Wednesday, 24 September 2008
A retired senior US military commander has rejected the notion that Israel is capable of seriously damaging Iran's nuclear program.
"[I doubt whether] the Israelis have the capability to make a lasting impression on the Iranian nuclear program with their military capabilities," Newsweek quoted General John Abizaid as saying at a Marine Corps University conference last week.
Until 18 months ago, Gen. Abizaid was the head of US Central Command, responsible for overseeing military operations in the Middle East.
Gen. Abizaid added that a confrontation between Iran and Israel would be 'bad for the region, bad for the United States [and would] ultimately move the region into an even more unstable situation.'
The comments by the former head of US CENTCOM came as the Pentagon confirmed that it was planning to sell Israel 1,000 'bunker-busting' bombs, developed to target underground fortified facilities.
The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the small size of the Guided Bomb Unit-39 (GBU-39)GBU-39 would allow the Israeli Air Force to hit more of Iran's 'numerous, distant, and fortified' nuclear sites than is currently possible.
The US, Israel and their Western allies accuse Iran, a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), of seeking an atomic bomb.
However, the latest UN nuclear watchdog report has repeated that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has not found any 'components of a nuclear weapon' or 'related nuclear physics studies' in Iran.
In addition to its extensive investigation into the Iranian nuclear program, the UN nuclear watchdog has conducted 'seventeen unannounced inspections' without finding any evidence to back US, Israeli allegations.
