U.S. and Israel Coordinate Strategy Against Iran
U.S. and Israel Coordinate Strategy Against Iran
by blackandred – 20 January, 2012 – Mostly Water
US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Martin Dempsey arrived in Israel yesterday for talks on Iran with top military and political leaders. As the Obama administration escalates its confrontation with Tehran, the obvious purpose of Dempsey’s visit is to coordinate hostile moves by the two countries against Iran.
Both sides have deliberately downplayed the prospect for an impending military strike against Iran. Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak told Israeli radio on Wednesday that any attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities was “very far off.” Asked if the US had pressed Israel for advance notice of any strike, he insisted that no decision had been made on military action. “I don’t suggest that we deal with this as if it’s about to happen tomorrow,” he said.
The US and Israel announced on Monday that their largest-ever joint war games, Austere Challenge 12, would be postponed until later this year. The exercise, involving thousands of US and Israeli soldiers, was to test Israel’s anti-missile defence systems — the unstated rationale being likely Iranian retaliation in the event of US or Israeli attack.
The delay has been widely interpreted in the media as evidence that the US is seeking to ease tensions in the Persian Gulf and ensure that Israel does not carry out a unilateral strike on Iran. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman cited “diplomatic and regional reasons, the tensions and instability” as factors in the postponement.
No one should accept these statements at face value. The US has been inflaming tensions with Iran since the beginning of the year. President Barack Obama has signed into law a measure designed to penalize foreign corporations doing business with Iran’s central bank and thus choke off Iranian oil exports. European Union foreign ministers are due to meet on Monday to finalize details of an embargo on the purchase of Iranian oil. …more
