Iran

If I was a betting man I would say that odds are that there will be no attack on Iran before the election.  However, it is very hard to read the sings between the drumbeats for war and the propaganda. 

White House denies Israeli report of secret US-Iran deal

Jay Carney says report in Yedioth Ahronoth paper, which said the US had been in talks with Tehran, is 'completely incorrect'

the Guardian,

3 September, 2012

The White House on Monday denied an Israeli newspaper report that accused Washington of secretly negotiating with Tehran to keep the United States out of a future Israel-Iran war.

"It's incorrect. Completely incorrect," White House spokesman Jay Carney told Reuters while accompanying President Barack Obama on a campaign trip in Ohio.

"The report is false, and we don't talk about hypotheticals."

Israel's most widely read newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, said Washington had approached Tehran through two unidentified European countries to convey the message that the United States would not be dragged into hostilities if Israel attacked Iran over its nuclear program.

The paper said the United States told Iran it expected Tehran, in return, to refrain from retaliating against US interests, including its military in the Gulf. The report did not disclose any source for its information.

The report followed Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's call on world powers on Sunday to set a "clear red line" for Tehran's atomic program that would convince Iran they were determined to prevent it from obtaining nuclear arms.

Obama, seeking re-election in November, has insisted Washington is strongly committed to the security of close ally Israel and to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But he has urged Israel to hold off any strikes on Iran's nuclear sites and to give sanctions and diplomacy more time to work.

Former CIA Director Says No Need to Attack Iran Now

A former U.S. Air Force General and CIA director says Iran cannot get the bomb before next year. "Let the US attack - it can do it better."

Arutz Sheva,

4 September, 2012

A former U.S. Air Force General and CIA director says Iran cannot get the bomb before next year, when the US is better able to attack.

Michael Hayden, who headed the CIA when Israel bombed a Syrian nuclear reactor under construction, told the Haaretz newspaper in an interview, "While it is probably true that the so-called 'window' regarding effective action is closing, there is still some time, as real decisions are to be made in 2013 or 2014."

Hayden added, "I do not underestimate the Israeli talent, but geometry and physics tell us that Iran's nuclear program would pose a difficult challenge to any military, as it is not a raid, and Israel's resources are more limited than those of the U.S.”

Now a security consultant and previously mentioned as a possible national security advisor during Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, Hayden is in Israel to attend an Institute for National Security Studies seminar on Tel Aviv.

He echoed several reasons stated by others who are against Israel’s staging a military strike to halt Iran’s nuclear program.

"There is no absolute certainty that all targets are known," according to Hayden. "They will have to be revisited - which only the U.S. Air Force would be able to do - and the operation will only set the Iranians back some time and actually push them to do that which it is supposed to prevent, getting nuclear weapons."

He also revealed that following the Israeli attack on the Syrian reactor site in September 2007, the United States feared that Syrian would retaliate and spark a war. Hayden said that the Bush administration coordinated with Israel that no statements would be made implying Israel carried out the pre-emptive strike.

Six months later, he estimated that the self-imposed gag policy no longer was necessary.