Israel wants to nuke Iran

Just when you thought that the problems in the Middle East could not get much worse, Israel is now planning a nuclear strike on Iran's uranium enrichment facilities. From Times Online:

The attack would be the first with nuclear weapons since 1945, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Israeli weapons would each have a force equivalent to one-fifteenth of the Hiroshima bomb.

Under the plans, conventional laser-guided bombs would open “tunnels” into the targets. “Mini-nukes” would then immediately be fired into a plant at Natanz, exploding deep underground to reduce the risk of radioactive fallout.

“As soon as the green light is given, it will be one mission, one strike and the Iranian nuclear project will be demolished,” said one of the sources.

The plans, disclosed to The Sunday Times last week, have been prompted in part by the Israeli intelligence service Mossad’s assessment that Iran is on the verge of producing enough enriched uranium to make nuclear weapons within two years.

Israel, meanwhile has denounced the above report. From Telegraph:

While Israel is unlikely ever to use its nuclear strike capability pre-emptively on Iran, Israeli military planners have long been considering options for conventional strikes if Teheran continues to defy diplomatic pressure.

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, prefers to emphasise Israel's support for the multinational diplomatic effort, although his planners have already spent years considering what to do if the diplomatic track fails.

Israel resorted to force in 1981 to destroy Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor at Osirak with conventional bombs dropped from eight F16 jets in a covert mission known as Operation Opera.

I know Israel like all countries has a right to defend itself but launching a pre-emptive nuclear strike at Iran's nuclear capabilities may spark the mother of all wars and I doubt any peace in the Middle East is achievable when that happens.