(New Republic) Ben Birnbaum - "I supported [Netanyahu and Barak] on the notion that if we come to the fork in the road [on Iran], where we have to choose between very tough alternatives - the 'bomb' or the 'bombing' - I'm with the prime minister, for the bombing," former Israeli defense intelligence chief Amos Yadlin told me. In 1981, Yadlin was one of the eight Israeli F-16 pilots who destroyed Iraq's nuclear reactor. Like most top members of the Israeli security establishment, Yadlin believes that Israel cannot live with a nuclear Iran. "We should not let [Rouhani] drag it out two years and then realize that he deceived us, and that we don't have the military option on the table anymore." "We need to keep in mind that he is not a reformist. He is the flesh and blood of the radical Iranian regime. We also have to be very cautious because he does not set the course." "The Iranians are now very close. They may be able to produce a bomb faster than intelligence can detect that they are breaking out or sneaking out. And the breakout time may be shorter than the time necessary for the decisions and planning and execution of an operation that can stop it."
2013-10-24 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive