this subject, this one has more of a ring of truth to it. But,
again, this may have been planted to wake up the Iranians to the
real risks... BUT as PLAN.. it has a clear tone of military
preparations ... IF ASKED to do the attack by the pol leaders.. /
The Sunday Times (UK) January 07, 2007
*Revealed: Israel plans nuclear strike on Iran*
Uzi Mahnaimi, New York and Sarah Baxter, Washington
ISRAEL has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran's uranium enrichment
facilities with tactical nuclear weapons. this is probably true..
Two Israeli air force squadrons are training to blow up an Iranian
facility
using low-yield nuclear "bunker-busters", according to several Israeli
military sources.
The attack would be the first with nuclear weapons since 1945, when the
United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The
Israeli
weapons would each have a force equivalent to one-fifteenth of the
Hiroshima
bomb.
Under the plans, conventional laser-guided bombs would open
"tunnels" into
the targets. "Mini-nukes" would then immediately be fired into a
plant at
Natanz, exploding deep underground to reduce the risk of radioactive
fallout.
"As soon as the green light is given, it will be one mission, one
strike and
the Iranian nuclear project will be demolished," said one of the
sources.
The plans, disclosed to The Sunday Times last week, have been
prompted in
part by the Israeli intelligence service Mossad's assessment that
Iran is on
the verge of producing enough enriched uranium to make nuclear weapons
within two years.
Israeli military commanders believe conventional strikes may no
longer be
enough to annihilate increasingly well-defended enrichment facilities.
Several have been built beneath at least 70ft of concrete and rock.
However,
the nuclear-tipped bunker-busters would be used only if a conventional
attack was ruled out and if the United States declined to intervene,
senior
sources said.
Israeli and American officials have met several times to consider
military
action. Military analysts said the disclosure of the plans could be
intended
to put pressure on Tehran to halt enrichment, cajole America into
action or
soften up world opinion in advance of an Israeli attack.
Some analysts warned that Iranian retaliation for such a strike
could range
from disruption of oil supplies to the West to terrorist attacks against
Jewish targets around the world.
Israel has identified three prime targets south of Tehran which are
believed
to be involved in Iran's nuclear programme:
# Natanz, where thousands of centrifuges are being installed for uranium
enrichment
# A uranium conversion facility near Isfahan where, according to a
statement
by an Iranian vice-president last week, 250 tons of gas for the
enrichment
process have been stored in tunnels
# A heavy water reactor at Arak, which may in future produce enough
plutonium for a bomb
Israeli officials believe that destroying all three sites would
delay Iran's
nuclear programme indefinitely and prevent them from having to live
in fear
of a "second Holocaust".
The Israeli government has warned repeatedly that it will never allow
nuclear weapons to be made in Iran, whose president, Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad,
has declared that "Israel must be wiped off the map".
Robert Gates, the new US defence secretary, has described military
action
against Iran as a "last resort", leading Israeli officials to
conclude that
it will be left to them to strike.
Israeli pilots have flown to Gibraltar in recent weeks to train for the
2,000-mile round trip to the Iranian targets. Three possible routes have
been mapped out, including one over Turkey.
Air force squadrons based at Hatzerim in the Negev desert and Tel
Nof, south
of Tel Aviv, have trained to use Israel's tactical nuclear weapons
on the
mission. The preparations have been overseen by Major General Eliezer
Shkedi, commander of the Israeli air force.
Sources close to the Pentagon said the United States was highly
unlikely to
give approval for tactical nuclear weapons to be used. One source said
Israel would have to seek approval "after the event", as it did when it
crippled Iraq's nuclear reactor at Osirak with airstrikes in 1981.
Scientists have calculated that although contamination from the
bunker-busters could be limited, tons of radioactive uranium
compounds would
be released.
The Israelis believe that Iran's retaliation would be constrained by
fear of
a second strike if it were to launch its Shehab-3 ballistic missiles at
Israel.
However, American experts warned of repercussions, including widespread
protests that could destabilise parts of the Islamic world friendly
to the
West.
Colonel Sam Gardiner, a Pentagon adviser, said Iran could try to
close the
Strait of Hormuz, the route for 20% of the world's oil.
Some sources in Washington said they doubted if Israel would have
the nerve
to attack Iran. However, Dr Ephraim Sneh, the deputy Israeli defence
minister, said last month: "The time is approaching when Israel and the
international community will have to decide whether to take military
action
against Iran."
