Israel Decides to Connect the Dots
The Gathering Storm, May 27, 2009
May 27, 2009
As Iran's recent escalation of aggressive rhetoric and saber-rattling raise the eyebrows of those concerned with its nuclear capability, the wires are buzzing with a new development: a secret Israeli government report has been leaked to the press, one that accuses Venezuela and its surrogate revolutionary government in Bolivia of supplying Iran with uranium for its nuclear program. The three-page Foreign Ministry document refers to previous Israeli intelligence, and concludes that "since Ahmadinejad's rise to power, Tehran has been promoting an aggressive policy aimed at bolstering its ties with Latin American countries with the declared goal of ‘bringing America to its knees.'"
For those of us who have been following Iran's inroads into our hemisphere, the allegations come as no surprise. While it is doubtful that Bolivia's limited uranium deposits are being exploited (indeed, Mining Minister Echazu denied the possibility in yesterday's La Razón), Venezuela is another story. Since 2005, various sources of U.S. intelligence have uncovered clue after clue that Venezuela is most probably mining uranium for the undisclosed uses of Ahmadinejad's Republic.
What is more newsworthy in Monday's leak is the messenger's identity. Why Israel, and why now?
It is no secret that Israel sees Iranian nuclear development as an existential threat. According to Reuel Marc Gerecht, although anti-Semitism has been widespread in the Middle East since the 1930s, "the strain among Tehran's ruling elite is akin to what European Jews observed in Austria, Germany, and Russia in the early 20th century." Only this time the enemy is well on its way to achieving nuclear capability as it also straddles a long track record of supporting Hamas and Hezbollah.
By contrast, Washington looks at the same thing and sees a mere "issue of strategic tenability," which in turn spawns fears of "proliferation across the region and more aggressive conventional or proxy actions ordered by an Iranian leadership overconfident with its own nuclear deterrence," says Michael Rubin.
It is likely that following last week's meeting between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (during which Obama characteristically talked out of both sides of his mouth in rejecting a fixed deadline for diplomacy with Iran while simultaneously pledging this year's end as the final opportunity for Iran to demonstrate a "good-faith effort to resolve differences"), Israel is getting nervous that the U.S. will pull another North Korea, pinning all hopes on diplomatic engagement while the enemy buys more time for its nuclear production.Netanyahu has just cause for concern: on Monday Ahmadinejad ruled out any talks with major powers on the issue of nuclear capability, rejecting in the process the Western request that Iran "freeze" its nuclear work in return for no new sanctions.
One can only hope that the Obama administration is listening to the likes of Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who just this past Sunday confirmed that Iran is on track for building a nuclear weapon by 2011. After all, this is no time for an audacity of hope to reign supreme.
