IS ISRAEL PLANNING FOR ATTACK ON IRAN?

WELL OF COURSE IT IS. NOT TO DO SO WOULD BE IRRESPONSIBLE. IT MAY NOT NEED TO ATTACK, BUT IT MUST BE READY TO DO SO.

Israel readies forces for strike on nuclear Iran.
ISRAEL’S armed forces have been ordered by Ariel Sharon, the prime minister, to be ready by the end of March for possible strikes on secret uranium enrichment sites in Iran, military sources have revealed. The order came after Israeli intelligence warned the government that Iran was operating enrichment facilities, believed to be small and concealed in civilian locations.

Iran’s stand-off with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over nuclear inspections and aggressive rhetoric from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, who said last week that Israel should be moved to Europe, are causing mounting concern. The crisis is set to come to a head in early March, when Mohamed El-Baradei, the head of the IAEA, will present his next report on Iran. El-Baradei, who received the Nobel peace prize yesterday, warned that the world was “losing patience” with Iran.

A senior White House source said the threat of a nuclear Iran was moving to the top of the international agenda and the issue now was: “What next?” That question would have to be answered in the next few months, he said.

Defence sources in Israel believe the end of March to be the “point of no return” after which Iran will have the technical expertise to enrich uranium in sufficient quantities to build a nuclear warhead in two to four years.

SEE ALSO: Israel Denies British Report It Plans Iran Attack - Robert Berger
Israel reacted swiftly to a report in London's Sunday Times that it plans an attack on Iran in March if Teheran does not halt its nuclear program. "This is ridiculous. I do not know of any decision. I think it is entirely baseless," said Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. "It would be a nightmare for all of us if this kind of regime will hold a nuclear bomb," he said. "It will destabilize not only our region, it will destabilize the whole world." However, "we believe that this is the ultimate responsibility of the international community. There are contacts, negotiations, and initiatives to move it forward to the UN Security Council, and I hope that it will come there soon." (VOA News)

See also Israel: Action Against Iran to be Diplomatic Only
Maj.-Gen. (Res.) Amos Gilad, head of the Defense Ministry's foreign policy department, denied the assertions that Israel planned to attack Iran. Gilad told Israel Radio that an international diplomatic effort was underway to put a stop to the Iranian nuclear threat. (Jerusalem Post)

See also Proposal: Ban Iran from World Cup Finals
Former West German international midfielder Wolfgang Overath suggested on Friday in an interview on German television that Iran should be banned from the 2006 World Cup finals because of a call by Iran's president to move Israel to Europe. (Reuters/Ynet News)