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Sunday, 08 June 2008 17:59 |

More War Talk News

Beating the Drums for War on Iran

- Editor's Note: Stories with AP Newswire links have gone dead due to new AP Newswire policies.

Israeli DPM Warns:

Time Running Out For Iran Attack

An Israeli deputy prime minister on Friday warned that Iran would face attack if it pursues what he said was its nuclear weapons programme.

"If Iran continues its nuclear weapons programme, we will attack it," said Shaul Mofaz, who is also transportation minister. Other options are disappearing. The sanctions are not effective. There will be no alternative but to attack Iran in order to stop the Iranian nuclear programme," Mofaz told the Yediot Aharonot daily.

He stressed such an operation could only be conducted with US support.

A former defence minister and armed forces chief of staff, Mofaz hopes to replace embattled Ehud Olmert as prime minister and at the helm of the Kadima party. More details, LINK HERE.

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White House Commited To

Diplomacy on Iran Nukes

The White House remains committed to diplomacy over Iran's nuclear program as it responded to remarks by Israel's Deputy Prime Minister, Shaul Mofaz who warned on Friday that time is running out for halting Iran's quest for nuclear weapons. Read more on the White House response, LINK HERE.

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Olmert Warns Of Gaza Invasion

LINK

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Iran Prez Yada Yada Yada

"Israel Will Soon Disappear"

Ho hum. When something is continually recurring it usually ceases to be news just by the very nature and definition of the word itself. So when yet again for zillionth time it seems, Iran's president warns of the imminent demise of Israel, we almost hesitate to report it, but it is important to keep tabs on such things so, for what it is worth, we're alerting you to the latest statements by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Yes the fiery, little Iranian leader again reaffirmed on the first of June that "Israel will soon disappear." To read more on this story, LINK HERE.

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Bush Close To Ordering Iran Attacks

Debkafile is reporting that it's Washington sources report that president George W. Bush is closer than ever before to ordering a limited missile-air bombardment of the IRGC-al Qods Brigade’s installations in Iran. It is planned to target training camps and the munitions factories pumping fighters, missiles and roadside bombs to the Iraqi insurgency, Lebanese Hizballah and Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza.

Iran is geared up for counteraction. More detilas - LINK HERE.

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Former German Leader Warns

US, Israel Will Attack Iran

In the Near Future

Former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer says Israel is planning to attack Iran in the near future over its nuclear program.

He wrote a piece that appeared in today's Daily Star, an English-language Lebanese newspaper, arguing that President Bush's recent visit to the Middle East was a precursor to a war against Iran.

"The Middle East is drifting toward a new great confrontation in 2008. Iran must understand that without a diplomatic solution in the coming months, a dangerous military conflict is very likely to erupt. It is high time for serious negotiations to begin," he said.

Fischer said Bush's speech during his address to the Israeli Knesset, or parliament, this month indicated a coming Israeli-US attack on Iran's nuclear program.

"He (Bush) seemed to be planning, together with Israel, to end the Iranian nuclear program -- and to do so by military, rather than by diplomatic, means.... Although it is acknowledged in Israel that an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities would involve grave and hard-to-assess risks, the choice between acceptance of a nuclear Iran and an attempt at its military destruction, with all the attendant consequences, is clear. Israel won't stand by and wait for matters to take their course," Fischer said.

Fischer was German's top diplomat from 1998 to 2005 and is a visiting scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. LINK Dead.

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Israeli PM Meets Bush

Reportedly Presses For Strikes on Iran

Israel's Prime Minsiter Ehud Olmert unexpectedly flew to Washington for consulations with President Bush on Wednesday, June 4. Among the items reportedly discussed included Iran, Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian peace talks. After the consultations, Olmert emerged from the meetings to reveal that the subject of Iran dominated the talks. For more on this story, LINK Dead.

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US Top Intel Chief

To Israel For Intel Confab

Amidst reports that President George W. Bush is considering taking military action against Iran, the US Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell paid a rare visit to Israel Tuesday for talks with heads of the Israeli intelligence community.

McConnell was scheduled to meet with head of Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin, Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

McConnell's office published the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) report late last year, which claimed that Iran had suspended its nuclear weapons program in 2003 even though it had renewed its enrichment of uranium in 2005

Defense officials said that McConnell's visit to Israel was part of the ongoing intelligence dialogue between the two countries and that he would be presented with the most updated Mossad and MI assessments regarding Iran's nuclear program. MI recently moved up its assessment and now believes that Iran will master centrifuge technology by the end of the year, meaning that Iran could have a nuclear weapon by the end of the decade.

Despite the visit, officials said it was unlikely that McConnell's office would put out a new and revised NIE before the US elections in November.

"We do not expect a change to the earlier American assessments," one official said. More details, LINK HERE.

More from Haaretz...

Fewer Question Marks

As To US Plans To Confront Iran

The Washington talks came a day after Olmert issued his toughest warning yet to Tehran, saying Iran's nuclear program must be stopped by "all possible means." LINK HERE.

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