Hard to believe, but the Jerusalem Post is reporting that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are ready to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities:

IAF [i.e., Israeli Air Force] pilots have completed their mission training and fighter jets have been prepared for an Israeli attack on Iran, the British Sunday Times reported.

The article reported that “the elite 69 strategic F-15 I squadron” had been equipped with weapons that will be tested in combat for the first time, and that two missile submarines were on standby: one in the Persian Gulf and the second in Haifa Bay.

The Times also said that special IDF forces would be helicoptered into Iran to take out targets that could not be destroyed in an air strike. […]

Col. [res] Ze’ev Raz, the former IAF pilot who led the Osirak mission, was quoted by the Times as saying, “What we now have is a lot of targets, which makes the operation much more difficult.”

Raz believes an aerial assault on Iran’s nuclear facilities is possible. There are many things that the IAF has done over the past few years that the public is not aware of, and it has made many important advances in mid-air refueling. Israel can strike the Iranian nuclear program, Raz said on Israel’s Channel 1 TV’s Politika program last week.

Here’s the link to the Sunday Times article cited by the Jerusalem Post’s story. Here’s what the Sunday Times’ report has to say about Israel’s readiness to proceed with this attack:

Before the massive stroke that left him in a coma, Sharon had declared: “Israel will not accept a nuclear weapon equipped Iran.” He had quietly ordered the Israeli Defence Forces to be ready to launch airstrikes against nuclear sites in the Islamic republic if necessary.

“The whole issue is now with the Americans,” said an Israeli defence source. “Once we get the green light, we’re ready.” […]

Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing Likud party, has backed the destruction of Iranian nuclear facilities, although Olmert’s Kadima party looks the more likely election winner.

At the Hatzerim air base on the edge of the Negev desert, the elite 69 strategic F-15 I squadron is ready to attack. Months of preparations have been completed and the young pilots have finished training for the long-haul flights that will be necessary to reach Iran and back without refuelling.

My speculation follows two paths. One, Bush is playing good cop to the bad cop Israel, in essence informing Iran that it may not be able to control it’s ally from taking independent action, in order to convince Iran to back off its nuclear ambitions and scale back it’s nuclear program to one in accord with UN and IAEA protocols.

The other path I see is a much darker one. Bush really is ready to drum up an attack against Iran, and due to the over extension of our forces in Iraq, is willing to allow Israel (no doubt with some unpublicized assistance from our forces in the Gulf) to do the heavy lifting. It may even be possible that the Saudis and other Sunni Arab states will give their unoffical acceptance to this plan, even if officially they will condemn Israel’s action. It’s well known that Egypt and the Saudis are uncomfortable with a non-Arab, Shi’ite state such as Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.

As for Bush, his motivations for any attack are likely infuenced by what he and his advisors hope would be a boost to his domestic political fortunes. After all, blowing up “Islamofascists” has worked well for him in the past. Would he care about the possible consequences to our relations with Europe, and other Islamic countries like Pakistan? Or that any attack against Iran (whether executed by US forces or Israeli) would engender increased risks for our soldiers in Iraq? I doubt it.