DAILY ALERT

In-Depth Issues:

For Iran, Enriching Uranium Only Gets Easier - William J. Broad (New York Times)
    Uranium enrichment is a tricky process that accelerates as it moves ahead. "The higher the concentration, the easier it gets," said Houston G. Wood III, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Virginia who specializes in nuclear enrichment.
    On Feb. 7, Iran announced it would begin enriching its stockpiled uranium to 20% from 4%, which nuclear experts said was actually a fairly easy step - not at all as demanding and time-consuming as raising the level to 4% from 0.7%.

Turkey Should Pause Before a Mirror - Stephen Kinzer (Guardian-UK)
    A committee of the U.S. Congress voted last week to brand as genocide the 1915 slaughter of Armenians by Ottoman Turks.
    Turkey suffers from a creeping image deterioration in Washington. Some feel that Turkey has become too close to Iran, and resent the vigor of Turkey's opposition to sanctions on the Iranian regime - especially important since Turkey holds a rotating seat on the UN Security Council.
    These doubts might not have become as powerful if Israel, Turkey's old friend, had come to its rescue with lobbying help on Capitol Hill, as it has in the past.
    But Turkish leaders have sharpened their criticism of Israel lately, and the Israelis, seeking to show that they too have cards to play in this game, did not rush to help Turkey this time.
    See also Israel Offers Aid to Turkey after 41 Killed in Earthquake (Ha'aretz)
    See also Turkey Rejects Israel's Offer of Post-Quake Aid - Roni Sofer (Ynet News)

Rachel Corrie Damage Suit Trial Begins - Dan Izenberg (Jerusalem Post)
    The hearing of witnesses in the civil suit filed by the family of Rachel Corrie - a member of the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement (ISM) who was killed trying to block an IDF bulldozer in 2003 - is due to begin in Haifa District Court on March 10.
    The IDF Southern Command investigated the incident and closed the file without taking measures against any of the soldiers involved.
    The state maintained that Corrie had been 100% responsible for the accident and that she had deliberately placed herself in danger.
    See also The Upcoming Rachel Corrie Trial: Go After the Real Killers - Lenny Ben-David (Pajamas Media)

Dozens of Arab Students in U.S. Visa Fraud - Gillian Flaccus (AP)
    Eamonn Higgins, 46, was charged Monday with operating a ring of illegal test-takers who helped dozens of Middle Eastern nationals obtain U.S. student visas by passing various proficiency and college-placement exams for them, federal authorities said.
    Over a seven-year period, Higgins collected tens of thousands of dollars from foreign students from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Kuwait, Turkey and Qatar before he or his accomplices took their exams at ten southern California community colleges and universities using doctored IDs.
    Higgins may have worked with hundreds of foreign students, although authorities have only been able to definitively identify 119.

News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:

Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):

Observations:

Facing Iran: Lessons Learned Since Iraq's 1991 Missile Attack on Israel - Moshe Arens (Institute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)

• The Iranians learned a great deal from the destruction of Iraq's Osirak reactor by the Israel Air Force in 1981. The Osirak reactor was the key element in the Iraqi nuclear program: a single target which, when it was destroyed, set that program back very substantially. The Iranians saw this and they dispersed their nuclear program. Much of it is deep underground. There is no single target which, if destroyed, would substantially set back the Iranian nuclear program.
• When I came to Washington as Israel's ambassador in 1982, the atmosphere was one of hostility and there was talk of imposing sanctions against Israel as a reaction to its unilateral action against the Osirak reactor. Yet after a few years the view in Washington changed completely. It is difficult to envision the Americans undertaking Operation Desert Storm in the Gulf in 1991 if the Iraqi nuclear program had continued beyond 1981 and had not been so seriously set back by the Israeli action.
• Some say that while the missiles Israel faces are relatively cheap weapons, we are launching a very expensive missile interceptor against it, which does not seem very wise at first sight. However, the damage that might be caused by the incoming missile may far exceed the cost of the missile interceptor.
• Israel's missile interceptor system poses a dilemma to anybody who decides to launch missiles against Israel, especially a missile that has a nuclear warhead. The dilemma is that the missile may very well be intercepted and thus expose the launching of a nuclear missile, even if it didn't reach its target, which could bring about the response that could be expected for committing this deed.
• At the start of the Gulf War, the Americans said they expected that within 48 hours the U.S. Air Force would eliminate the missile launch capability of the Iraqis. If they did not succeed, Israel would be free to take whatever action it considered appropriate. Although there was intensive aerial activity directed at hitting the Scud launchers, not a single Scud launcher was hit or immobilized during the Gulf War. Furthermore, the U.S.-made Patriot missiles in Israel did not succeed in intercepting a single Scud missile.

  Prof. Moshe Arens was Israel's defense minister during the 1991 war with Iraq.