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January 6 , 2007
If Iran Attacks Israel with a Nuclear Bomb, Will Israel Survive? The prospect of Iran attacking Israel with a nuclear weapon is so horrific that most of us don't want to think about it. Just last week French president Jacques Chirac blithely and against all evidence dismissed the danger of a nuclear Iran. But as people of concern and conscience who realize that Israel's very existence (and that of the Jewish people) may hang in the balance, we at least have to confront the revulsive possibility and ask ourselves, "Just what if?" As you know, Israel is a tiny country---about the size of New Jersey---and the overwhelming majority of its citizens live clustered in the vicinity of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, two cities just 36 miles apart. In short, it's clear that a nuclear first strike by Iran would effectively destroy the state of Israel. While Israel would likely respond with submarine-based nuclear weapons and kill hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Iranians, irreparable damage would be done---Israel (and three to five million Jews) would disappear. According to Shmuel Bar, director of studies at think tank Institute of Policy and Strategy in Herzliya, Israel, Iran believes it must develop nuclear weapons in order to protect itself against potential U.S. and Israeli aggression. (Remember that the very fact of Israel's existence is seen as aggression by most Arabs, and they sincerely believe that Israel wishes to conquer the entire Middle East.) In the brief article below, Mr. Bar explains why Iran would likely be willing to use a nuclear weapon against Israel, despite the probability of retaliation. After all, it is the Islamists who have perfected the art of suicide bombing: To die for the will of Allah (especially while killing Jews) is seen as a sign of honor and a ticket to heaven. Clearly, with the virulently anti-Semitic president Mohammed Achmadinajad and fundamentalist Islamic imams in control of Iran, it's hard to imagine that they could resist proactively bombing Israel (which they characterize as "little Satan") the moment they acquire nuclear capability. Please take a minute to read the analysis of Shmuel Bar, a former Israeli intelligence officer, below. I believe it will help strengthen your resolve that Iran must never be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons of mass destruction. Sincerely, Jim Sinkinson
Strategist: Iran believes it could destroy Israel with a single nuke
(Jerusalem) Iran's nuclear program seeks first-strike capability against
Israel, a leading strategist asserts. He said Iran believes it could
destroy the Jewish state with one nuclear weapon. Iran believes "that Israel is a one-bomb country, one bomb from the point-of-view of the receiving side; that the U.S. would not intervene against Iran under such conditions; and all of that with apocalyptic zeal may result in actual use of nuclear weapons," he said. Bar, who for years worked in the Israeli intelligence community, told a conference on Jan. 9 that Iran was prepared to destroy Muslim cities as the price for firing nuclear missiles toward Israel. He said the ruling Islamic clergy would support a nuclear attack on Israel even at the risk of killing millions of Palestinian Muslims. "They're developing weapons as deterrents, and that part of the Iranian regime — the more revolutionary part — has all of the components for developing a doctrine of use of nuclear weapons [aggressively], as opposed to adoption of using nuclear weapons as deterrents," Bar said. "I think that it's a religious background which brings them to this sort of a doctrine." Bar said Iran has studied the U.S. wars against the former Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq. The chief Iranian lesson was that only nuclear weapons could deter a U.S. attack. "Nuclear weapons are strategic necessity for deterring the West and Israel and for achieving their strategic goals," Bar said. "Until they arrive at nuclear weapons, Iran's strategic deterrence must rely on terrorism and subversive potential." Bar said Iran has scored its sole foreign success in the operation of the Hizbullah militia in Lebanon. Hizbullah lost 800 fighters in the war against Israel in the summer of 2006. Bar cited funerals in Lebanon for those termed "holy warriors." "Whatever they may say, they lost somewhere around 800 men who we can account for," Bar said. "You count the funerals and the names, and you count the names of the people in the documents in south Lebanon." PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION DONATE
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