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IRAN'S POWER AND THREAT
"This is a step forward in the Iranian buildup
of power, and, as a state that Iran says is the
devil and must be eradicated from the world,
we cannot be apathetic... We have to go up one,
two or even three levels in our defense
abilities."
Israeli Deputy Defense Minister
Ephraim Sneh (15 July)
MID-EAST REALITIES (MER) - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 17 July:
The Israelis are way dominant at the moment in every measure
- military, economic, political, intelligence. And that explains
why the "agreement" being imposed on the Palestinians through Yasser Arafat
at Camp David is far closer to the long-rejected "autonomy" formulations
than to real Statehood.
But even so, the Israelis know there are more than 200
million Arabs and 1 billion Muslims in this world; and yes they are worried,
especially about Iran which a few days ago tested the new medium range
Shahab-3 missile. For the first time, with Shahab-3 the Iranians
have a weapon that can reach Israel; and they are expected to have nuclear
tips for it within a few years.
The Arabs have been nearly totally defeated, co-opted,
manipulated, or destroyed.
Arab unity and the Arab League are jokes these days; and the Palestinians
have been pushed and twisted onto autonomous reservations over which they
fly their flag and however skeptically watch Arafat's pretenses to independence.
But the Iranians have yet to be so co-opted and continue
to resist all the inducements and incentives to joining the Westernized
new world order. Moreover, Iran continues to represent both Islamic
assertiveness and regional independence -- the two most important forces
opposing Western domination and Israeli regional supremacy.
Former Chief of Staff and commando General Ehud Barak
knows all this all too well, and in fact he is working overtime to consolidate
various kinds of "peace deals" with the neighboring weak Arab regimes,
as well as with "Palestinian Authority", knowing that a confrontation with
Muslim, though not Arab, Iran may lie in the not too distant future.
Indeed, it is instructive to remember that it was after
Camp David I and the deal with Egypt at that time that Israel made war
on Lebanon and laid seige to Beirut, as well as helped manipulate both
Iraq's war against Iran and then the Gulf War a decade later. So
don't be too surprised if shortly after the declaration of a Palestinian
State coming out of Camp David II there is some kind of conflict with Iran
aiming to take down Iran's capability to produce and deliver weapons of
mass destruction, as was done with the attack on Iraq's Osirak nuclear
reactor three years after Camp David I. And with Israel's alliance
with Turkey and India being considerably strengthened these days, don't
be too surprised if Pakistan gets drawn in and hit in some way as well.
Indeed, this may in fact be the obscured meaning of Barak's
comments from Camp David on 15 July that "The power of the Israeli army
and strengthening Israel through peace agreements are the true answer to
Shahab-3".
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