Israel’s defense minister says his country is “very far off” from deciding on whether to launch a military strike on Iran’s nuclear program.
Ehud Barak did not specify when such a decision might be made, in his interview Wednesday with Army Radio.
He also denied Israeli media speculation that Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, would use his visit here on Thursday to pressure Israel not to attack.
Barak said the U.S. respects Israel’s freedom of action and that the Israeli government doesn’t “have the luxury” to “roll over responsibility” for Israel’s fate to the U.S.
Israel considers Iran its most fearsome enemy and does not believe Tehran’s claims that its nuclear program is designed to produce energy, not bombs.
{The Washington Post/Matzav.com Newscenter}
As if he would really say …
Lets take the long term perspective. Looking back from 2050 what will we see…
2028 – Iranian athletes compete at the Israel/Palestine Olympic Games; 2025 – Nuclear weapons have been eliminated from the realm of human affairs; 2022 – The USA, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Israel compete against each other in Group D of the Qatar World Cup; 2019 – It becomes possible to drive on a road from Jerusalem to Tehran; 2012 – Reconvened NPT Conference takes place in Jerusalem.
Now obviously the crucial step in this long term plan is the NPT Conference. No one will feel compelled to attend unless an overarching vision is proposed. Here is the plan. 2012 Initial Conference takes place. (It only needs to be four days long, Mon. to Thurs. Just get all the right people in the same room and city) ; All nations to attend. A fifteen year timeline is mapped out. Lines of Communication opened; IAEA office expanded; 2013/2014/2015 Site inspections of all nuclear countries and countries with nuclear weapon ambitions; 2016 to 2023 Dismantlement program begins, on a return the poker chips to the dealer percentage basis geared towards each of the nine nuclear nations; 2024 Global signing off ceremony takes place; 2025 Onwards IAEA still exists but in a different form.
Now the two special guests for this NPT Conference are Iran and Israel. Without them there nothing will happen. I believe leaders in both countries are thinking about the possibility at the moment. Things are not completely closed off. The Israelis are more open to the suggestion but with conditions of course. The Iranians are a different kettle of fish. The IAEA inspectors that are going to visit Tehran later this month should sit with Khamenei himself. There is nothing more powerful for trust building than the simple act of sitting with someone. (Sanhedrin in ancient Greek means sitting together). Now if these inspectors wont have the opportunity to sit with Khamenei and his advisors then perhaps another small team could be sent to Tehran on a very important trust building mission. I know three young musketeers, one Australian, one French and one Iranian who could do the job with some assistants there as well. Real purity of intention can do wonders. There is a way to arrange the meeting with Khamenei. I know how it can be organized. The cube looks unsolvable but it is not.
Any decent relationship progresses in stages. It is a delicate process of trust building that can be paced out. At the moment the Iranian leadership clique is softened up somewhat. The dense fog of secrecy, mistrust and fear is casting a heavy pall over many people now. I believe this can be lifted. There is a window of opportunity right now. The fact that a secret back channel was used last week to deliver a letter to Khamenei without the help of the Swiss Embassy is proof that the little door of trust is not locked shut at the moment. The key to progress things further may just be a very humble and warm interaction between a few people.
From little things do big things grow…