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Sunday, December 10, 2006

Waking up the Jews

Caroline Glick had a long and scary column in Friday's Jerusalem Post that should give pause to Americans as well as Israelis. Here's part of it:
Even if the US were to somehow get them to agree to certain understandings about Iraq, there is no reason to believe that the Iranians and Syrians would keep their word. Not only would the US be approaching them as a supplicant and so emboldening them, but to date the US has never credibly threatened anything either Syria or Iran value. Indeed, through supporting negotiations between the EU and Iran, empowering the UN to deal with Iran's nuclear program, and forcing Israel to accept a cease-fire with Hizbullah last summer that effectively gave victory to the Syrian and Iranian proxy, the US has consistently rewarded the two countries' aggression.

Worse than that, from a US perspective, although Gates admitted Tuesday that he cannot guarantee that Iran will not attack Israel with nuclear weapons, he ignored the fact that Iran - whose President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad daily calls for the destruction of the US - may also attack the US with nuclear weapons.

Gates admitted in his Senate hearing that Iran is producing many bombs - not just one.

Since it is possible to destroy Israel with just one bomb, the Americans should be asking themselves what Iran needs all those other bombs for. There are senior military sources in the US who have been warning the administration to take into consideration that the day that Iran attacks Israel with a nuclear bomb, 10 cities in the US and Europe are liable to also be attacked with nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, no one is listening to these voices today.

...

WHAT MUST Israel do? First, it must plan an attack against Iran's nuclear facilities and regime command and control centers. To pave the way for such an attack, the IDF must move now to neutralize second order threats like the Palestinian rocket squads and the Syrian ballistic missile arsenals in order to limit the public's exposure to attack during the course of or in the aftermath of an Israeli attack on Iran.

Second, Israel must work to topple the Iranian regime. As the Defense Minister's advisor Uri Lubrani told Ha'aretz last week, the regime in Iran is far from stable today and ripe for overthrow.

The overwhelming majority of Iranians despise the regime. There are rebellious groups in every ethnic group and province in the country - Azeris, Kurds, Ahwazi Arabs, Baluchis, Turkmen and even Persians - that are actively working to destabilize the regime. Every day there are strikes of workers, women and students. Every few weeks there are reports of violent clashes between anti-regime groups and regime forces.

Recently, oil pipelines were sabotaged in the oil-rich Khuzestan province in the south where the Ahwazi Arabs are systematically persecuted by the regime. Westerners who recently visited Iran claim that Israel operating alone could overthrow the regime by extending its assistance to these people.

Thirdly, in his testimony in the Senate on Tuesday, Gates casually mentioned that Israel has nuclear weapons. In so doing, he unceremoniously removed four decades of ambiguity over Israel's nuclear status. While his statement caused dismay in Jerusalem, perhaps Israel should see this as an opportunity.

With the threat of nuclear destruction hanging over us, it makes sense to conduct a debate about an Israeli second strike. While such a discussion will not dissuade Iran's fanatical leaders from attacking Israel with nuclear weapons, it could influence the Iranian nation to rise up against their leaders.

Moreover, such a debate could influence other regimes in the region like Saudi Arabia which today behave as if Israel's annihilation will have no adverse impact on them. Americans like Baker, Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and their European friends need to understand that as goes Israel so go the Persian Gulf's oil fields. Such an understanding may influence their willingness to enable Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.
Read the whole thing.

4 Comments:

At 6:59 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

There are more Americans than you know who take very seriously what's going on in Isreal. We were against the US urging a cease fire with Hezbollah, with giving up ANY of Isreal's land to Palestinians, and surely don't want Iran and Syria involved in deciding what's going to happen in Iraq. We pray daily for safety for the Israelis, wisdom for their leaders, and the protection of Hashem for His people. We also pray daily for wisdom, courage and boldness for our leaders here in the US.(That prayer sometimes doesn't appear to be heard!!!)I'm not particularly worried about oil in the Middle East, I'll find a way to stay warm and cook without oil. But I want to be sure we, as Americans, continue to be a true friend of Isreal.To that end, I beseech Hashem for mercy. Shalom, Spitfire

 
At 8:35 AM, Blogger Carl in Jerusalem said...

Spitfire,

It's much appreciated. But remember the saying, "you can lead the horse to trough but you cannot force it to drink." That seems to apply to Jews - especially in Israel today. We all see it coming but our 'leadership' won't take the drink and do what needs to be done.

 
At 9:39 AM, Blogger Michael said...

So Carl, who do we vote for next? And how do we speed up that voting process? And are we willing to take the inevitable hurt that a first strike on Iran will bring?

Spitfire: We're glad to have your prayers. I hope that you all vote Giuliani in 2008, also.

 
At 10:57 AM, Blogger Carl in Jerusalem said...

Michael,

Part of the problem - as you know - is that there is no one for whom to vote. At this point, I would warily vote Netanyahu because he is electable, whereas others whom I would trust more are not.

Unless we can bring Yitzchak Shamir or Benny Begin out of retirement....

Of course, the other problem is that under the current system, you can only vote for a party....

 

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