Iran threatens to bomb Israel?
20 Sep 2007
Via a reader: Iran: We have plans to bomb Israel if attacked
“We have drawn up a plan to strike back at Israel with our bombers if this regime (Israel) makes a silly mistake,” Gen. Mohammad Alavi was quoted as telling Fars in an interview.
The reader wonders if anyone should be afraid of an Iranian military which claims to have just now made plans to bomb Israel.
Even more than that, I wonder if Israel has any fear whatsoever of the Iranian bombers. Question the capabilities of the Israeli army against Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon if you want, but I don’t think anyone questions the Israeli air force. Bombcats or no, I wouldn’t put money on any Iranian strike planes hitting targets in Israel if Israel is on alert.
Besides, if Iran is striking back against Israel because the US attacked Iran, US planes will also be defending Israel. It’s hard to say what our stance would be if the Israelis struck Iran, but I’d guess that we’d help in many ways if needed, even if we didn’t take part in actual combat.
France, who suddenly is acting all warlike, is tough to predict. They might be talking tough about Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons, but I’m not really expecting them to do anything meaningful. In any event, Israel can take care of itself against Iranian air attack, and we’d be likely to help out regardless, either directly or indirectly.
Missiles, of course, are another matter entirely. As are special operations and terrorist attacks. Israel remains vulnerable to such attacks, particularly if launched from Iran’s proxies in Syria and Lebanon. Other nations in the Middle East are also very vulnerable, as is the flow of crude oil.
If military action is launched against Iran, it had better be comprehensive and it had better be a decision made with eyes open.
September 20th, 2007 at 9:53 am
Should read: ‘We have drawn up plans to get our entire Air Force shot down if we are attacked.’ This is right up there with the 600 missiles they would fire at Israel, turns out they have (maybe) 40-60 that could reach that far and how many of the launchers do you think would survive that initial attack? You can tell Iran is getting worried, they’re in full ‘bluster’ mode.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:26 am
WRT France, I think they are for real. I have 8-10 co-workers in France who I deal with several times a week. And those guys are ecstatic with Sarkosy’s change in direction. When they get to talking on that topic, I can’t get the to shut up! Granted, it’s a small sample, and they are engineers one and all. But still, for years they have told me that they have been embarrassed by Frances’ corrupt government, and that it was just a matter of time till common sense prevailed. Many folks there suspect they are now within range of Iranian (NOKO) missiles, and that changes the whole dynamic. And I think the recent riots pushed a lot of folks over the edge. So there is some support in the streets for a change in direction. Don’t know how much, or how long it will last, but it’s a start.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:38 am
Last time I checked the Iranians would have to overfly Iraq to get to Israel. Seems to me I heard somewhere that the last Superpower on the planet was involved in something thereabouts? I say park a squadron of F22’s at a remote airbase in Iraq and get some ‘live’ fire training in for the Raptor Drivers. Then I’d demand a declaration of war from Congress. Nothing less this time – no wiggle room from the surrendercrats.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:38 am
What is wrong with the Iranians threatening to counter attack Israel if Israel attacks them first? I would think any nation with balls would do the same. How is this statement worse or more inflammatory than Sen. McCain singing ‘bomb, bomb, Iran’ to the melody of the Beach Boy’s ‘Barbara Ann’?
September 20th, 2007 at 11:01 am
Nothing wrong with it at all, except for the amusement quotient.
September 20th, 2007 at 11:08 am
Who said there’s anything wrong with it? I didn’t, and I don’t think anyone else did, either. We’re simply analyzing.
September 20th, 2007 at 11:12 am
What is wrong with the Iranians threatening to counter attack Israel if Israel attacks them first? I would think any nation with balls would do the same. Nothing _wrong_ with it .. except that they utterly lack the means to reach Israel with bombers. Go look at a map. They’d have to overfly Iraq, Turkey or Saudi Arabia. Ain’t gonna happen.
September 20th, 2007 at 11:30 am
What about their missiles? I thought they had some with the range to hit Israel.
September 20th, 2007 at 11:59 am
What’s ‘wrong’ with it is that they JUST NOW came up with a plan to attack Israel, one of their main regional threats. As Skeptic pointed out, it’s just amusement. I think until now, everyone on the planet assumed they probably had 37 different plans for different scenarios, as any reasonably competent military would have at all times. Now we know different, I think the fear from (a non-nuclear) Iran just dropped a few hundred notches.
September 20th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Spacey, Do you even bother reading the posts? Or do you just skim until you hit something you don’t like, and then spew out a knee-jerk argument against it?
September 20th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
Missiles?!? Iran has missiles? If I had known that I probably would have written something like
September 20th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
We have drawn up a plan to strike back at Israel…’ It would be a brief, but exciting, mission for the Iranian air force.
September 20th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
Thank you for the correction.
September 20th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
I mean thank you for correcting me.
September 20th, 2007 at 6:58 pm
I bet Israel pilots are itching to use those new python 5 missles.
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:11 am
Admiral the Earl St. Vincent: ‘I do not say the Frenchman will not come, I only say he will not come by sea.’ CHeers