Israel is planning military attacks on Iran after December, the French magazine Le Canard Enchainé asserted Oct. 13. According to the report, quoted by Israel Radio, Jerusalem has already ordered from a French food manufacturer combat rations for soldiers serving in elite units, and asked reservists of these units staying abroad to return to Israel. The report also states that in a recent visit to France, IDF Chief of General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi told his French counterpart Jean-Louis Georgelin that Israel is not planning to bomb Iran, but may send elite units to conduct ground operations there. The magazine suggests these may involve sabotage of nuclear facilities and assassinations of Iran's top nuclear scientists. (ANI [2], Oct. 15)
According to Wikipedia [3], Le Canard Enchainé [4] is a "satirical newspaper" that also "features investigative journalism and leaks from sources inside the French government."
The supposed leak comes simultaneous with news that the US military is speeding up delivery of a colossal "bunker-buster [5]" bomb dubbed the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP)—to be the largest non-nuclear bomb in the Pentagon arsenal, carrying 5,300 pounds of explosives. The Pentagon has awarded a $52 million contract to speed placement of the MOP aboard the B-2 Stealth bomber, and officials say it could be fielded as soon as next summer. It is to be 10 times more powerful than the weapon it is designed to replace, the BLU-109. Media speculation suggests it is intended for the newly revealed nuclear site the Iranian regime has built deep inside a mountain near the holy city of Qom. Officials deny there is a specific target in mind. "I don't think anybody can divine potential targets," said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell. "This is just a capability that we think is necessary given the world we live in." (Daily Mail [6], Oct. 13)
We will point out that predictions of an imminent US or Israeli attack on Iran have been made many times before by Scott Ritter [7], Webster Tarpley [8], David Petraeus [9] and Benny Morris [10]. They've all been wrong, and none of them has ever publicly eaten crow that we're aware of. On the other side of the coin, Bernard Lewis [11] predicted an imminent Iranian attack on Israel three years ago. We haven't heard that he's eaten crow either. Why is the crystal ball set still treated with such reverence on the left and right alike?
See our last posts on Iran [12], Israel [13] and nuclear fear [14].
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