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ISRAEL’S Prime Minister has called on the international community to target Iran as soon as the imminent conflict with Iraq is complete.
In an interview with The Times , he insisted that Tehran — one of the “axis of evil” powers identified by President Bush — should be put under pressure “the day after” action against Baghdad ends because of its role as a “centre of world terror”.
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No, of course not … Israel didn’t voice their strong opinion for the Bush NeoCon cabal to take their fight against the 9/11 terrorists to Baghdad and overthrow nemesis Saddam Hussein. This article was published days before the 2002 US midterm election, just after the political vote by Congress to pass their War Powers to the Bush/Cheney executive branch of government. A lame duck Congress on Iraq and national security has existed ever since!
The Knesset also approved the appointment of Shaul Mofaz, the hawkish former Israeli Army chief, as Defence Minister.
He also issued his clearest warning yet that Israel would strike back if attacked by Iraqi chemical or biological weapons, no matter how much Washington sought to keep its controversial Middle Eastern ally out of any war in Iraq.
He made clear that western Iraq would be one of the first areas targeted by the US in any invasion, saying that lessons had been learnt from strategic mistakes of the 1991 Gulf War when Iraq successfully fired 39 Scud missiles into Israel.
In other significant changes of tone and policy, Mr Sharon told The Times that:
- “The Israeli Government is considering an unprecedented crackdown on the Islamic movement within its own borders, fearing that a “small minority” of Israeli Arabs are turning against the country.”
He asserted that while Washington was inevitably focusing on Saddam Hussein — whom he called “insane” — the White House shared his concern that Iran was also seeking weapons of mass destruction, and developing missiles capable of striking Israel and even Europe.
WASHINGTON DC (The Forward) July 18, 2008 — Two senior Jewish congressmen are distancing themselves from a resolution calling for tougher sanctions against Iran, arguing that the bill would send an unnecessarily bellicose message to Tehran.
Democratic Reps. Robert Wexler of Florida and Barney Frank of Massachusetts pulled their support — Wexler on July 9, and Frank a week earlier — from a congressional resolution that called for increasing inspections on all sea and air traffic in and out of Iran, among other measures. The bill has been targeted by a coalition of progressive groups that give an argument that the measure is pushing for a de facto blockade on Iran that may lead to war.
“It’s a little trickier for the Jewish community, because there is a school of thought that believes the community bears disproportionate responsibility for the war in Iraq,” said Mark Pelavin, associate director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. “The fact that this claim is out there makes people be more measured this time around.”
Among those calling on lawmakers to turn down the proposed resolution is Americans for Peace Now, a dovish Jewish group that is pushing for a peaceful solution to the standoff with Iran. In a July 8 letter to members of Congress, the group wrote that “ambiguity in the text of the resolution has led some to see it as de facto approval for a land, air or sea blockade of Iran, any of which could be considered an act of war.”
On July 9, activists from the women’s antiwar group Code Pink, which opposes the resolution, launched a symbolic blockade of the Washington houseboat of Rep. Gary Ackerman, a New York Democrat and one of the authors of the resolution.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
