Attack On Iran: Is It Coming?

An opinion writer for Beirut, Lebanon's newspaper "The Daily Star," former foreign minister and vice chancellor to Germany from 1998 to 2005, Joschka Fischer, recently wrote:

As things look, Israel may well attack Iran soon
By Joschka Fischer Commentary on Friday, May 30, 2008
As a result of misguided American policy, the threat of another military confrontation hangs like a dark cloud over the Middle East. The United States' enemies have been strengthened, and Iran - despite being branded as a member of the so-called "axis of evil" - has been catapulted into regional hegemony.

As Fischer writes, an attack may be at hand and delineates these reasons:

- When President Bush recently visited Israel as the country celebrated its 60th birthday, it was expected that Palestinian-Israeli relations would be the chief topic discussed. Instead, it was Iran.
- It has been speculated that during his visit, Bush gave Israel the green light for an attack on Iran.
- Political pressure is mounting in Israel for action to halt the Iranian threat.
- The outgoing commander of the Israeli air force has said that the air force is capable of any mission, no matter how difficult, to protect Israel's security.
- With the Bush presidency approaching its end and uncertainty about his successor's policy toward Israel and Iran, the "window of opportunity" for an Israeli attack is potentially closing, and that window "is now, during the last months of Bush's presidency."

Fischer finally writes:

Although it is acknowledged in Israel that an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities would involve grave and hard-to-assess risks, the choice between acceptance of an Iranian bomb and an attempt at its military destruction, with all the attendant consequences, is clear. Israel won't stand by and wait for matters to take their course.

Iran must understand that without a diplomatic solution in the coming months, a dangerous military conflict is very likely to erupt. It is high time for serious negotiations to begin.

If this is indeed correct, you can expect the lid to be blown off the Middle East box.

Yoni Tidi, a regular on Hugh Hewitt, posts:

(IsraelNN.com) A diplomatic-security source in Israel said that "in the end, Israel will have to attack Iran in order to prevent it from achieving nuclear capability," Maariv-NRG reported Friday. The source is "well versed in materials connected with Iran's nuclear development, contacts between Israel and the U.S. and timetables."

The source and other senior officials think that the chance of a U.S. strike against Iran is growing slimmer as time goes by.

You can expect $200+ a barrel oil, $10+ a gallon gas -- if you can get it at all. Not because of a necessary diminishment of supply, but because of the "perceived trauma." Though wanted by many, attacking and/or bombing Iran could have some very serious consequences for the US, the region and the world. There will be a clear cost.

That is not to indicate that Iran's nuclear grasp shouldn't be stopped.

BZ