Israel has '8 days' to hit Iran nuclear site: Bolton

[TriWooOx]

Quote:WASHINGTON (AFP) – Israel has "eight days" to launch a military strike against Iran's Bushehr nuclear facility and stop Tehran from acquiring a functioning atomic plant, a former US envoy to the UN has said.

Iran is to bring online its first nuclear power reactor, built with Russia's help, on August 21, when a shipment of nuclear fuel will be loaded into the plant's core.

At that point, John Bolton warned Monday, it will be too late for Israel to launch a military strike against the facility because any attack would spread radiation and affect Iranian civilians.

"Once that uranium, once those fuel rods are very close to the reactor, certainly once they're in the reactor, attacking it means a release of radiation, no question about it," Bolton told Fox Business Network.

"So if Israel is going to do anything against Bushehr it has to move in the next eight days."

Absent an Israeli strike, Bolton said, "Iran will achieve something that no other opponent of Israel, no other enemy of the United States in the Middle East really has and that is a functioning nuclear reactor."

But when asked whether he expected Israel to actually launch strikes against Iran within the next eight days, Bolton was skeptical.

"I don't think so, I'm afraid that they've lost this opportunity," he said.

The controversial former envoy to the United Nations criticized Russia's role in the development of the plant, saying "the Russians are, as they often do, playing both sides against the middle."

"The idea of being able to stick a thumb in America's eye always figures prominently in Moscow," he added.

Iran dismissed the possibilities of such an attack from its archfoes.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tuesday that "these threats of attacks had become repetitive and lost their meaning."

"According to international law, installations which have real fuel cannot be attacked because of the humanitarian consequences," he told reporters at a news conference in Tehran.

Iranian officials say Iran has stepped up defensive measures at the Bushehr plant to protect it from any attacks.

Russia has been building the Bushehr plant since the mid-1990s but the project was marred by delays, and the issue is hugely sensitive amid Tehran's standoff with the West and Israel over its nuclear ambitions.

The UN Security Council hit Tehran with a fourth set of sanctions on June 9 over its nuclear programme, and the United States and European Union followed up with tougher punitive measures targeting Iran's banking and energy sectors.

The Bushehr project was first launched by the late shah in the 1970s using contractors from German firm Siemens. But it was shelved when he was deposed in the 1979 Islamic revolution.

It was revived after the death of revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989, as Iran's new supreme leader Ali Khamenei and his first president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, backed the project.

In 1995, Iran won the support of Russia which agreed to finish building the plant and fuel it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100817/wl_...0817120240

[FastTadpole]

Here's a couple of edits on the

Quote:Taylor: Israel is going to attack Iran
News - OP/ED - Blogs - Candidate Voices
Written by Blaine Taylor for US Senate
Tuesday, 17 August 2010 00:18

Good evening! I now have several sources reporting this. If it is an air strike replicating the success of that of 1977, we can all be grateful for its expected success in taking out the projected and alleged Iranian nuclear capability. However, if it is also to be a "boots on the ground" land invasion, then that is another matter. I am advised that it will be done without regard to us, and yet we will serve as a backstop should it go awry.

The complicating questions here are does Iran have secret military assistance pacts with either or both Russia and/or the People's Republic of China? if so, that would embolden all the anti-Israeli nations in the Mideast to coalesce around such an Iranian-Chinese-Russian compact to oppose us, Israel, NATO, and possibly India: World War III, A-bomb and all.

I am further advised of the following: Russian technicians may be starting up the projected Iranian nuclear reactor, and Russia has already provided Iran with anti-aircraft artillery, plus other economic aid. Just as Britain occupied Iraq during World War II, so, too, did the former Soviet Union occupy Iran at the same time.

China is building a land oil pipeline across Central Asia to supply its all-ocean navy with crude oil from the Middle East that cannot be interdicted by the US Navy, but it's not yet completed. This reminds me of the Imperial German-inspired Berlin-Baghdad Railway that many historians now feel helped propel the Allies into the First World War against Germany in 1914, a scenario caused by the Germans building a fleet to rival that of the Royal Navy, just as---now---the Chinese are doing to rival us.

As a US ally, India can be expected to work with the US Navy to halt oil tankers from "circling the sub-continent." Meanwhile, "40% of the world's crude goes through the Straits of Hormuz, easily blocked by Iran." You may recall that the US Navy fought Iran in this area during the Reagan years.

I am further advised that noted columnist George Wills' column today also, "Practically stated that they'" (the Israelis) "are going to attack." The whole situation bears careful watching and cool heads, especially on the US Senate Foreign Affairs, Armed Forces, and Intelligence Committees, all of which advise the Senate as a whole, plus the White House.***

Here are some more job facts and statistics submitted to me by a group called the Association of Equipment Manufacturers: "68% believe national policies to keep manufacturing jobs in this country are 'not working well.'" THAT'S the understatement of the last 30 years! As your elected United States Senator in January 2011, I would start working right away to reverse that entire development, reestablishing a US heavy manufactuiring base that would help forge full employment for ALL our citizens.

"66% support making the implementation of the National Export Initiative a top national priority during the next year. In the survey, voters were informed that the Initiative 'Is designed to create more jobs in the United States by encouraging the sale of American-made products to other countries. The goal of the Initiative is to double our exports over the next five years by working to remove trade barriers abroad and by helping US businesses enter new export markets." I concur, generally.***

I'll have more tomorrow. Good night!

--Blaine Taylor, Democratic Candidate for United States Senate, blainetaylor@comcast.netThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

http://www.carrollstandard.com/index.php...Itemid=181

He follows up 23 hours later with this....

Quote:51st Entry: Israel Attacking Iran, Part 2: with more entries coming
by: btaylor on August 17th, 2010 | 11:03 pm

Good evening! I’ve been advised by the editor of my Candidate 2010 Carroll Standard blog site that my previous entry entitled ISRAEL IS GOING TO ATTACK IRAN—also published here—had generated over 6,200 hits as of 6 PM today. That is very good news in that it shows the level of concern—both pro and con—that our citizenry has concerning this vital issue. As I further studied the diverse ramifications of this possibility today from all angles, I noted that nothing yet has been said about both possible Russian and Chinese reactions, only what Israel or the US—or both—might do. As you know, Russia is a close neighbor of Iran, and China is a possible Iranian secret ally. The Russians may also be. That having been said, earlier today, I was advised of some good news: “This publicity has been a factor in causing the Russians to back down and delay delivery (hopefully indefinitely) of the fuel rods needed by the Iranians to produce enriched bomb materials.” That is, indeed, a welcome development, and may help ease tensions in the area. In the earlier entry, I wrote, “I am advised that Israel is going to attack Iran,” baldly stated. That did not, and does not, mean, however, that I am for such an action. I am NOT. Having positioned myself in this race to become your elected United States Senator as THE anti-war candidate, let me state clearly and again: I am for ending ALL our current wars—the open ones in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the secret one in Pakistan—as well as being against opening any new 4th front, and that includes anywhere else, period. We don’t end wars by starting new ones. Presidnet Nixon found that out in 1970 when he invaded Cambodia, while we were already fighting in Vietnam. I remember that like it was yesterday—40 years ago—when I was a college sophomore. Campuses across the country protested, soldiers marched, and students were shot. Some died. What is happening right now, however, is that Israel is trying to get the United States to bomb Iran on its behalf, not the other way round, and this I also oppose. It is NOT for us to do Isarel’s bidding, or fight its wars. I want the foreign policy of the United States to be made in Washington, DC, not in Tel Aviv, or anywhere else. Also recognizing the seriousness of the threat that Iran poses to Israel’s existence, I foresee that Israel WILL attack Iran itself with an air strike, as it did Iraq in 1981 (not 1977, as I wrongly stated earlier), and again in 2007, when it assaulted Syria. This, reportedly, will be followed up with a “boots on the ground” Israeli commando raid to ensure that Iran’s nuclear sites have, indeed, been taken out. Israel will do this on its own, without our consent, if necessary. That is its choice as a sovereign state. Do I hope that this will happen? I do not. Do I believe—as a former combat soldier and current military writer—that the world would be better off without a rogue Iranian nuclear capability? I do. As an American citizen, however, I do not want us drawn into it, as larger states were, indeed, by smaller states on both sides of the Great War of 1914-18 that we now call World War I. The Bible says that Armageddon will occur in the Mideast, and it might be right. Since I entered public life in 1968 as a college student, I’ve always believed in having my own assumptions challenged—no matter how cherished—is a good and healthy thing. To that end, I share with you now some of the voices I’ve heard from in the past 2 days on a projected Israeli-Iran War from sources both pro and con, known to me and not. Both in my view are sincere, and deserve to be shared. PRO: “Every country has the right to self-defense, even Israel. With a nuke, Iran is a clear and present danger to Israel, and is an even greater danger to their Arab neighbors and the entire region. If someone doesn’t do something now, it will just be a matter of time until they use a nuke. They are religious fanatics and extremists, and WE are the great Satan, and they don’t care who or how many they kill. I don’t care about their secret treaties. We have already paid the price for appearing weak. Ten years ago, I stood just a few hundred yards away and watched the Trade Center come down, taking 20 of my friends in the process. NEVER AGAIN should this be allowed to happen. They don’t need the bomb to live in peace. There is only one reason why they want the weapon, and that is to wage Jihad/Holy War against all their enemies, and we are one of their enemies!” This is from a man I’ve known since we were boys growing up in segregated Waverly. We both enlisted in the military and went to Vietnam—he in the Marines, and I in the Army. We both became police officers, I for a far lesser time than he. We both believe in the American Constitution. He tells me the way he sees things, and that is how I hope he always will, too. CON: “Are you an idiot? I think you might be if you think attacking Iran would be good for America. News flash non-military-trained person, you have no clue about war or military, and that is obvious. The Iran war is more than you idiots realize and it will be the end of our nation as we know it. You want to jump on this bandwagon, then go for it, but don’t be sad when your family and their children are starving and looking for water out of mud puddles. Because this new war will be the end of America as we know it and you can mark my words on that sir. Oil prices will go through the roof, so will all goods and services. In a depression like we are in, this will spell disaster! You will most likely see martial law, and once that goes in effect, you can consider America dead. You morons who have no clue of history need to wake the fuck up and get educated, because this all just happened 50 years ago with NAZI Germany. I can see the future you are all trying to push, and I also realize that you all have no idea what you’re going to get in the end. NATO has over 10,000 nukes, 1 Iran nuke does not scare them. 1,000 Iran nukes would not scare them, this is all bullshit to get Iran’s resources in control of international companies.” I do not know this person, who contacted me today. Feeling that he raised some very valid points, however, I answered the above thus: “The answer is no, to the first question, and I also don’t think it would be good for America. Having that nuclear capability gone, however, might be. I served under enemy Communist Viet Cong fire during 1966-67 as a member of the elite US Army 199th Light Infantry Brigade, and served in the Army overall for almost three years. I am glad that you are opposed to us getting into any more wars, as I am running as the anti-war candidate. Thank you for taking the time to contact me. All best wishes.” I did not add then—but I will add here—that as the published author of nine books on both Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, the latest having appeared just last week—I am, indeed, mindful of, and concerned with, the domestic dangers he mentions regarding a potential dictatorship here. He e-mailed back: “Sir, you wrote an article about needing to bomb Iran in the next 8 days, but you’re against war? LOL. If you served in the military, then you have a clue of the hell holes we have our troops in. A veteran like yourself should be looking to save our troops and not send them off to die for profits.” I concur. “Iran with nuclear weapons is not the end of the world. Look at the Cold War when Russia had nukes, it actually kept peace.” Having been born Dec. 8, 1946, I personally lived through almost ALL of that time, as did many of you out there. “However, this nuclear reactor is a power plant! Not a weapons factory. This is for energy, Iran does not have the capability to make a nuclear weapon at the moment and NATO has even reported on this.” My sources confirm the last half of his last sentence. “Sad all you wanna be leaders got nothing but lies for people, you can be sure I won’t be supporting you or your mission if you keep up these lines. You can be sure I will do my best to destroy any people like yourself publicly if you want to try and lead this country to destruction like you’re suggesting with your idiotic article.” Open debate is healthy! I hope that my lead-in at the start of this entry better addresses my ACTUAL stand on this issue. “The people are awake, and we are not going to stand by for false leaders like yourself, so I will say choose your side wisely” I am hopeful of the first, glad to know that he and they might be so engaged in the second, and determined to do my utmost regarding the last.***I want to close on a positive note, at least as I see it, at any rate. Last week, I unilaterally endorsed Kris T. Boardman for US Congress in the 2nd District of Maryland, whose press aide/secretary I was during 1991-92, working for the Congress on Caitol Hill in Washington, DC, and also in the district here at home. Today, he has endorsed me for the United States Senate, and this can be read on his own SUNPAPERS candidate blog. The reasons for both of us are not personal—either for us, or for the two human beings we intend to unseat. They are, however, concerned with all the issues raised both pro and con above. We are anti-war, peace candidates, and if elected, we will vote against these current and future wars, and also seek peace via diplomacy in the Senate and the House of Representatives with those of like mind.***Tomorrow I will discuss more about the coming, projected Israeli-Iran War. Thank you for your continued, kind attention. Good night! Blaine Taylor, Democratic Candidate for United States Senate, Primary Election Sept. 14th, blainetaylor@comcast.net; Authority: Paul Gorman, Treasurer.

http://candidateblogs.baltimoresun.com/b...es-coming/