Israel Threatens to Use Nukes in Coming War and Totally Destroy Iraq

Ha'aretz/Middle East Realities 15 Aug, 2002

 

MID-EAST REALITIES - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 8/15/2002:

 

It's a crafty journalistic manuever sure to get the message out but in a way tied to the U.S. rather than just a blunt warning publicly declared by General/Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. One of Israel's best known military-affairs journalists raised the battle cry today in Israel's most prestigious daily, Ha'aretz. If Iraq, or anyone else for that matter, causes any serious blows to Israel, the 'Jewish State' might, indeed in all likelihood will, unleash it's vast arsenal of nuclear weapons, now thought to be the fourth largest force in the world after the US, Russia, and China.

 

That same message was sent in another way earlier this year in fact when the three new submarines Germany built for Israel were leaked to now be carrying nuclear-tipped missiles and deployed ready-to-shoot, contrary to all the assurances given to the Germans in years now past.

 

The whole world is moving closer to potential armageddon now, propelled by the psychological aftermath of last 11 September and all that led up to that historic event in past decades. From the sub-continent, where the Kashmir crisis could erupt, to Asia, where the Taiwan crisis looms, to the Middle East and its vast oilfields and immense tensions created by Israel's military occupation of the Palestinian people; the world may now be on the edge of catastrophy.

 

'If Attacked, Israel Might Nuke Iraq'

 

By Ze'ev Schiff

 

Ha'aretz - August 15, 2002:

 

If Iraq strikes at Israel with non-conventional weapons, causing massive casualties among the civilian population, Israel could respond with a nuclear retaliation that would eradicate Iraq as a country. This grave assessment, from American intelligence, was presented last week to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

 

During the 1991 Gulf War, then U.S. defense secretary Richard Cheney, now vice-president, told CNN that Israel could respond with nuclear weapons to an Iraqi strike that included the use of chemical weapons. This assessment has only been strengthened since then, because according to all the signs, Iraq now has biological weapons that could cause mass casualties.

 

According to one assessment, military-grade biological weapons can be almost as lethal as a nuclear bomb.

 

The U.S. intelligence assessments include an analysis of possible Israeli responses. The lowest probability is that Israel would respond initially with a conventional military retaliation if it is slightly harmed, and would add a warning that a non-conventional response was possible if the Iraqi attacks on the Israeli civilian population continued.

 

The possibility of Israel using nuclear weapons against Iraq appears in a document submitted by military expert Dr. Anthony Cordesman, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Presumably, the document is based, in part, on official administration assessments.

 

In the worst case scenario, writes Cordesman, Israel could face an existential threat to important urban areas such as Tel Aviv or Haifa. Under such conditions, it would threaten nuclear retaliation against Iraqi cities and military forces to cease the [Iraqi] attack.

 

If the Iraqi attack were to continue, and there was a lethal biological strike on an Israeli city, Israel would certainly respond with nuclear strikes against Iraqi cities that were not yet in the hands of American forces, Cordesman says. Such an Israeli reaction could destroy Iraq as a state.

 

Based on this assessment and the possibility of an Israeli retaliation in the event of an Iraqi strike, it is presumed that the United States will, at the earliest stages, make a special effort to neutralize any possible use of Scud and El Hussein rockets that Iraq positions in its western regions, as it did in the Gulf War, for a more convenient launching site for attacks against Israel. During discussions in Washington, Israeli representatives asked the United States to take action against the missiles in western Iraq.

 

The Americans know that Iraq is not depending only on long-range missiles in its plans for using chemical or biological weapons against its enemies, including Israel. As part of its preparations, Iraq has also been working on developing pilotless planes. Unlike the usual development of drones used primarily for intelligence gathering purposes, the Iraqis are working on normal-sized planes loaded with chemical or biological weapons and intended to be flown by remote control. They are working on an Eastern European training plane and on a version of the MiG-21. Both planes have been tested.

 

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