Gen. Dempsey Schedules Visit to Reassure Israel on Threatening Iran

Visit to Center on US 'Preparations' to Attack Iran

The Obama Administration threatens to attack Iran a lot, but there is increasing concern among Israeli analysts that his heart just isn’t in it, and that the threats are empty. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey will visit Israel next month in an attempt to calm those concerns.

The visit, scheduled for mid-January, will center around meetings with his Israeli counterpart Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz and top Israeli officials to discuss the possible US and/or Israeli attack on the nation.

Dempsey had previously expressed concern that Israel might decide to attack Iran on their own without telling the US until after the fact, but in recent days his public comments have centered around the US ability to attack Iran whenever it wants to.

The announcement of Dempsey’s visit comes as the US and Israel are said to be in talks about the potential excuse to be used in the event they actually attack Iran, with Israelis said to be furious at Defense Secretary Leon Panetta for comments that seemed to oppose the idea of war.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.