Israel Matzav

Bolton: It's up to Israel to stop Iran

Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton told the Herzliya Conference of the Institute for Policy and Strategy today that there is "close to zero" chance that President Bush will order a strike on Iran before leaving office and that Israel needs to see itself as a "possible last resort" in the bid to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

"The United States used to have a policy on Iran and recently there was a new push to create a new policy but sadly, due to the direction American policy is going, it seems that for the next few years the United States will be a bystander to the process."

"It's close to zero percent chance that the Bush administration will authorize military action against Iran before leaving office. At the same time in Teheran they took careful notice of how Israel got into Syria and to prepare for such an action against Iran. Without American policy backing anti Iraq action Israel should be willing to see themselves as a possible last resort."

"No one should be under any illusions about the United States part of the Iranian situation in the coming year," he added.

Speaking at the same conference, former IDF Chief of Staff and Defense Minister and current Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz hinted that Israel is ready to answer the challenge posed by Bolton:

Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz hinted Tuesday that the probability of a military strike against Iran has increased given "the deterioration of efforts to stop Iran diplomatically."

"The diplomatic timetable is running short and thus the next two years are critical for stopping Iran through diplomatic means," Mofaz, who also served as defense minister as well as chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, said.

On Tuesday, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council proposed additional sanctions against Iran.

"Over the course of the last year, the Iranian train has been an express train while the international train has been a local train that experiences delays and stoppages at every station," Mofaz said. "The Iranian locomotive is galloping with strength towards a nuclear bomb and towards regional hegemony," Mofaz told a special session of the Herzliya Conference of the Institute for Policy and Strategy.

"Iran has made a mockery of the world and has bought precious time," Mofaz said. "There are two years left to stop Iran before it's too late. The Iranian nuclear program is not an end but a means. Iran hopes to turn into an Islamic superpower that will unite the entire Muslim world under its umbrella. In order to realize this goal, Iran needs a nuclear weapon."

The only way the Olmert-Barak-Livni government will order a strike on Iran is if either President Bush or Secretary of State Rice order them to, or if it's the only way Olmert can keep himself in power. I'm glad to see that Mofaz still thinks there are two years left until Iran has a nuclear weapons. We can only hope and pray that he is right given that the Russians made their fifth delivery of nuclear fuel to Bushehr today.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:29 PM