Israeli Attack On Iran Could Be Disaster — For U.S. Economy

[Purveyor]

By Louis Galambos
January 18, 2010

Israel will not be complicit in a second Holocaust. If Iran or any other nation that has called for the destruction of Israel is about to acquire nuclear weapons, the Israelis will attempt to destroy that nation's uranium-enrichment facilities. In June 1981, Israel launched a successful air attack on an Iraqi nuclear reactor, and in 2007 it bombed a Syrian factory suspected of producing plutonium warheads.

But Americans should be aware that when Iran becomes the next target, it will be a blow to the U.S. economic recovery.

In an effort to prevent a military resolution to the problem, the nuclear club has tried to persuade Iran to stop its weapons program. But President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad responded recently by threatening to build 10 new enrichment sites. There is no evidence that sanctions will persuade Mr. Ahmadinejad to abandon the opportunity he foresees to destroy his hated enemy. That leaves Israel with no choice.

The economic repercussions of an attack will be far reaching and painful. The price of oil will quickly shoot through the roof. Judging by what happened in 1973, the price could easily go above $300 a barrel in the short term. There will be long lines at U.S. gas stations again and probably a rationing program. The long-term outcome will depend to a considerable extent upon what the Saudi position is, but in the short run, the lack of oil will be a severe and immediate shock to the U.S. economy. Unemployment would quickly exceed the post-World War II high of 1980-81. Financial institutions that have barely recovered from the Great Recession will again sink toward the crisis level.

The immediate impact on the European economy will be traumatic. More dependent than the United States on Middle Eastern oil supplies, the European Union will very quickly see output sag and unemployment increase again. In France, where unemployment sparked riots in 2009, the social and economic crisis will deepen and could threaten the stability of the current government. Germany is especially vulnerable to anything that closes off the country's export markets, a change that will very quickly take place.

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http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.israel18jan18,0,465904.story

[Newsjock]

1. If Israel were to attack Iran ...

... the state of the U.S. economy would be the least of our worries.

[Ozymanithrax]

2. So what should we do in the face of this thorny issue?

It seems that we and Europe are doing everything to try to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear nation.

[earthside]

3. World War III Will Be a Disaster ...

... for a lot of economies.

The best way to prevent a nuclear holocaust starting in the Middle East would be for both Iran and Israel to give-up their nuclear weapons programs.

[Kurska]

5. Good luck with that, Israel isn't going to give up its best way of surviving in a region that hates

it with a passion and has fought multiple wars to destroy it.

[aquart]

4. I thought they decided to go another way?

No attack. But being a nuclear physicist in Iran means being a prime target. Tragic, but less messy.

[martymar64]

7. One small hitch in that idea

If one of those physicists happen to be Russian or Chinese, then it could make things more difficult and possibly expand the conflict in unanticipated ways.

Mahmoud A is a grade A asshole, but I don't think he is insane. One would have to be insane in this day and age to actually go through with a nuclear attack, knowing that a nuclear response would be extremely likely. He talks tough, but if push came to shove, would he have the stones to cause national suicide for the Persians in exchange for the destruction of the Israelis? I think that he recognizes the concept of MAD, and despite his tough talk, would not initiate a nuclear attack on Israel. Besides, an attack upon Iran would absolutely kill the budding democracy movement in Iran, further entrenching the mullahs in power. Israel would be better off quietly assisting the democracy movement and affecting positive change in Iran.

[wtbymark]

6. I would say that that would be the stupidest (yup) move in the history

of the planet. period.

[Sebastian Doyle]

8. Yeah, but you're thinking rationally

which is something Benji NuttyYahoo is incapable of doing.

[Daveparts still]

9. Except, That

Iran hasn't called for the destruction of Israel, the quote commonly attributed to say so said, "Israel will disappear from the pages of time".

The CIA said in 2003 and in 2004 that Iran had discontinued its nuclear weapons program.

Iran has opened its facilities to international inspection and announced its new facility even before it was even completed. No other nation on the face of the earth has been as open to nuclear inspections.

Just like Saddam Hussein every time he agreed to inspection they would move the goal posts to ask for more until finally he said, "enough" and the West said, ah ha! Proof that he is hiding something.

Just more thugs beating the drums for war.

PS, don't worry about what the next war will do to this economy look what the wars we've got are doing to it now!

[Prometheus Bound]

10. Yup, this one is a pathetic piece of propaganda

Main propaganda points:
- "Iran has called for the destruction of Israel"
- "Israel will not be complicit in a second Holocaust."
- "But President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad responded recently by threatening to build 10 new enrichment sites" (forgets to mention it's not weapons grade)
- "Mr. Ahmadinejad (won't)...abandon the opportunity he foresees to destroy his hated enemy."
-That leaves Israel with no choice.

His solution: "clamoring for more decisive action" (whatever that is)

What a useless turd.