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Israel,
U.S. Prepare To Attack Iraq
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| Sharon
and Bush to attack Iraq together
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JERUSALEM, Jan. 2, (News
Agencies) – Israeli Defense officials are participating with their American
counterparts in preparation for a possible U.S. military operation against Iraq.
This operation primerly aims
at toppling the Iraqi government, according to a report by Israeli daily
newspaper, Ha’aretz, Wednesday, January 2, 2002.
According to Israeli security
sources participating in Israeli preparations for a possible American move on
Iraq, any decision by U.S. President, George W. Bush, about when to attack Iraq
depends on three main elements: building a case against Saddam, identifying an
alternative ruler to replace Saddam, and building up the forces that will
execute the planned attack, the paper reported.
Israeli defense officials believe that the Bush administration has given up
trying to find an Iraqi version of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance, so
Washington is busy studying intelligence profiles of top Iraqi army commanders
who could take control in Baghdad during or immediately after the start of an
American campaign, added the paper.
Ha’aretz, citing Israeli security forces, elaborated on the Israeli-American
scenarios under study for attacking Iraq, whose people have been suffering more
than 11 years of oppressive sanctions.
“In contacts between
Israeli and American defense officials over the past few weeks, the Pentagon's
representatives were asked to plan their operations in Iraq in such a way as to
minimize the Iraqi ability to move missile launchers into western Iraq, from
which missiles can reach Israel,” Israeli sources told Ha’aretz.
“The Americans were told
that Israel expects them to conduct operations, including on the ground, in
western Iraq from the start of a campaign, and not to wait until Iraq starts
launching missile attacks on Israel, as happened in 1991,” the sources added.
Israeli officials say they
believe the Pentagon will accede to this request.
American officers, from both
the air force and special operations, visited Israel to learn about
"targeted Killings" (of Palestinian resistance activists) by
Israeli occupation army special operations forces in the (Palestinian occupied)
territories, the paper reported.
Among other things, the
Americans wanted to know about the possibility of long-distance assassinations,
along the lines of the operation - to kill Saddam Hussein - that foreign reports
said was being rehearsed, according to the paper.
The Israeli Home Front
commander, Maj. Gen. Yosef Mishlav, said recently that the plan to transfer the
Home Front to the Ministry for Public Security has been frozen, so defending the
population from nuclear, chemical, and biological warfare is still in the hands
of the defense minister.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister and hawkish head of the Labor Party,
Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, paid a visit to the secretive Ness Ziona Biological
Institute Tuesday, January 2, 2002.
Ben-Eliezer was accompanied to the institute by an unusually small entourage, to
keep a low profile. Presumably, a possible attack by Iraq, with unconventional
payloads delivered by either missiles or planes, was one of the main subjects in
the briefing given the minister by his hosts.
Defense Israeli sources claimed that should Saddam conclude that the Americans
are about to topple him, he would try to attack Israel with a barrage of
missiles or airplanes.
Unlike the spring of 1990, when Saddam was
already threatening to "burn half of Israel" if attacked, no such
threats toward Israel have been coming out of Baghdad.
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