New Reason for Prius - Israel Purchases Long....

Range Bombers, capable of reaching Iran. A sobering article, with it's consequences to any stability (I'd choke if I said peace) in the Middle East & Persian Gulf.

This little mentioned noticed article is another reason for purchasing the Prius, in the face of gas declining from it's Hurricaine season highs (though they went up 15c in my area the last 2 weeks).

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel is expanding its military arsenal to deal with what it views as the greatest threat to its existence: a nuclear attack by Iran. It has acquired dozens of planes with long-range fuel tanks to allow them to reach Iran and signed a deal with Germany for two submarines reported capable of firing nuclear missiles.

Though Israeli security officials said a strike against Iran is not on the horizon, senior Israeli politicians have begun openly discussing the possibility of a military option - either alone or with other countries.

Such a mission would be far more complicated than the 1981 Israeli raid that destroyed an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor. It would require heavy precision bombs that can blast through underground bunkers, manned aircraft to bombard multiple targets and possibly ground troops to make sure weapons materials are destroyed, experts said.

"It's not a target that you can find on the map, send two F15s and solve it," said Itamar Yaar, deputy head of Israel's National Security Council.

Both the United States and Israel refuse to say whether a strike plan is in the works.

Hard feelings between Israel and Iran date to just before the 1979 Islamic Revolution when the Israelis joined the United States in siding with the Shah before he was deposed.

Partly because of that, the founder of the Islamic revolution, the Ayatollah Khomeini, called Israel the Little Satan, saving the term Great Satan for the United States, Israel's patron.

The Iranian brand of Islam allows no place for a Jewish state in the Middle East and Israel points out often Iran is the only member of the United Nations that publicly calls for destruction of another member. Israel's animosity toward Iran stems not only from the Iranian leadership's anti-Israel statements but also its support of armed groups like Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad.

Tension between the countries has mounted recently amid growing concern about Iran's atomic program.

Tehran said its nuclear program is to generate electricity, not make bombs. But plans announced this week to build more nuclear power plants and to purchase 30 Tor-M1 surface-to-air missiles from Russia have raised fears.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call for Israel to be "wiped off the map" in October also set off alarms. On Thursday, the Iranian leader said the Jewish state should be moved to Europe and questioned whether the Holocaust took place.

Both Israel and the United States said diplomatic options should be exhausted before any military action is contemplated.

But this week, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the ability to take out Iran's nuclear program by force "of course exists." His political rival, Benjamin Netanyahu, went farther, saying he would support a pre-emptive raid.

Israel's military chief, Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz, said Sunday he does not believe diplomatic pressure will be enough to keep Tehran from developing the bomb and a military solution may be necessary.

"Who is the one to implement it? That is another question that I'm not going to answer."

"'When?' is another question that I'm not going to answer. But there are options worldwide," he said.

U.S. officials have refrained from calling for military action, favouring diplomacy, inspections and trade sanctions. Still, President George W. Bush has said the United States will not let Iran have the bomb.

Some experts argue a military strike would not be feasible because of a lack of good intelligence on targets, the existence of multiple atomic installations scattered throughout Iran, some underground or bored into mountains and the country's increasingly sophisticated defence systems.

But others said the capability is there: a combination of precision missiles, bunker-buster bombs, airpower and elite ground forces to penetrate the most difficult sites.

The United States - with cruise missiles that can deliver high-explosive bombs to precise locations and B-2 bombers capable of dropping 85 225-kilogram bombs in a single run - could take on the task, several experts said.

Whether Israel could is an unanswered question. However, the country already has received about one-half of 102 U.S.-built F-16I planes it ordered, with extra fuel tanks to let them reach Iran.

Israel signed a deal with Germany to build two more Dolphin submarines capable of firing atomic missiles at Iran. Israel already has three Dolphins, a key deterrent to any future nuclear confrontation.

Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, though it refuses to confirm or deny it.

Last week, Israel successfully tested its Arrow missile-defence system against a missile similar to Iran's Shahab-3, which can be equipped with a nuclear warhead to reach Israel or several U.S. military installations in the Middle East.

Experts said possible targets in Iran include the Bushehr nuclear facility and a uranium-conversion centre at Esfahan.

David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, said any strike would be fraught with pitfalls. But a successful one would have to be a "bolt out of the blue" to prevent Iran from moving its uranium centrifuges, a key component for enriching uranium used to make nuclear bombs.

He also said ground commando raids would likely be necessary to ensure hidden tools used for atomic purposes are destroyed.

Israeli analyst Gerald Steinberg said it wouldn't be necessary to destroy "100 per cent of the targets" to set back Iran's nuclear program. A limited operation to disrupt power supplies, block access to sites or remove key components could be enough.

He noted Iran has learned lessons from Israel's 1981 strike against the Osirak nuclear reactor near Baghdad, dispersing nuclear sites, putting facilities underground and improving defence.

"But 25 years have passed since then and the offensive capabilities of the armies involved have also advanced," he added.

Albright warned any strike, especially one that leaves some nuclear capabilities intact, would likely strengthen Iran's resolve to aggressively pursue atomic weapons.

He said Iran would most likely retaliate by making "life miserable for the United States in Iraq" and launch attacks against Israel through proxies such as Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas.