Petraeus Says Israel May "Choose" To Attack Iran

Petraeus says Israel may 'choose' to attack Iran

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Petrae...e_to_0401.html

4/1/2009

The head of the US military's Central Command David Petraeus told a Congressional hearing Wednesday that Israel might "choose" to attack in Iran if it sees itself materially threatened by the bomb. The remark comes just a day after Israel's new Prime Minister seemed to threaten an Iran strike "in months."

In carefully crafted language, the Army General told the Senate Armed Services Committee that “the Israeli government may ultimately see itself so threatened by the prospect of an Iranian nuclear weapon that it would take preemptive military action to derail or delay it.”

“Iranian officials,” he added, “have consistently failed to provide the assurances and transparency necessary for international acceptance and verification.”

Iran insists its nuclear program is program is for power generation, not missiles, but has refused to suspend uranium enrichment -- instead waving its intentions before the world for all to see. There had been discussion in the previous Bush Administration of a military strike on Iran, according to The New Yorker's Seymour Hersh. Rice ultimately prevailed on Bush not to pursue the option, the reports have said.

While Iran insists its nuclear program is intended for peaceful power generation, Petraeus, the head of U.S. Central Command, said

Said Petraeus, Iran's “obstinacy and obfuscation have forced Iran’s neighbors and the international community to conclude the worst about the regime’s intention.”

A media adviser to Iran's president responded to calls for him to have the country cease uranium enrichment.

“Iran’s position as a powerful country that is a proponent of logic and peace, the Zionist regime’s chaotic situation, and the state of the world’s economy are realities that do not make this possible,” Ali Akbar Javanfekr, media adviser to Iran’s President Mahmound Ahmadinejad, told Bloomberg News.

Iran has not previously cited the global economy as a reason for pursuing nuclear fuel, but the crisis hasn't spared Iran, much of whose economy is dependent on the price of oil.