Iran Is Preparing For War

Open Zion's Peter Beinart offers his prediction on whether Israel will attack Iran soon.

Iran Preparing For Nuclear War -- Reza Khalili, Washington Times

West needs harsher sanctions now.

Despite the statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel’s red line on Iran’s illicit nuclear program could be reached by next spring, Iranian officials are adamant that war is close.

In analyzing Mr. Netanyahu’s recent speech to the United Nations General Assembly, an Iranian nuclear policy strategist boasted to state media outlet irannuc.ir that Mr. Netanyahu’s red line is based on the current enrichment process to the 20 percent level at the Fordow nuclear facility. A recent International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report shows Iran has 90 kilograms of 20 percent enrichment, needing just 130 kilograms of such material for a nuclear bomb, which the Israelis conclude will happen by next spring.

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My Comment: Iran is not the only country preparing for war. In a must read post from the Daily Beast, other countries are planning and getting ready for war.

What Could Life In Tel Aviv Be Like If Israel Bombed Iran

If Israel Bombed Iran, What Could Life In Tel Aviv Be Like? -- Anat Berko, Washington Post

For months, Israel has threatened to strike Iran’s nuclear sites. The United States has urged restraint. If such an operation were launched, how might Tel Aviv react?

“Our pilots,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proclaims on the Channel 2 TV news, “carried out their difficult and dangerous task for the sake of the state of Israel. They have struck several Iranian nuclear facilities and have returned safely.”

For months, Israeli officials had been debating whether a strike would be worth the risk. I’m relieved they have finally acted, but I worry: What if the reactors and other nuclear facilities, which are scattered throughout Iran, some buried deep underground, aren’t entirely destroyed?

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My Comment: One person's view of what an Israeli strike on Iran will do to places like Tel Aviv. What's my own take .... my personal analysis paints a far more darker picture. It must be the Russian in me .... we always assume the worst ... and when it does not happen ... consider ourselves lucky.

Gathering War Clouds In The Middle East

Iranian naval ships take part in a naval parade near the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran. The country has boasted about their new high-powered speed boats - designed to swarm enemy ships

Why I'm Convinced Israel Will Bomb Iran In Weeks: Netanyahu Is Running Out Of Patience And Is 'Closer Than Ever' To Launching A Strike -- Michael Burleigh, Daily Mail

For months there have been international discussions about the threat a nuclear Iran would present - most notably to its avowed enemy, Israel, which Iran has vowed to 'erase from the map'.

Aggressive, war-mongering rhetoric has been bubbling in Israel as a result. And seeing no signs that slow-burning international sanctions are effective, Israel is coming to the view it should no longer entrust others with its own security.

This summer has an ominous feel, like August 1914. In the Middle East, the Arab Spring has replaced several autocrats, not with Western-style liberals, but with the extremist Muslim Brotherhood.

The civil war raging in Syria is threatening to spill over into Lebanon and Jordan, and is really a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia to establish dominance over the region.

Meanwhile, looming in the background is the longer-term crisis caused by Iran’s devious and dogged pursuit of nuclear weapons.

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My Comment: I am still skeptical that Israel will launch a military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities. The distances are too great, and the targets are too numerous to have a lasting impact on Iran's nuclear program. But if Israel was to strike, it would be to drag in everyone else and hope that in the ensuing chaos international pressure will then be put on Iran to stop it's enrichment program. But I have doubts that Iran will listen.