Will Israel attack Iran?

[ZetaNine]

speaking of israel.........I'm not jewish......but I would join the IDF just to hang out with the ladies in that fine force....my god some of those girls are stunning.  nothing beats a great looking lady carrying a gun...

http://www.i-d-f.eu/idf_girls/slides/idf_195.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fearweb/sets/72057594062802639/

[Rich46yo]

our boy rich46yo seems to be doing that a lot in this thread.

he also needs to learn how to take a punch to the gut and admit when he was wrong.....without crying like a girl.

first he didn't know we re-fuel their planes in flight...(then pretended like he did).....now it appears he does not know we supply AWACS..

Now hes babbling like a complete nincompoop.

Your saying were going to refuel their planes and provide AWACs? I guess your on the inside eh?

If we were going to do all that then why wouldnt we just attack Iran ourselves? You ninny!

[ZetaNine]

Your saying were going to refuel their planes and provide AWACs?

exactly babe.



they also have five B707's of their own to do the same.

[moot]

speaking of israel.........I

That last one looks mighty useful.

[Rich46yo]

exactly babe.

(Image removed from quote.)

they also have five B707's of their own to do the same.

Yeah...I know. I spent 4 years in USAF. I know how it works.

The problem is they are the biggest sitting ducks imaginable. They have to be protected, have to be flying high to refuel, and cannot be hidden from radars. So again I ask you to take a look at the map of the region and tell me again how refueling tankers are going to get from point A to a point where they can be of use to IAF fighters coming out of Iran? The only possible scenario would be to have them stationed out in the Gulf of Oman. Possibly to far away to do any good. Some of the targets the IAF would have to hit are right at the end of the operational envelope of their 16s and 15s in the first place so theres no real room for error. Tankers cannot refuel aircraft while flying under radars in hostile territories!

Also most of those tankers are also tasked for nuclear ordinance delivery support. They are assets the Israelis could not afford to lose. Or did you think the Saudis, Jordanians, Syrians, Oman...ect would allow IAF tankers to circle in their airspace to refuel fighter bombers going to Iran?

America aiding the Israelis would cause no end to trouble in Iraq and would probably incite the Iranians to strike back at us with direct military action, and, increased support for terrorism in Iraq. Why would we go to that trouble without just attacking them ourselves? Especially since we are the only ones who can do the job right in the first place. Be that as it may that may be the only option for the IAF, to land and refuel in Iraq at American bases. But again, why would we do that to support a very limited strike against only a few targets in Iran? If were going to go to all that trouble why not just unleash the Yank air forces and truly set the Iranians back a very long time?

Go ahead and post another pretty picture or another smart bellybutton one liner. Thats about all you've contributed to this thread with anyways.

[angelsandair]

Public outrage, a call for international censure, claims of innocence, issuance of fatwa, declaration of holy war, comparisons to Hitler, denouncement of the Zionist state, about a million 7.62 rounds fired into the air amidst flag burning, a heavy and persistent smell of flatulance.

Then a whole lot of nothing.

then n00ks unleashed by Isreal in defence. They cannot win a "holy war" (from what they will call it) with just tanks and infantry. They will end up using Nuclear Weapons to defend themselves. And they will defend their promised land. 

[Elfie]

I don't think anyone doubts' the Isreali resolve on this one Elfie, It's just that Rich is right. This would not be as easy a job as Osirak or Syria. Keeping an element of suprise, whilst flying over 1,000 miles or more of hostile countries' that only have to pick up a phone to Tehran, would be a good trick.

Now, with sneakiness and subterfuge, they could pull it off by staging out of an American airbase in Iraq. I don't really doubt that the U.S. would co-operate, and we pretty much tell Maliki what to do anyways, so that would most likely be the trump card. Hell, they could even paint the planes in U.S. markings, fly them from Isreal to Iraq, R/R, hit their targets' in Iran the next day flying multiple sorties if they have to, and fly home when the op is done. But doing it all from Isreali Airspace is problematic, at best.

If it can be done, the IAF already knows how to go about doing it, or at least they have a good idea. Before the Osirak strike no one would have imagined that IAF fighters could fly so far undetected and destroy their target and even more amazing, return to base with no losses. Before the latest strike against Syria no one would have imagined an air strike could be undertaken against the latest Russian air defense systems with impunity.

I do agree that there are difficulties in undertaking a task of this magnitude, yet if anyone can over come these difficulties it would be Israel and the IAF. They have shown time and time again that they are perfectly capable of doing the difficult and nearly impossible tasks. I'm not a betting man, but if I were, I would never bet against Israel and her defense forces.

[Elfie]

As an Israeli, I find this argument very amusing. The heart of the matter is that all other western countries are such rutabagas, that you can't even argue how they will stage an imaginary theoretical strike - it is just un-thinkable. I don't mean to offend, but this is the truth.

As for "how it can be done" I will only say that you are discussing the yesterday instead of today.

The only Western country that even has a remote chance of pulling off a strike like this is the US, and I seriously doubt if we would do it. World wide opinion of us is already very low and a strike like this would only make that worse.

[Vulcan]

So I guess that Israeli Air Exercise shut down any arguments over whether they can reach out and touch Iran

Officials said that more than 100 Israeli F-16s and F-15s took part, flying more than 900 miles, roughly the distance from Israel to Iran's Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, and that the exercise included refuelling tankers and helicopters capable of rescuing downed pilots.

[FrodeMk3]

Those are good points, Elfie. The IAF does have the experience in such things. However, before Osirak (and Syria, too) They didn't have the major practice exercise spread around the press, either. As a matter of fact, both operations' had very good security, being as both were complete suprises. I'm sure the Iranian intelligence agencies' have seen the press reports, and are taking action. The previous strikes on Osirak and Syria had the element of suprise; I'm afraid that an Iranian strike at this time has lost it. They never should have let the rehearsal make it to the press.

[ZetaNine]

I would not be at all surprised if not only we assist israel in this.......but I expect france and britain to join us as well.

[FrodeMk3]

I would not be at all surprised if not only we assist israel in this.......but I expect france and britain to join us as well.

Maybe if it becomes the kind of prolonged air campaign that Desert Storm was.

[ZetaNine]

Maybe if it becomes the kind of prolonged air campaign that Desert Storm was.

it won't. 

I mean the initial will take about 72 hours.

followed by some "never before has the world had to come together to prevent such an evil since 1945" type media blitzes. "we went out of our way to prevent collateral damage, yada yada yada......and we are prepared to rebuild a new iran should the people assist in taking the old regime down."

I think that's what sarkozy was doing in israel these last few days.

[FrodeMk3]

then n00ks unleashed by Isreal in defence. They cannot win a "holy war" (from what they will call it) with just tanks and infantry. They will end up using Nuclear Weapons to defend themselves. And they will defend their promised land. 

Using Nuclear weapons' is not such a casual thing, Angelsandair. It would have to be a weapon of last resort, As in...T-72's on the outskirts of Tel Aviv. And then, do the Isreali's use them on their home territory? That would be a kind of "scorched earth" defence. They could Use them on an enemy nation's city's if their own were threatened, but That will provoke retaliation in Kind.

[FrodeMk3]

it won't. 

I mean the initial will take about 72 hours.

followed by a "never before has the world had to come together to prevent such an evil since 1945" type media blitzes. "we went out of our way to prevent collateral damage, yada yada yada......and we are prepared to rebuild a new iran should the people assist in taking the old regime down."

I think that's what sarkozy  was doing in israel these last few days.

Your making an assumption, that the Iranians' will fold like the Iraqi's under Saddam, right? And that we(The U.S.) Are prepared to engage Iran whilst still in Iraq and Afghanistan? Because any air campaign that didn't have the objective of simply neutralizing Iranian atomic capability, would otherwise be full out war. We aren't in a position to embark on one of those again, at this moment in time. Maybe in a year or two, if things' drastically improve in Iraq and Afghanistan, But I don't see it happening at this moment.