In an interview today Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta discussed the prospect of an Israeli attack on Iran, saying that Israel could “have an impact” with an attack but that he thought the US would “have a hell of a bigger impact.”
Panetta went on to say that the US has “far more advanced weapons” for such an attack. The comments come amid a flurry of speculation about either the US or Israel starting a war by attacking Iran.
The White House downplayed the comments, saying that Panetta was only trying to make it clear that the Pentagon had been planning attacks on Iran for quite some time and that it “would be irresponsible not to.”
Israeli officials have been keen on the idea of the US attacking Iran for quite some time, but in recent months the speculation has been that Israel would attack unilaterally, sucking the US into the conflict in the process. Panetta’s comments may renew “hope” among Israeli hawks that the US can be persuaded to fire the first shots in the war.
US secretary of defense stages preparations for attack on Israel. I wish!
neither country is going to attack iran. The sanctions on Iran have been so severe that iranians are starting to go hungry. chicken and meat are now above $30 a kg in tehran (roughly $15/lb) that is astronomical for a country that exports meat. Why? because our state department has blocked iran from buying corn from russia and wheat from ukraine which they feed to their animals. Not only have we sanctioned all iranians but also their livestock apparently. What all this has to do with uranium enrichment, i have no idea. One thing is for sure, israel got everything it wanted from obama.
Israel will attack once Iran does a nuclear test, and it will be a massive decapitating thermonuclear attack that reduces Iran's population to zero. Until Iran tests a nuke (or attacks first), nothing is going to happen except media noise.
This "good cop, bad cop" crap between Panetta and the White House is so damn lame. They've been doing this for years and you get the usual result: WAR. They are 100% on the same page. I don't believe a damn thing these psychopathic liars say because it's all a farce. They're laughing in their morning coffee at how people get upset or try and "analyze" their lunacy.
Exactly.A perfect analysis of all their convoluted bullshit.
he thought the US would “have a hell of a bigger impact.”
Did he mean on Iran, the USA or both of us?
People love darkness — Because their deeds are selfish
Little puppet Israel and all the paid actor politicians that pretend to run it, how can so many people believe it has nukes when there is absolutely no facts to prove it, just corporate funded media creating the illusion of it?
How STUPID, if Iran's sec of defense made such a comment about attacking the USA, we'd consider it an act of war. If we attack Iran, it will just be another of many illegal wars of aggression. Its a big deal here about illegal Mexicans, maybe we should stop and thinks about being Illegally in Iraq and Afghanistan instead. Give peace a chance, and change the name of the "Defense" Department either back to the War Department, or have it listed as the Offensive Department. btw I'm a Vietnam era combat vet.
With Panetta standing in front of flags of both Israel and the USA, I wonder which flag he pledges his allegiance too? Probably to both aggressive nations.
That's the really big problem with the USA — its government, it's Congress, and its financial sector — chock full of people that have dual allegiance, and their primary allegiance isn't to the USA. In the aftermath of a world-devastating conflict between the USA and Iran, that is something that the American people are going to have to address. No man may serve two masters.
In the mean time our Congress, with 10% approval rating at best, needs to be booted out. Re-elect No One in Congress that voted For the PATRIOT Act, the Military Commissions Act, the NDAA FY2012, or any other piece of fascist legislation. They have turned this country into a Police State, on the hairy edge of martial law. They are treasonous usurpers of the Constitution.
Hands Off Iran
lovely video. If OB Shrillery etc want a fight they can punch their wife (husband) in the face, they are sociopaths anyway so the ensuing media blitz should not bother them.
HANDS OFF IRAN !!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPbH5xRnUcM
It is not the Iranians who are in Afghanistan destroying the Buddha's statue, or disrespecting the beliefs of the Afghan people by burning their Quran, or pissing on dead people. USA and NATO countries been in Afghanistan for last almost 14 years killing people all over and done more then enough inhuman acts and destructions to the country, and this man wants to bomb Iran. Look people, read the history, the people of Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and other Middle Eastern countries had a democracy in their country, until it was destroyed by US and England in cooperation, their democracy and peoples struggle for democracy, its history is older then US and England falsified democracy combine, is just that EU and US never wanted a democracy establishing itself in the area, if that was a case then Saudis and UAE need to change their path from Feudalism to democracy, from dictatorial regimes to democracy, and from apartheid regime to democracy. Get it to your head the people of Middle East are not bunch of lagging nations begging for democracy to be implemented by the falsified regimes of a militarism complex in EU and US, they are struggling for a functioning democracy to be implemented by the people in Middle East, therefore they see US and EU – Israel as the obstacle preventing it to happen. Next time you see one of these “democracts” ask them to define the word for you and give you its history.
John Ellis. Recently it was revealed that Israel (Simon Peres !) tried to sell a warhead to Apartheid-S.A. ! Of the warheads they don´t have. If Israel attacks Iran the World must insist in a Nürnberg-trial for the Israeli government.
"The US would have a bigger impact if it attacked Iran than if Israel did." That has to be the most simplistically dumbest statements I´ve heard in years – we didn´t have to hear it from a four star general, any ten year old could have told us that. This Iran dialog gets sicker every day.
cocky baloney…..
If the US attacks without a UN mandate does the UN place sanctions on the US? How does this International Law thing work?
This International Law "thing" doesn't work, otherwise Israel would be buried under an avalanche of UN General Assembly sanctions, as well as the USA. The world has always been serially brutalized by one emerging militarily powerful nation after another — that is the only real international law. The United Nations is fundamentally broken, a small surprise since it is a tool of the globalists, who have their own agendas.
Nutwityahoo knows not much about war and is ignorant in that respect. Panetta on the other hand knows how devastating a war with Iran might be for at least Iran and the U.S. Not that he cares about Iran, but he sure doesn’t want to see the U.S. get more than a bloody nose and broken jaw.
Nutwityahoo doesn’t give a damn what happens to the U.S. in such a war. All he wants is Iran out of the way for his expansionist idea for greater Israel from the river to the shining sea.
"Nutwityahoo knows not much about war and is ignorant in that respect."
Heh. How many commando missions into Egypt and Syria have you led?
None. One does not have to eat a rotten egg to know it's rotten.
No ones mentioning the non aggression pact Iran has with Russia. If anyone attacks one, that will be the same as if the other party were attacked. Putin knows America's back is against the wall. It needs to insure oil is sold with dollars only to keep value in the defunct dollar up and Iran's not helping the situation by selling oil for anything but dollars. What we're experiencing is the value of the dollar going down which is reflected on prices going up. How soon should this result in war? The propaganda wheels are churning as they did before we went war with Iraq. Roosevelt was the one that determined a war would get us out of the depression. The Bush's and Obama are mentors of Roosevelt
They are in our government already with dual citizenship so whatever happens from the U.S. will actually be decided by Israel. Read the book, State Secrets, by Poncins which will make it clearer.
Also check out Apocalypse 2:9 and 3:9 about imposters.
may i remind everybody that merely threatening a member UN state is illegal. I this count, the US and Israel both have been guilty but neither charged. We have yet to hear even a voice of condemnation, as if iran is not even worthy of rights or sympathy in this world
"Preemptive defense" and "aggression rights" are the rationales used by Israel since it's founding — a state sponsor of false-flag terrorism. As the USA increasingly falls under the influence of Israel, it has adopted these same illegal and immoral excuses for waging wars of aggression.
War is peace. Slavery is freedom. Ignorance is strength. The USA's current Police State is right out of Orwell's "1984". We have always been at war with Urasia. Bask in the glow of Big Brother's steely gaze, because he loves us, one and all. We are all only innocent until put on a "List", or until Investigated. Thought crimes are punishable by "extreme rendition", "enhanced interrogation techniques", or "extrajudicial summary execution".
Now, the warmongers are fighting for the first one in. They should settle it with nukes. Whoever survives earns the right to hit Iran first.
If you think through the actual process of an Israeli or American attack on Iran, several crucial points arise which I have not seen widely addressed..
First, Israel holds the lives and persons of its own citizens as uniquely sacrosanct. You only have to consider the kinds of deals it has made in the past to recover single prisoners (eg. Gilad Shalit), and even their bodies, as well as the hasty withdrawal of the ground invasion force in the last Lebanon invasion, where Hezbollah's anti-tank weaponry was so effective and they started taking losses.
Now, if Israel attacks Iran they can anticipate receiving a shower of heavy missiles in return, minutes thereafter, and it is well know that Iron Dome (anti missile defense) is far from 100% effective. Population centers are likely to be hit. Knowing Israel's weakness, therefore, exaggerated preparations would have to be made to get people under cover before making any attack and, even then, there are bound to be casualties. And we are talking here about Tel Aviv, Haifa – not an easy exercise, when done in earnest. Iran will be aware of these preparations and will have time take counter-measures, including getting its own people to safety.
Another very important point is that if Iran is attacked, it may not know who its attacker is – Israeli planes might have no markings or (quite likely) US markings. Iran will probably retaliate against Israel even if it is apparently a US attack.
In the case of an actual US attack, you can bet that Israel will be given plenty of warning so it can get its people to safety. Again, Iran will know.
I cannot imagine that China or Russia or the neighboring countries, including India which depends so heavily on Iranian oil, would stand idle if an attack came. I also cannot imagine that China in particular has not privily let it be known that, over and above permissible saber rattling, any attack on Iran would have the “gravest imaginable consequences” for the US, which is seen by the rest of the world to have absolute control over Israel’s actions.
I believe that neither the US nor Israel truly contemplates an attack – all we are seeing is a lot of clumsy bluster and posturing. But, yes, history abounds with rash actions, taken on impulse, even more catastrophic than this one is likely to be. We can’t underestimate the stupidity of our politicians – or of those who vote for them. I’m not complacent.
I'm pretty certain that Israel Does Not Hold the lives and persons of All Their Citizens as sacrosanct, at least not their Islamic and Christian citizens in the West Bank. And I am not so sure that the lives of even liberal and leftist Israeli Jews are sacrosanct — they aren't Orthodox. The State of Israel is at heart the Zionist Republic of Israel, the antithesis of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Not all scions of the sons of Abraham are created equal, at least not in the eyes of the Zionists, most of whom are not even Semitic.
David, can't disagree but this is just a quibble. That Israel is paranoid about taking losses itself is undeniable – on the other hand it has few qualms about inflicting them on others. Ground troops (think Cast Lead) are selected for their zealousness for the cause – lots of Russians went in – by your equation these are highly prized 'fighters'. Everything will be done to minimize their exposure, greatly to the cost of the civilian population.