Report: Israel seeks all clear for Iran air strike

[Soldier4Christ]

Report: Israel seeks all clear for Iran air strike
Negotiating with U.S. for permission to fly over Iraq to attack nuke facilities

Israel is negotiating with the United States for permission to fly over Iraq as part of a plan to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.

To conduct surgical air strikes against Iran's nuclear programme, Israeli war planes would need to fly across Iraq. But to do so the Israeli military authorities in Tel Aviv need permission from the Pentagon.

A senior Israeli defence official said negotiations were now underway between the two countries for the US-led coalition in Iraq to provide an "air corridor" in the event of the Israeli government deciding on unilateral military action to prevent Teheran developing nuclear weapons.

"We are planning for every eventuality, and sorting out issues such as these are crucially important," said the official, who asked not to be named.

"The only way to do this is to fly through US-controlled air space. If we don't sort these issues out now we could have a situation where American and Israeli war planes start shooting at each other."

As Iran continues to defy UN demands to stop producing material which could be used to build a nuclear bomb, Israel's military establishment is moving on to a war footing, with preparations now well under way for the Jewish state to launch air strikes against Teheran if diplomatic efforts fail to resolve the crisis.

The pace of military planning in Israel has accelerated markedly since the start of this year after Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, provided a stark intelligence assessment that Iran, given the current rate of progress being made on its uranium enrichment programme, could have enough fissile material for a nuclear warhead by 2009.

Last week Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, announced that he had persuaded Meir Dagan, the head of Mossad for the past six years and one of Israel's leading experts on Iran's nuclear programme, to defer his retirement until at least the end of next year.

Mr Olmert has also given overall control of the military aspects of the Iran issue to Eliezer Shkedi, the head of the Israeli Air Force and a former F-16 fighter pilot.

The international community will increase the pressure on Iran when senior officials from the five permanent of the United Nations Security Council and Germany meet at an emergency summit to be held in London on Monday.

Iran ignored a UN deadline of last Wednesday to halt uranium enrichment. Officials will discuss arms controls and whether to cut back on the $25 billion-worth of export credits which are used by European companies to trade with Iran.

A high-ranking British source said: "There is a debate within the six countries on sanctions and economic measures."

British officials insist that this "incremental" approach of tightening the pressure on Iran is starting to turn opinion within Iran. One source said: "We are on the right track. There is time for diplomacy to take effect."

[Soldier4Christ]

Armada prepares to take on Iran
USS Eisenhower in Arabian Sea ready for looming threat

It is four and a half acres of American power in the middle of the Arabian Sea but the influence of USS Dwight D Eisenhower stretches for hundreds of miles.

 The aircraft carrier, backed by its sister vessel, a handful of destroyers and a shoal of support ships, has placed a maritime ring of steel around an increasingly unstable region.

While the Eisenhower is ostensibly assisting US operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is the looming threat of Iran that increasingly occupies its attention.

Recent tensions between America and Iran over Teheran's attempts to develop a nuclear weapon have raised the prospect of its third regional war in a decade.

The addition of a second aircraft carrier to its strike groups has fuelled the belief that America is gearing up for a fight with Iran. Not since the Iraq war in 2003 has America amassed so much fire power around the Gulf.

 As flagship of the Fifth Fleet, the Eisenhower welcomed the arrival of a second Nimitz class nuclear powered aircraft carrier, the USS John C. Stennis, and its accompanying destroyers on Tuesday.

Captain Dan Cloyd, the Eisenhower's commanding officer, compared the situation with the international tension of the Cold War.

"There was a time when we had two aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean," he told The Daily Telegraph. "The world changes and we adapt."

The quiet-spoken Capt Cloyd embraced the suggestion that the dual deployment is at the forefront of efforts to stop Iran getting a nuclear bomb, pointing out that his maritime assets have been tasked to quash any challenge to global security.

"Our presence here is an affirmation of our resolve in this area to engage with the nations of the region either where we share common goals or where we face challenges."

Every hour and fifteen minutes a handful of jets scream north across the ocean. The range of missions an aircraft carrier as big as the Eisenhower - it has more than 5,000 people onboard - can carry out is virtually limitless.

 The Eisenhower is not only the flagship of the carrier group that protects The Gulf through which one-fifth of the world's oil is shipped. It has also helped overthrow a hard-line Islamic regime in Somalia during a stint off the Horn of Africa.

Its fighter jets now offer close support to Nato and US forces in Afghanistan.

Lieutenant Commander Matt Pothier returned yesterday from Afghanistan having delivered air support to British soldiers. He said: "Right now I have more opportunities than I've ever had to use weapons where we know there aren't any friendly people. In combat that's very rewarding."

In the carrier's Combat Direction Centre, Warrant Officer Michael Myers can spot anything untoward in a 256 mile radius from his radar screen. He can identify objects as small as wooden boats on the open sea and small aircraft in a swathe of countries from the Arabian peninsula to the northern shore of the Sea of Arabia.

Should Lieutenant Commander Craig Stapleton, the tactical operations officer, give the order, WO Myers can put up Hawkeye, an EP2 surveillance plane with massive radar capable of establishing American air traffic control across half a continent. "Those planes alone extend our radar horizon to a huge circle of the sky. I could see for 1,000 miles if I wanted to."

As it patrols the shipping lanes of the Strait of Hormuz, the Eisenhower ensures the safe passage of oil tankers. It also prevents the trading routes being used to transport materials that would help rogue nations build a nuclear weapon.

Capt Cloyd said: "Our maritime security mission is about denying the use of the seas to any potential spread of weapons of mass destruction."

Iran's belligerent posture has increased the challenges facing the Eisenhower since it deployed to the Middle East last October. Vice Admiral Patrick Walsh, the commander of the Fifth Fleet, issued a stark warning that Iran risks triggering an "accidental war" during aggressive military maneuvres.

During the Great Prophet 2 missile test in November, the Islamic Republic fired a Shabab missile into the six mile corridor of shipping lanes in the Straits of Hormuz. In such a constricted corridor, the results could have been disastrous.

With Teheran's real strategic intentions unclear, the US takes the threats it has made very seriously.

"They threaten to use oil as a weapon. They threaten to close the Strait of Hormuz," Adml Walsh said.

"And so it is the combination of the rhetoric, the tone, and the aggressive exercises in very constrained waters that gives us concern."

US commanders ascribe the increase in instability to increasingly aggressive actions by Teheran. For that reason the deployment of the carriers in the region is designed to intensify the pressure on Iran to step back from the brink.

"In the past year and a half it [Iran] has become much more strident, more vocal and in your face," said Walsh. "What concerns me is miscalculation."

Capt Cloyd said his personnel, 70 per cent of whom have never participated in a long term mission before, are aware that the workload could grow more intense before the deployment is over.

"We're aware of the environment and the need to respond to the environment so that we can protect regional security and stability.

We're aware of what other countries could do.

"We're busy but we would move to a higher tempo if need be."

[Soldier4Christ]

Israeli official denies report of Iran-attack talks 
'The international community's focus should be on imposing economic sanctions'

Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh denied on Saturday reports that Israel is negotiating with the United States over a potential attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported Sunday that Israel is negotiating with the U.S. over permission for an "air corridor" over Iraq, should an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities become necessary.

Military authorities would need permission from the U.S. Department of Defense for any such operation, the report said.

"International authorities, particularly in the West, who want to avoid direct involvement with Iran, are anxious to spread the story that we will strike Iran," Sneh told Israel Radio.

"Those who do not want to work politically, diplomatically and economically are diverting attention to the operation that we are said to be conducting," he said.

"The international community's focus should be on imposing economic sanctions on Iran for defying UN Security Council resolutions," he said.

The report cited a senior Israeli defense official who said talks are currently underway between the two countries over the possibility that Jerusalem decides to take unilateral action to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

"We are planning for every eventuality, and sorting out issues such as these are crucially important," said the official, speaking under condition of anonymity.

"The only way to do this is to fly through U.S.-controlled air space. If we don't sort these issues out now we could have a situation where American and Israeli war planes start shooting at each other," he said.

Contingency planning has accelerated significantly, the newspaper said, since the beginning of the year in light of Mossad estimates that Iran could have the necessary amount of fissile material to produce a nuclear weapon by 2009.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last week announced that Meir Dagan, head of Mossad and a leading expert on Iran, would postpone his retirement until the end of 2007 at the earliest.

Olmert also handed over coordination of military aspects of the Iran nuclear issue to Israel Air Force Commander Eliezer Shkedy.

The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany will meet Monday in London for an emergency session on the matter. Officials will discuss arms control and a possible cutback in the $25 billion in export credits which European countries use to trade with Iran.

Iran ignored a UN deadline set for last Wednesday to stop its uranium enrichment.

This would not mark the first time IAF planes passed through Iraqi airspace. On June 17, 1981 an IAF air strike demolished the Osirak nuclear reactor being constructed under Saddam Hussein's regime.

Cheney: U.S. and allies must not Iran to achieve nuclear capability
Also Saturday, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said that the United States and its allies must not allow Iran to become a nuclear power and raised concerns about Tehran's actions and "inflammatory" rhetoric.

The stern comments from Cheney, who is known for his hawkish views, followed Tehran's refusal to heed the UN deadline to halt enrichment, and a vow by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to stand up to the rest of the world and not show weakness by acceding to the West's demands.

"They have made some fairly inflammatory statements," Cheney said of Iran at a joint Sydney news conference with Australian Prime Minister John Howard. "They appear to be pursuing the development of nuclear weapons."

"We are deeply concerned and have made it very clear we're deeply concerned about Iran's activities," he said.

Cheney said he was concerned about Iran's "fairly aggressive" role in the Middle East, not just its decision to ignore the UN deadline.

He said "all options are on the table" on Iran. The Bush administration has long maintained that it is focused on diplomacy but tacitly acknowledges that the military option has not been ruled out.

Still, the administration's tough comments on Iran have been met with concern by some in the U.S. Congress and have even rattled financial markets.

Cheney said that a peaceful resolution to the nuclear standoff with Iran was "still our preference".

The Weekend Australian newspaper reported on Saturday that Cheney had endorsed U.S. Republican Senator John McCain's view that the only thing worse than a military confrontation with Iran would be a nuclear-armed Iran.

[Brother Jerry]

I feel we as Christians should support Isreal...but I think this would be a very bad mistake.