Analyzing an Iranian Strike by Israel

An interesting, rational article from The Jerusalem Post analyzing the risks of a nuclear Iran and what real options exist.

Rattling the Cage: Against a preemptive Holocaust
By LARRY DERFNER

Almost imperceptibly, the debate in Israel over what to do about Iran's nuclear development has gone over the edge. The unthinkable is now not only thinkable, it's speakable, it's writeable, it's doable. In the last few weeks or so, it has become acceptable, legitimate, to argue for an Israeli nuclear first strike to knock out Iran's nuclear facilities.

This ultimate escalation in the debate happened mainly, I think, because it came to be widely understood that Iran's nuclear operations are probably too well buried, hidden, defended and widespread to take out with conventional weapons. Destroying them the "normal" way might also require a ground invasion, which, after what's happened in Iraq, doesn't appeal to many people. Moreover, in another outgrowth of the debacle in Iraq, it now seems unlikely that President Bush, or his successor, will be politically able to go to war against Iran.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467824712&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

An Amazing but telling analogy ...

Today's Guardian published an editorial that drew it's own analogy between United States President George Bush and Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It basically placed both men's backgrounds, comments and actions on a level playing field. I find it so smug, condescending and absurd that it must be posted to be memorialized.

Once one gets past the opening analogy, the article raises some important issues on how other governing bodies must step up and help avoid another terrible confrontation. It will prove interesting to see if anyone else does or simply sits back and criticizes after the fact.

They're broken men, so don't let them take us to a new war
Presidents Bush and Ahmadinejad have lost face at home; now others must forge peaceful settlements in the Middle East

Henry PorterSunday January 28, 2007The Observer

There is a striking likeness in the expressions of George W Bush and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran as they confront each other over the issues of uranium enrichment and dominance in the Middle East. It falls somewhere between the chastened and defiant playground bully.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2000375,00.html