Israel May Bomb Iranian Nuclear Facilities (10)

1 Name: Newshound : 2007-01-07 23:34 ID:0VUTM7zi

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070107/wl_nm/iran_nuclear_israel_dc

LONDON (Reuters) - Israel has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran's uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons, Britain's Sunday Times newspaper said.

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Citing what it said were several Israeli military sources, the paper said two Israeli air force squadrons had been training to blow up an enrichment plant in Natanz using low-yield nuclear "bunker busters."

Two other sites, a heavy water plant at Arak and a uranium conversion plant at Isfahan, would be targeted with conventional bombs, the Sunday Times said.

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously last month to slap sanctions on Iran to try to stop uranium enrichment that Western powers fear could lead to making bombs. Tehran insists its plans are peaceful and says it will continue enrichment.

Israel has refused to rule out pre-emptive military action against Iran along the lines of its 1981 air strike against an atomic reactor in Iraq, although many analysts believe Iran's nuclear facilities are too much for Israel to take on alone.

2 Name: Unverified Source : 2007-01-08 05:40 ID:t7FZ1+pI

is this news true?
i think this news is just to check the US's reaction.
if israel really do this, even the US cannot protect them, i guess.

3 Name: Unverified Source : 2007-01-08 06:00 ID:Heaven

it's bullshit.
the keyword is "plans" = prepare for possibilities.
i have plans for when i get a billion dollars.

4 Name: Newshound : 2007-01-08 14:31 ID:0VUTM7zi

>>3

They've done the same before. Iraq was working on the bomb and Israel took out their reactors.

I'm not sure if they'll really do it this time, but I don't think they'll allow amenajad to get nukes after he's made his intentions as clear as he has.

5 Name: Unverified Source : 2007-01-08 20:50 ID:Heaven

>>4 the title says "with tactical nuclear weapons".
they didn't use tactical nuclear weapons in iraq.
plus it's very close in terms of land, nuclear fallout could blow back into israel face in the long run.
as for iran intentions its obvious the guy is barking against all enemies of iran. bush was trying a while back to get israel to attack iran for him, of course iran would feel concerned. luckily its israel who orders bush around, not the reverse.

6 Name: Unverified Source : 2007-01-09 14:07 ID:LqHPGjoO

>>5

Just nit-picking, but fallout does not blow around in the "long run", it falls and then stays. So they can just pick a day when then wind blows the other way.

That is not to say fallout wouldn't wreak havoc elsewhere, though. Thinking you can have "bunker busters" that dig in deep enough to limit fallout is a mad fantasy. If anything, a partially-buried nuclear explosion will worsen the fallout significantly by irradiating the soil around it and then throwing it up into the air.

Here's something about bunker busters:
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_security/nuclear_weapons/nuclear-bunker-buster-rnep-animation.html

7 Name: Unverified Source : 2007-01-09 23:01 ID:Heaven

>>6 if they blow up nuclear installations a lot more crap is going to fly around than the bomb itself contains.
nuclear clouds can travel very long distances.
also contaminated seawater goes around.
not to mention iranian retaliations - you're bombing us? okay then we're gonna bomb you too.
it's MAD/Mutually Assured Destruction.

"I refuse to believe that anyone here would consider using nuclear weapons against Iran," Reuven Pedatzur, a prominent defense analyst and columnist for the Israeli daily Haaretz, told the AP. "It is possible that this was a leak done on purpose, as deterrence, to say: 'Someone better hold us back, before we do something crazy.'"
Ephraim Kam – a former senior intelligence official now at Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Strategic Studies – also suggested the report should not be taken literally.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0108/dailyUpdate.html

8 Name: Unverified Source : 2007-01-12 11:07 ID:JoM05Obp

cheh!
As an Iranian I'll say that its impossible. Not only impossible, its just plain bullshit. Iranian military capacity is not that weak. Sure they may have superior technology and be able to do it but the political response will be severe and surely cause a full scale war. remember the cruse missiles on Israel? we MADE them, and there is a fucking lot more of them from where it came from.

Also most Iranians are in agreement with the nuclear program and angering a nation that came out of war a generation ago is not a good idea.

9 Name: Newshound : 2007-01-12 22:04 ID:0VUTM7zi

>>8

I'm not denying that if something like that was tried it wouldn't pretty much start a world war. But I doubt Israel is going to let Aminajad have a nuke either.

Hopefully the next president of Iran won't be quite as crazy as Aminajad and his amazing holocaust denial conferences. He seems to threaten the US and Israel quite a lot.

I hope most Iranians are not quite as beligerent as aminajad seems (I realize that we're on the outside looking in), and that most Iranians want to live in peace.

10 Name: Unverified Source : 2007-01-14 02:32 ID:JoM05Obp

I miss President Khatami. The sad news is that Ahmadinejaad will be most likely be re elected. He is popular. He tricks the general public and acts like he down-to-earth-with-people politician that everyone loves. but the sad truth is that the only thing holding his big fuckups together is the recent increase on oil prices while his arrogance over the nuclear programs is causeing serious harm to other industries in Iran with the super tight sanctions and all.

I personally rather have one less nuclear capable country, even if its my own country. But a nuclear power plant would be nice. Tehran's population is 10 million and people are really wasteful in using electricity there.

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