Source:
The GuardianUS embassy cables show security service has told Washington 'all options' are on table if Iranian bomb looks inevitable
Ian Black, Middle East editor
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 28 November 2010 18.20 GMT
Israel regarded 2010 as a "critical year" for tackling Iran's alleged quest for nuclear weapons and has warned the United States that time is running out to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear bomb.
Ehud Barak, Israel's defence minister, told American congressmen in June 2009 there was a window of "between six and 18 months from now in which stopping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons might still be viable". After that, Barak said – in a striking admission recorded in a confidential state department document – "any military solution would result in unacceptable collateral damage".
Barak's comments were one of many occasions in the last five years when Israeli leaders and officials have hammered home the message to the US that Iran's nuclear ambitions pose an "existential" threat to Israel. Israel is widely believed to have an extensive nuclear arsenal but under its policy of "ambiguity" it has never been avowed. Unlike Iran it has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty.
Israel saw 2010 as a pivotal year. "If the Iranians continue to protect and harden their nuclear sites it will be more difficult to target and damage them," the US embassy reported Israeli defence officials as saying in November 2009. In a discussion of the upcoming delivery of GBU-28 bunker-busting bombs to Israel it was noted that the transfer "should be handled quietly to avoid allegations that the US government was helping Israel prepare for a strike against Iran".
Read more:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/28/israel-primed-attack-nuclear-iran
Something from 2005...
US embassy cables: Mossad says US and Israel agree on IranThursday, 17 March 2005, 10:32
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 001580
SIPDIS
EO 12958 DECL: 03/15/2010
TAGS PGOV, PREL, KWBG, IR, IS, COUNTERTERRORISM, GOI EXTERNAL
SUBJECT: MOSSAD CHIEF TO CODEL CORZINE: SOME FOREIGN
FIGHTERS BEGINNING TO LEAVE IRAQ
Classified By: Pol/C Ambassador Daniel C. Kurtzer for reasons 1.4(b) an d (d).
1. (S) Summary: Mossad Chief Meir Dagan told CODEL Corzine March 13 that Israeli and U.S. thinking on Iran largely tracks, adding that he believes the EU dialogue with Iran will ultimately fail. Dagan said that Israel has evidence that some foreign fighters have returned home from Iraq, perhaps indicating that the tide may be starting to turn in the U.S. battle against the insurgency there. He worried however, that these militants' countries of origin -- in particular Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria and Sudan -- are ill-equipped to control the returning jihadis, who might then pose a threat to stability in the region and, ultimately, to Israel. End Summary.
----
Iran
----
2. (C) Senator Jon Corzine, accompanied by Senate staff member Evan Gottesman, the Ambassador, Pol/Res and Poloff (notetaker), met with Mossad Chief Meir Dagan March 13. Acknowledging that there are at times differences in analysis of the facts, Dagan stressed that it is similarities rather than differences that are at the heart of the GOI-U.S. intelligence relationship, particularly on Iran. The facts themselves are not in dispute, Dagan continued, adding that the U.S. and Israeli assessments of Iran's intentions and plans are largely in accord. Iran has decided to go nuclear, Dagan said, and nothing will stop it. Dagan predicted that the EU dialogue with Iran will not succeed and that the issue of Iran's nuclear ambitions would eventually go to the UN Security Council.
-------------------------------------
Iraq - Foreign Fighters Heading Home?
-------------------------------------
3. (S) In response to the Senator's question, Dagan said that the tide may be starting to turn in Iraq with regard to foreign militant activity. Dagan said Israel has evidence that foreign fighters originating from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Syria and Yemen have arrived back in their home countries, and he assumes that some had returned to Saudi Arabia as well. Dagan predicted that, as with men who fought in Afghanistan during the 80's and 90's, these returning militants would stay in touch with each other, forming a network based on their common experiences in Iraq.
4. (S) Stressing that Israel has no assets in Iraq other than a friendly relationship with the Kurds, Dagan said that Israel's interest is more in the impact the jihadis from, for example, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, will have once they return to their countries of origin. Although he predicts Egypt and Jordan will "do all right," Dagan said he is less confident that governments in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, and Sudan are sufficiently well-equipped to face down the domestic challenge these returning militants will pose. The combination of their military training and the absence of strong governments willing and able to confront these men could have a devastating impact on Israel by causing chaos in their home countries, he added. Dagan predicted that these jihadis will have less of a direct impact on Palestinians, because Palestinians are already well aware of militant views and opinions via Internet chat rooms. Furthermore, Dagan said he feels that most Palestinians are not searching for "foreign flags," such as al-Qaeda, under which to rally, because those inclined to do so are already being well-mobilized under existing groups in the West Bank and Gaza.
-------
Lebanon
-------
5. (C) Dagan opined that Hizballah will never make the transition to a purely political party in Lebanon, since the organization remains very dependent on its jihadi orientation. Noting that even the recent Hizaballah-sponsored march in Beirut has not deterred the Lebanese from pressing for a full Syrian withdrawal, Dagan advised the U.S. to remain firm in its demand for a complete pullout, and attributed the willingness of the Lebanese people to rise up to U.S. action in Iraq.
--------------------------------------------- -------------
Essential to Use All Assets in the Fight Against Terrorism
--------------------------------------------- -------------
6. (C) Dagan said it is essential to combine all types of intelligence assets, rather than relying exclusively on human intelligence or signal intercepts, to counter terrorist threats. Terrorist organizations have been seeking to obtain WMD as a matter of course and, unlike countries that wish to acquire these weapons as a deterrent, non-state actors would be more inclined to actually use them, in Dagan's opinion. Asked about the relationship between illicit activities such as narcotic or arms trafficking and terrorism, Dagan confirmed that terrorist organizations try to fund their activities by criminal means, adding that credit card fraud and counterfeiting are also methods favored by these groups. Weapons originating from Yemen and Sudan are smuggled into the territories through Egypt for sale, as well as for use by militants, Dagan said.
7. (U) CODEL Corzine did not have an opportunity to clear this message.
********************************************* ******************** Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website:
(****Taken out because it's a live link, go to the Guardian website below if you want to go there***)
You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. ********************************************* ******************** KURTZER
From:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/29006
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
