FYI.
Washington tells Tehran that it will not join in an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear program
The flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln as it patrols the Persian Gulf
– ‘US to Iran: In case of Israeli strike, don’t fire on our bases’ (The Times of Israel, Sep 3, 2012):
The United States has no intention of joining in a preemptive Israeli strike on Iran and expects the Islamic Republic to refrain from attacking US targets in the case of such an attack, senior Washington officials told their Iranian counterparts, according to a report in Yedioth Ahronoth on Monday.In recent days, senior administration officials reportedly sent messages to Iran, through diplomats from two European states, addressing the possibility that Israel would launch a unilateral strike and establishing that the US expects Iran to not draw it into a conflict by firing on American army bases and aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf.
Monday’s report came amid widespread debate over the level of coordination between Israel and the US on halting Iran’s nuclear program, which — despite assurances by US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro on Sunday that the relationship is as good as ever — appeared to be strained.
While Israel has warned that the Iranians are quickly approaching a potential weapons capability and that the use of force must be seriously considered, the US says sanctions and international diplomacy must be given more time to work.
Highlighting the disagreement between the two countries on the use of force were reports of a scaling-down of joint US-Israel missile defense exercises in October, and public comments by the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, who said last Thursday that he did not want to be “complicit” in an Israeli attack on Iran.
Earlier on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at criticism of the US position on Iran, telling ministers at the weekly Cabinet meeting that the international community has failed to send a clear message to Iran regarding its nuclear program. Netanyahu said that while international sanctions have harmed Tehran, they haven’t done “anything to stall the progress of the nuclear program.”
On Saturday, former minister Tzachi Hanegbi said the United States is not determined to halt Iran from getting a bomb and last eek’s IAEA report, which indicated that Iran has expanded its capacity for uranium enrichment, granted Israel even more legitimacy to strike Iran on its own.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reported on Monday that the Obama Administration is installing new curbs against Iran as a way to calm Israel and keep Jerusalem from launching an attack. It asserted that the president was considering a declaration of American “red lines.”
This is very unnerving. Over the past few weeks, stories about Iran & an attack by Israel have been few and far between, but enough to set my instincts screaming………this sounds like playing two ends against the middle…..the US has lost all credibility in political as well as financial games. I gravely fear this may be the “October suprise” of 2012……and it is a terrible mistake.
There used to be a saying man takes two steps forward, than one back, two forward, and so on. I have come to believe that is only true to a point, then man starts moving backwards. As a species, we can only move so far ahead without spinning backwards into the dark ages. We seem unable to handle too much progress too quickly. The scientist who developed the ability to split the atom ended up destroying his own life because of his guilt…….it is a technology far too advanced for our primitive species, and look what we have done with it. Built power plants like Fukushima regardless we had no way to prevent a meltdown, radiation that will cook the planet, and mankind possibly into extinction. Now, fool leaders of all our warring nations build bigger and bigger nuclear bombs to scare each other……it is pure madness. Where have all the real leaders gone? We have a planet of irresponsible children posing as leaders, throwing rocks at each other. It is contemptable on all sides.
Now, the US asks Iran to not blame us in event of an attack by Israel? Please don’t hit our bases if Israel attacks them? What???
Do they not realize enough about the Iranian culture to understand such a request will be seen as an act of weakness and fear? If the US had spent more time trying to understand these people instead of controlling them (and their oil), perhaps we would not be here now.
What a mess. I have found pieces of this story covered on rt.com, the guardian uk, and a couple of others. US media has kept the obfuscation of endless political conventions and gossip going at full speed…..they no longer contain any credible information.
Thanks for all you do.