US is ready to attack Iran, says ambassador

[Shah-i-Kot]

US is ready to attack Iran, says ambassador

US plans for a possible military strike on Iran are ready and the option is "fully available", Washington's ambassador to Israel has said, days before Tehran resumes talks with world powers which suspect it of seeking to develop nuclear arms.













10:25AM BST 17 May 2012




The United States has said it considers military force a last resort to prevent Iran using its uranium enrichment to make a bomb. Iran insists its nuclear programme is for purely civilian purposes.

But remarks by ambassador Dan Shapiro were the bluntest warning so far to Tehran that its refusal to cooperate could lead to the use of military force by the US or Israel.

"It would be preferable to resolve this diplomatically and through the use of pressure than to use military force," Ambassador Dan Shapiro said in remarks about Iran aired by Israel's Army Radio.

"But that doesn't mean that option is not fully available - not just available, but it's ready. The necessary planning has been done to ensure that it's ready," he continued.

The United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany have been using sanctions and negotiations to try to persuade Iran to curb its uranium enrichment, which can produce fuel for reactors, medical isotopes, and, at higher levels of purification, fissile material for warheads.


New talks opened in Istanbul last month and resume on May 23 in Baghdad.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator warned against pressure by the West, insisting such strategy would not work with Tehran.
"Cooperation is what we can talk about in Baghdad," said Saeed Jalili in comments broadcast on state television. "Talks based on the definite rights of the Iranian nation."
"Some say time is running out for the talks," he added. "I say time for the [West's] pressure strategy is running out."
Israel, which is widely assumed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal, feels threatened by the prospect of its arch-foe Iran going nuclear and has hinted it could launch pre-emptive strike.
However many analysts believe the United States alone has the military clout to do lasting damage to Iran's nuclear programme.
In January, Shapiro told an Israeli newspaper the United States was "guaranteeing that the military option is ready and available to the president at the moment he decides to use it".
US senators are meanwhile considering additional legislation that would increase pressure on Iran, with further measures to punish foreign companies for dealing with Iran in any capacity.
The will focus on foreign banks that handle transactions for Iran's national oil and tanker companies. A senior Republican congressional aide called revisions made to the sanctions package "significant," and said the bill could have repercussions for the Baghdad talks.
"The Iranian reaction will be interesting to watch," said the aide, who expects Republicans will support the request by Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic majority leder, to move ahead.
The West suspects Iran is pursuing nuclear arms, and is trying to get Iran to halt its controversial nuclear enrichment, which is a potential pathway to atomic weapons.
Tehran denies the charge and insists its program is for peaceful purposes, such as energy generation and cancer treatment.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9271615/US-is-ready-to-attack-Iran-says-ambassador.html

[Shah-i-Kot]

US envoy to Israel: Washington ready to strike Iran if sanctions, diplomacy fail

• Text Size

By Associated Press,


JERUSALEM — The U.S. has plans in place to attack Iran if necessary to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons, Washington’s envoy to Israel said, days ahead of a crucial round of nuclear talks with Tehran.
Dan Shapiro’s message resonated Thursday far beyond the closed forum in which it was made: Iran should not test Washington’s resolve to act on its promise to strike if diplomacy and sanctions fail to pressure Tehran to abandon its disputed nuclear program.



Shapiro told the Israel Bar Association the U.S. hopes it will not have to resort to military force.
“But that doesn’t mean that option is not fully available. Not just available, but it’s ready,” he said. “The necessary planning has been done to ensure that it’s ready.”
Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, like energy production. The U.S. and Israel suspect Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, but differences have emerged in how to persuade Tehran to curb its program.
Washington says diplomacy and economic sanctions must be given a chance to run its course, and is taking the lead in the ongoing talks between six global powers and Iran.
Israel, while saying it would prefer a diplomatic solution, has expressed skepticism about these talks and says time is running out for military action to be effective.
President Barack Obama has assured Israel that the U.S. is prepared to take military action if necessary, and it is standard procedure for armies to draw up plans for a broad range of possible scenarios. But Shapiro’s comments were the most explicit sign yet that preparations have been stepped up.
In his speech, Shapiro acknowledged the clock is ticking.
“We do believe there is time. Some time, not an unlimited amount of time,” Shapiro said. “But at a certain point, we may have to make a judgment that the diplomacy will not work.”
The U.S. envoy spoke on Tuesday. The Associated Press obtained a recording of his remarks on Thursday.
The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany are gearing up to for a May 23 meeting with Iran in Baghdad. Shortly after the meeting, the U.N. atomic agency is to release its latest report card on Iran’s nuclear efforts.
In Tehran on Thursday, top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili warned against Western pressure at next week’s talks, which are a follow-up to negotiations in Istanbul last month that all sides praised as positive.
“Cooperation is what we can talk about in Baghdad,” Jalili said in comments broadcast on Iranian state TV.
“Some say time is running out for the talks,” he added. “I say time for the (West’s) pressure strategy is running out.”
Four rounds of U.N. sanctions have failed to persuade Iran to halt its uranium enrichment, a process that has civilian uses but is also key to bomb-making. But recent U.S. and European measures, including an oil embargo and financial and banking sanctions, have bludgeoned Iran’s economy by curtailing its ability to carry on economic transactions with the international community.
Israel says a nuclear weapon in the hands of Iran would threaten the Jewish state’s survival and has waged a fierce diplomatic campaign against the Iranian nuclear program for years. Israel cites Iranian calls for Israel’s destruction, Iran’s arsenal of missiles, and its support for anti-Israel militant groups.
Senior officials have expressed skepticism about the sanctions’ effectiveness, and believe Tehran is using the talks to stall the international community as Iran moves ever closer to a nuclear bomb.
The United States has urged Israel to refrain from attacking, at least at this point. Tough new economic sanctions are to go into effect over the summer, and American officials fear an Israeli strike could set off a regional war without significantly setting back the Iranian program.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argues the negotiations will fail unless Iran agrees to halt all uranium enrichment, ship its current stockpile of enriched uranium out of the country and dismantle an underground enrichment facility near the city of Qom.
Maj. Gen. Ido Nehushtan, who until a few days ago commanded Israel’s air force, said in a Jerusalem Post interview Thursday that the air force is prepared for any scenario, including striking Iranian nuclear facilities.
Israel’s military chief told the Associated Press last month that other countries as well as Israel have readied their armed forces for a potential strike against Iran’s nuclear sites.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/us-envoy-to-israel-washington-ready-to-strike-iran-if-sanctions-diplomacy-fail/2012/05/17/gIQA5KMpVU_story.html

[faye]

see, these morons planning to attack a country, they claim is making or has made, a nuclear bomb.
why would anybody want these aggressors in their backyard?
we now have a couple of thousand american servicemen, in the north of australia, they are infiltrating our media, more and more and have their spy stations in the desert here.
bloody war mongering governments of america. never ending.
all around the world countries have been psyched up about war and defence. i believe it is just for the 'money making mongrels of militery machine makers'.

[Shah-i-Kot]

Congress opens door for US war with Iran

https://rt.com/news/cogress-us-war-iran-573/

Published: 18 May, 2012, 18:00







The US House of Representatives has passed a resolution on Iran that moves the United States much closer to a war footing against Iran as many experts and diplomats warn America is ready for attack.
*The vote undermines the 5+1 Iranian nuclear talks scheduled for next week, in which the US will participate and which many in the pro-war camp want to sabotage.

Ahead of the vote Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), a tough critic of the resolution and one of the few who voted against it, warned that the US is “getting ready for war against Iran” with Thursday’s vote.

The non-binding resolution H.Res.568 that overwhelmingly passed 401-11, effectively calls for a military attack on Iran when it obtains “nuclear weapons capability.” The vague interpretation, critics say, already applies to Iran, not to mention Brazil, Japan, the Netherlands, and actually any other country with a civilian nuclear program.

Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff for Secretary of State Colin Powell, warned “This resolution reads like the same sheet of music that got us into the Iraq war, and could be the precursor for a war with Iran. It’s effectively a thinly-disguised effort to bless war.”

The text says the document “strongly supports the United States policy to prevent the government of Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability, rejects any United States policy that would rely on efforts to contain a nuclear weapons-capable Iran.”

The bill also urges the president to “reaffirm the unacceptability of an Iran with nuclear-weapons capability and opposition to any policy that would rely on containment as an option in response to the Iranian nuclear threat.”

Kucinich believes that the document’s language represents a significant shift in US policy as its wording effectively means that Obama is urged to give up the containment policy the US has pursued in relations with Iran.

The congressman is sure that the bill would undermine the new round of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program scheduled for May 23 and the diplomatic effort “would fail.” Moreover he insists that the resolution is seeking to alter US diplomatic goals with Iran and requires the United States to move military assets to the Middle East in preparation for war.

The resolution was introduced by Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Supporters of the resolution say it is not a mandate for any specific action on the part of the US administration.

But US has a war plan on the table, a key US diplomat revealed recently. Dan Shapiro, the American ambassador to Israel, warned the Pentagon has a ready plan for a military attack on Iran.

The United States and some other countries accuse Iran of illegal obtaining nuclear technology – charges Tehran strongly denies. Iran argues that as a committed member of the International Atomic Energy Agency and a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty it is entitled to all peaceful applications of nuclear energy.

Following the economic sanctions imposed on Iran a few months ago, the Islamic Republic of Iran vowed a crushing response to any military strike against its nuclear facilities. Iran has also warned that any such measure would lead to a major war that will spread beyond the Middle East.

[Shah-i-Kot]

66% of Americans are supportive of military action against Iran

Dr. Schuer predicts that there will be a US war with Iran this summer.

What are your thoughts? Iran has a modern defense and offensive capability with long and short range missiles.

It is obvious that Israel is supporting of this, and may be a part of this, but what about Saudi Arabia and the GCC?

What reaction do you think Iran will take in response ?

[faye]

he is making a lot of predictions. are you scheuer he is not working for mossad?

[Shah-i-Kot]

He is an ex-intelligence official, obviously he still is in the know how about these matters.

Anyways, according to him such an attack on Iran whether it is carried out by Israel or the US will result in a major change in the region.

According to Schuer, there will be a temporary alliance between Sunnis and Shiites. In the video that someone posted up a while ago, he says that Iran would respond to such an attack throughout the region.

[faye]

more money for the arms dealers, coming up.
they need a mass strike by the military in the western countries. ironic, how the supposed protectors of democracy, actually have so few democratic rights, once they join.
soldiers etc, should be allowed to vote as to whether they want to go and do war or not.

[Shah-i-Kot]

no, it wont be more money. They dont have any money

[faye]

i reckon they have money. the think tank that was created after the 'project for the new american century', 'foreign policy initiative ' was upset that obama did not forge ahead aggressively to attack gaddaffi, making america look weak, and they say more money should be spent on defence.
it is run by one of the kagans, hence the possibility of him having israeli passport and knowing what money is available to the u.s. due to connections.

[Shah-i-Kot]

Printing money that does not exist (what federal reserve is doing) does not equal having money


War with Iran is not really about Iran's nuclear program, but about Iran selling their oil via currency swaps with several nations (China, Russia, Japan, etc)---> diminishing the dollars worth, and causing other nations to follow through (Saudi Arabia signed a currency swap agreement with China and China is building one of the largest oil refineries there).

I

[faye]

many reasons. saudis and israel want rid of the possibility of iran becoming too powerful.
tell me, how can the u.s. allow 2.3 trillion dollars to go awol under rumsfelds watch, and not do anything about finding where it went? i have tried to finsd articles about the attempt at retrieval of this missing cash and have found nix.
why have they not pulled in more of their troops around the world? it seems to me they are sending more out, apart from the supposed withdrawal from afghanistan, and now there is talk of invading iran?
must be a secret stash of cash or someone willing to pay.

[Alchemist]

many reasons. saudis and israel want rid of the possibility of iran becoming too powerful.
tell me, how can the u.s. allow 2.3 trillion dollars to go awol under rumsfelds watch, and not do anything about finding where it went? i have tried to finsd articles about the attempt at retrieval of this missing cash and have found nix.
why have they not pulled in more of their troops around the world? it seems to me they are sending more out, apart from the supposed withdrawal from afghanistan, and now there is talk of invading iran?
must be a secret stash of cash or someone willing to pay.

Have you bought your survival kit yet?

[faye]

hi alchy. lol, i knew you were here because you were missing me
i bin missing you too.
is this a marriage proposal? is that your dowry?

[Khostai]

US have lost there freaking mind, first Afghanistan, Iraq and now Iran, what the hell is wrong whith them, I hoope they say this **** just to scare Iran, otherwise its the dumbest thing to do.....