Olmert not ruling out attack on Iran/ JPost

Dec. 9, 2006 15:34 | Updated Dec. 9, 2006 19:32

Olmert not ruling out attack on Iran
By YAAKOV KATZ AND JPOST STAFF

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, in an interview scheduled for publication on Sunday, told Germany's Der Spiegel magazine that he could not rule out the possibility of a military attack against Iran, and called for the international community to step up action against Teheran.

Olmert called Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's repeated threats to destroy Israel "absolutely criminal," and said that he expected "more dramatic steps to be taken."

Olmert was interviewed ahead of his planned trip to Germany, where on Tuesday he will meet and hold a joint press conference with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

When asked about his recent offer to concede "large territories" in the West Bank for a "true peace," Olmert responded: "A prime minister should not make promises that he cannot keep but my message is clear: I am prepared to give up regions."

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http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1164881855295&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Giving up territories would be a necessary start to the peace process. But I worry that there is no real leadership on the Arab side able to negotiate peace. Hamas has, in the past, vowed to bury Israel. So my questions are: 1. Is there anyone in Palestinian leadership willing to stick their neck out for a possible peace?

2. Does Hamas have any sway over Iran? Since the majority of Iranians are not Arabs, I wonder.

Iran is doing something quite clever.
It is projecting, to the worldwide Jewish community that Israel is not a safe & viable place to live in anymore. Birthrates, as I understand it, are already in decline in Israel proper, amongst Jews, so the long term goal is to let demographics take over.
Rockets will keep raining on Israeli towns, Iran will continue to wage psychological warfare on Israel, and the image that Israel has in the world will continue to tumble, as the local leadership will continue to make enemies via its increasingly desperate attempts to make sense out of it all.
So, in a sense, it is a waste to try to find links between Iran and Hamas/Hezbollah - the die has been cast, it seems.

that's what I don't understand.

Colonialism, in other words.
Notice how Western powers have been having an increasingly difficult time at forcibly opening markets in far off places, as well as losing control over the resources of 3rd world countries? Iran, channeling Russian and Chinese influence, stands to gain regional hegemony, in the twilight of the west.

Israel needs to make friends locally. Lose this addiction to the USA.

If, indeed, Iran gains hegemony, do you think they will be more concerned about Israel or about Sunni Muslims? Right now in Iran, there is a crackdown on Zoroastrians and Sufis-don't know about Sunnis-but could this be the next step--a sort of modern Persian conquest, as it were?

It is, of course, in the better interests of the neighbors of Iraq to see it stabilized, if for nothing else to resolve the refugee problems those neighbors are going through right now.
That said, here is what I think Iran gains:

1. The PR value will be priceless for Iran. This is the sort of thinking which will go through the minds of many Middle Eastern citzens:
"Thank Allah that Iran intervened here and rescued the good citizens of Iraq!"
"The followers of Allah have prevailed in throwing the infidel crusaders out!"
and: "Iran has been standing up to America, maybe they have been right all along!"

2. Iran will now feel secure in the knowledge that the imperialists will be in a weaker position in regards to any future invasion plans,(especially any against Iran) and American influence in the middle east will be in a considerably diminished state.

3. A likely controlling influence over the distribution of Iraqi resources is another carrot for Iran.

That imho is what Iran is really after...after all the demonizing we have done against them one can hardly blame them for this. We created that monster. I feel that America must learn a better way of diplomacy if it is to counter this, any further "saber rattling" against Iran or Syria from America is only strengthening their position and conceivably could be leading the world into the "mother of all wars".
c

I hadn't thought of all these angles. And yes, I agree that the more the US holds up Iran and Syria as bogeymen, the stronger it will make their position in the Muslim world.

rockets are in no sense raining on Israeli towns. They were while the IDF was off bombing the crap out of Lebanon, but that war has gone all trucey. The rockets from Gaza hardly ever hit an actual town, and to descibe them as 'raining' even on the fields they usually manage to hit, is ridiculous. Meanwhile that idiocy has reached ceasefire of sorts as well. No rain.

While Iran certainly supports groups like Hezbollah, the problems between Israel and Palestine are primarily the making of Israelis and Palestinians, neither of whom appear to be able to get out of their entrenched positions, and not of Iran.

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until I found out he was using bully boy tactics to silence Sufi shaykhs in the area who were truly reaching out to find peace with their Jewish neighbors.

thanks

called The Road to ---dang, I can't recall the full title. I will try and get some corroboration for this claim, though.

It is called a Fatwa on Son Killing in Palestine
http://www.shaykhabdalqadir.com/content/articles/Art039_12032005.html

This isn't talking about anything Arafat did or didn't do to Sufis, but shows that some Sufis of rank think that the Palestinian government's efforts are not right.

There is a huge problem in the WB and Gaza for anyone calling for the slightest compromise being marked as a collaborator.

prepared.

According to reports, gas-masks kits are being collected by the gov't to be refurbished with a 2 year timeline for completion.

If the public in israel would ever need 'gas-masks', it would be after a US or israeli strike on Iran.

The experience in Lebanon is not so far in the past that it is now forgotten, by anyone ...

SURE, they can bomb Iran ... but then what ? .... What happens afterwards ? .. Invasion ? ... by who ? ...

Israel AND the US ? .....

NONSENSE ! ....

Israel does NOT have the troops or hardware that would be required to successfully wage such an invasion, and the US is essentially 'pinned down', where if they moved even a single division towards Iran, they would give up ground in Iraq .... The US is not poised to stage such an invasion .... Their combined force is insufficient ...

Attack Iran ? ..... Bullhockey .....

They both should get busted.

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Hagee and his Preacher Pals keep egging that wacko on. they want Olmert to nuke Iran so Armageddon will come.

What is Hagee gonna do when Olmert nukes Iran and then a counterstrike takes out Jeruslam and Tel Aviv? How is Hagee gonna explain that JC and his Sonshine Band pull a no-show?

That Hagee fuck is the Right Wing puppet of Likud. And there is no way "a counterstrike" could "take out" Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Get real. Iran doesn't have any nukes and would be committing suicide if it were attempt anything like that.

but America, and Americans, should have nothing to do with it. The US shall do nothing to protect you or Israel from the inevitable retaliation.

We got our hands full in Iraq, no thanks to you Ehud.

:eyes:

The Israeli people deserve better than rapists and war criminals to lead them.

What's the response?

Security Council resolutions condemning him and his government; all sorts of statements by 'world leaders' that 'the world must join hands to stop the new Hitler', sanctions, threats, massive propaganda on TV news and newspapers; innumerable propagandists flooding Internet discussion boards beating the war drums with fear and bigotry; attempts to isolate countries that continue to do business with them; experts linking the country with terrorists.

You know, that sort of thing.

We probably would be *INTRODUCING* resolutions in the Security Council
instead of *VETOING* them!

Tesha

cloth....as Pat Robertson....

Death mongers, the three of them.

And almost as if to prove my earlier point (which
I won't repeat here), I note that the subthread was
deleted.

Q.E.D.

Tesha