Tuesday 15 July 2008

Israel’s threat to Iran pressures US


from British Socialist Worker
8 July 2008


The US is so bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan that recent threats by Israel to attack Iran’s nuclear sites has sent waves of panic through the US military.

The top US commander Michael Mullen warned Israel at a recent high level meeting that he has serious doubts that any attack will succeed.

According to military analysts, any operation to destroy Iran’s nuclear sites will also have to target missile bases and other facilities. This would involve hundreds of warplanes.

Mullen is worried that an attack would rebound on the US’s troubled occupations in Afghanistan and Iraq, which share long borders with Iran.

To add to US woes, Iran said that it will respond to any attack by closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz, choking off 20 percent of the world’s supply of oil.

Iran also warned that it will fire long range missiles at Israel, with the danger of sparking a regional war that could draw in Lebanon and Syria.

Following the meeting with Israeli military commanders, Mullen said, “Opening up a third front right now would be extremely stressful on us, very challenging, with consequences that would be difficult to predict.

“This is a very unstable part of the world and I don’t need it to be more unstable.”


No comments: