Israel has long had its front row seats for Iran: The Sequel. In fact, additional tickets are already being printed in Tel Aviv. Two recent cases in point, dual explosions at Iranian nuclear facilities. Were they accidents or attacks by Israel?
On November 30, the London Times broke the story about the second explosion:
"An Iranian nuclear facility has been hit by a huge explosion, the second such blast in a month, prompting speculation that Tehran's military and atomic sites are under attack.
"Satellite imagery seen by The Times confirmed that a blast that rocked the city of Isfahan on Monday struck the uranium enrichment facility there, despite denials by Tehran.
"The images clearly showed billowing smoke and destruction, negating Iranian claims yesterday that no such explosion had taken place.
"Israeli intelligence officials told The Times that there was 'no doubt' that the blast struck the nuclear facilities at Isfahan and that it was 'no accident.'
"The explosion at Iran's third-largest city came as satellite images emerged of the damage caused by one at a military base outside Tehran two weeks ago that killed about 30 members of the Revolutionary Guard, including General Hassan Moghaddam, the head of the Iranian missile defence program."
Tehran sought to downplay the attacks, perhaps to avoid appearing incapable of protecting its facilities.
Assuming these explosions are not accidental, what nation might be behind them?
According to American blogger Richard Silverstein, several Israeli military officials were eager to take responsibility:
"Among the more colorful and typically Israeli macho statements was by Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland who said coyly that he didn't know if the Mossad did it, and that it could very well be 'the hand of God:'"
This candid bit of theological dark humor prompted this observation from Silverstein:
"How many nations in today's world do you know whose citizens would refer, even obliquely, to their spy agency unironically as the hand of God?"
We have seen this dangerous reality show before. In an October 3, 2002, essay in the London Review of Books, five months before the 2003 US "shock and awe" attack against Iraq, Anatol Lieven wrote:
"'The road to Middle East peace lies through Baghdad' is a line that's peddled by the Bush Administration and the Israeli lobby.
"It is just possible that some members of the Administration really believe that by destroying Israel's most powerful remaining enemy they will gain such credit with Israelis and the Israeli lobby that they will be able to press compromises on Israel."
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
