07 March 2013

Is this good or bad news?

It's far from clear whether this is good or bad news, but the outgoing US General in charge of the USA's military Middle East affairs, "In a little-noticed exchange Tuesday at the Senate Armed Services Committee, a top US general said he had no doubt Israel would attack Iran if the Islamic Republic reached a critical point in its nuclear weapons drive. Furthermore, said General James Mattis, Israel could so without the assistance of the United States."

At one level, it's good to know that a military man who should know what he's talking about believes that the IDF can 'cope' with the Iranian nuclear threat. On the other hand, the thought that someone like Bibi might take heart from that and "go for it" could be somewhat scary.

It doesn't get better" "Finally, [Senator] Graham asked him whether a nuclear Iran would lead other regional states to seek similar nuclear capabilities. Mattis said he had been told by “the leadership” of at least one Sunni state that they would indeed pursue a nuclear capability in such a case, and he believed other states would too."

Should you feel like scaring yourself, the full story is here.

By: Brian Goldfarb

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