israeli Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz told the Herzliya conference on Feb. 1 that his nation must be “willing to deploy” its military assets because Iran may be within a year of gaining nuclear weapons capability. Gantz said international sanctions are starting to show some results.

 

Moshe Yaalon, Israel’s vice prime minister and its former top military commander, played down Iran’s ability to shelter its activities from a military attack. “It’s possible to strike all Iran’s facilities, and I say that out of my experience as IDF chief of staff,” he said at the conference, referring to the Israeli Defense Forces.

 

The U.S., its European allies and the International Atomic Energy Agency have challenged the government in Tehran to prove that its nuclear work is intended only for energy and medical research, as Iranian officials maintain.

 

Mehdi Khalaji, an Iran specialist at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said in an interview that he doubts that the U.S. or Iran will launch a military strike this year. Rather, he cited the possibility than Iran might stage a provocation and use any response as an excuse to launch an asymmetrical attack against U.S. and Israel targets using proxies such as Hezbollah

 

My advice is to keep praying for peace and preparing for some hard times to come….food, water, guns and ammo. Preparedness is not a bad idea especially considering the hardship you could experience if you don’t…

New IAEA study is another sign of a ramping up for war

In an essential repeat of what preceded the Iraq war, the IAEA’s recent report on Iran looks like more of the same. In this video below learn more of what is really going on.

The IAEA- the International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran might be working on developing
nuclear weapons.

The International Atomic Energy Agency doesn’t really have any intelligence capabilities of its own. It is relying on reports that are coming from others like Israel and the United States.

It’s all based on ‘suspicions’ and ‘hunches’. It’s all speculation
and grainy satellite photos. It’s so similar to the build up to the
Iraq war it might as well be an instant replay on ESPN.

In fact, the UN nuclear watchdog has found NO smoking gun, but has
succeeded nonetheless in providing a pretext for war.

Former CIA officer Philip Giraldi speaks with RT and expresses
grave doubts about the value of the IAEA report…

Who got missiles for Christmas?

In this video below you will learn more info in addition to a post last year on US plans to further militarize the Persian gulf, a serious hot spot in the Middle East.

Here is the video;