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http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/ar...TICLE_ID=34793

WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS
Israel considers Iran nuke strike
Combination of 'non-conventional weapons,' 'non-conventional regime,' alarms Jerusalem

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Posted: September 25, 2003
10:15 p.m. Eastern
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

Israel's defense forces are raising the prospect of an operation to destroy Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program.

Senior government and military officials, alarmed by the failure of the international community to move against Iran, have issued warnings that Israel would consider unilateral action to stop Tehran's development of nuclear weapons, reports Middle East Newsline.

The clearest warnings yet came on the eve of another effort by the International Atomic Energy Agency to investigate suspected Iranian violations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The suspected violations include the unauthorized enrichment of uranium.

''The fact that a country like Iran, an enemy [of Israel] and which is particularly irresponsible, has equipped itself with nonconventional weapons is worrisome,'' Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Moshe Ya'alon was quoted as saying in Middle East Newsline. ''The combination in this case of a nonconventional regime with nonconventional weapons is a concern.''

''At the moment there is continuing international diplomatic activity to deal with this threat, and it would be good if it succeeds,'' Ya'alon added. ''But if that is not the case we would consider our options.''

Meanwhile, Iran said yesterday it had no problem ''in principle'' with signing a deal allowing United Nations inspectors to make unscheduled visits to all of the country's nuclear installations.

The announcement by Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi comes on the eve of a new visit by inspectors beginning Sunday that will last until Oct. 31, the U.N. deadline for Tehran to prove it is not trying to develop nuclear weapons.

''Iran does not have a nuclear weapons program nor does it intend to embark on one,'' Kharazi said in his address before the U.N. General Assembly. ''Thus we have nothing to hide and, in principle, have no problem with the additional protocol,'' as the document that would allow the unscheduled inspections is called.

In Vienna, headquarters of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, diplomats said yesterday that more traces of highly enriched uranium had been found in Iran.

The United States says the Islamic regime is producing the uranium in a bid to manufacture nuclear weapons.

The latest uranium traces were found at a site that, according to one diplomat in Vienna, had been blocked to U.N. inspectors for months and had undergone ''considerable modifications'' when they were finally allowed access.

Bush said that Iran's nuclear weapons program would be on the agenda when he hosts a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin beginning today.

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I think something like this will happen with Iran. I don't know about using nukes against them, but i think either the US or Israel will do some bombing runs there ala Israel in Iraq in the eighties.

[ 09-26-2003, 12:26 PM: Message edited by: Djinn Raffo ]

<font color=cadetblue>Bad idea IMO. Using nukes to stop others from producing nukes. If they really want Iran to stick to conventional weapons then they should attack them with conventional weapons not nukes.</font>

Um.... they're making WMD, so let's hit them with our WMD!!!!!!!!!!! [img]graemlins/1ponder.gif[/img]

Ok, maybe it is time for Isreal to take itself a little less seriously. I mean , who died and put them in charge of who can and can not have nuclear weapons? If they dont like the fact that neighboring countries have nukes maybe they should try just sucking it up instead of acting like a spoiled child who cant get their way.

The first line of the article says it all , if Iran develops nukes Isreal is going to act like the terorist nation that it is and go wreck their stuff. Mybe the rest of the region wouldnt be gunning for isreal so much if they didnt go and pick fights so often.

Ummm I think we did. When the US invoked it's right to attack Iraq under pre-emptive selfdefense, it opened a pandora's box. This is just the first of the fallout from that. If we can justify attacking Iraq based on the fact they may produce WMD's and sell em to terrorists, then Isreal can easily use the same model to justify a pre-emptive strike against an enemy that is much closer to home and much more likely to attack it.

I think nuclear proliferation will no longer be an issue once everyone has the bomb. YES, I DID JUST SAY ALL NATIONS SHOULD HAVE NUKES.

They equalize the playing field. Pakistan will never be pushed around (as much) again by nations like the US because it has the ultimate defense mechanism in its hands. Once all nations have the nuke, none will hold that ultimate power over another. Then, the discussion table might be more civil.

And there you have the basic dilemma in 21st Century International relations. We now have a situation where virtually any country can invade another with the justification of either:-

a) It's a legitimate strike in the "War Against Terror"

b) It's a pre-emptive strike to prevent the target state developing "Weapons of Mass Destruction"

Lets see, what could be next....hmmmmm....China invades Taiwan perhaps. After all, all it would seem to need to justify such an action is a public statement that Communist China believes Taiwan might have the capacity or intention to develop WMDs (whatever they may be) or that their low level tolerance/support for anti-communist factions in mainland China supports terrorism (as defined by Communist China).

What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Think about it.

<font color = lightgreen>I would say that this is merely the strongest diplomatic stick Israel has with which to whack the heads of other nations, but then I realize we are speaking about Israel. They view themselves as if they were a cornered animal (which is some sense they are), and they are quickly showing the tendency to bite. It wasn't all that long ago that they steadfastly refused to admit that they even had nuclear weapons yet now they flaunt the knowldege? [img]graemlins/erm.gif[/img]

On the other hand, we did set a precedent...so if they choose to act out of the desire to protect themselves then that is their business. However, they shouldn't use nuclear armaments. True, they may cause as many casualties by using conventional weaponry, but the psychological impact of nuclear weapons will bring far too many complications for all involved.</font>

Maybe I'm just being stupid. But could someone please point out to me where in the article it says that Israel is considering using nuclear weapons?