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Israel to brief George Bush on options for Iran strike
By
Uzi Mahnaimi, Tel Aviv
01/06/08 "The
Times" -- - -ISRAELI security officials are to
brief President George W Bush on their latest intelligence about
Iran’s nuclear programme - and how it could be destroyed - when
he begins a tour of the Middle East in Jerusalem this week.
Ehud Barak, the defence minister, is said to want to convince
him that an Israeli military strike against uranium enrichment
facilities in Iran would be feasible if diplomatic efforts
failed to halt nuclear operations. A range of military options
has been prepared.
Last month it was revealed that the US National Intelligence
Estimate report, drawing together information from 16 agencies,
had concluded that Iran stopped a secret nuclear weapon
programme in 2003.
Israeli intelligence is understood to agree that the project was
halted around the time of America’s invasion of Iraq, but has
“rock solid” information that it has since started up again.
While security officials are reluctant to reveal all their
intelligence, fearing that leaks could jeopardise the element of
surprise in any future attack, they are expected to present the
president with fresh details of Iran’s enrichment of uranium -
which could be used for civil or military purposes - and the
development of missiles that could carry nuclear warheads.
In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot this
weekend, Bush argued that in spite of the US intelligence
assessment, Iran still posed a threat.
“I read the intelligence report carefully,” Bush said. “In
essence, what the report said was that Iran had a secret plan to
develop nuclear weapons.
“I’m saying that a state which adopted a nontransparent policy
and had a secret plan for developing nuclear weapons could
easily develop an alternative plan for the same purpose. So to
conclude from the intelligence report that there is no Iranian
plan to develop nuclear weapons will be only a partial truth.”
Israeli security officials believe the only way to prevent
uranium enrichment to military grade is to destroy Iranian
installations. Many Israelis are eager to know whether America
would give their country the green light to attack, as it did
last September when Israel struck a mysterious nuclear site in
Syria.
Bush refused to be drawn when asked whether he would support an
Israeli attack. “My message to all countries in the region is
that we are able to solve the problem in a diplomatic way,” he
said, “but all options are on the table.”
© Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd.
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