Should Jerusalem decide to launch a military offensive against Iran, Washington will find it difficult not to join hands with its "great ally", a top ranking former US official has said.
Contending that Israel cannot alone carry out a successful attack against the Islamic Republic's nuclear installations, Charles F. Wald, former deputy commander of United States European Command, said a military strike on Iran could set back the Islamic Republic's alleged nuclear weapons programme by several years, but, he stressed, "I don't think Israel can do it alone," daily Ha'aretz reported.
Wald's comments were made at an annual gathering of financial backers of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy yesterday, who were joined by diplomats, journalists and analysts.
"They have a fantastic military, but not big enough for weeks or months of attacks--hundreds of sorties per day," the daily quoted him as saying.
However the former US defence official also noted that should "our great ally Israel" decide to take military action to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, "pressure will mount for us to stand by Israel".
When asked to comment on the suggestion given by former US president Jimmy Carter's national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski last month that the American army shoot down Israeli warplanes if they try to fly over Iraq to attack Iran, Wald quipped, "The chance of that is zero--no, less than zero".
Wald and two former US senators last month authored an article calling for US President Barack Obama to begin preparations for implementing a military option against Iran.
The goal of such preparations, they wrote, would be not only to achieve military readiness for such a strike, but to persuade Tehran of the seriousness of the administration's intentions and convince Israel that it need not act alone.
The former defence officials has strongly criticised the US government and its military leadership for not devoting enough attention to Iran's nuclear programme in recent years due to their involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Israel's former head of the military intelligence, General (Retd) Aharon Ze'evi-Farkash, who attended the conference, reportedly agreed with Wald's contention that the US Air Force could be far more effective than Israel's in foiling Iran's nuclear programme.
"The US can destroy the nuclear capacity, and the war would not be long," Farkash was quoted by Ha'aretz as saying.
However, he stressed that the Western intelligence may not still know about all of Iran's nuclear sites.
The Israeli intelligence officer also argued that there is a good chance that the current Iranian regime may back out of the programme and cooperate if a serious intention to destroy it is demonstrated by the Western nations.
"The Tehran regime doesn't seek suicide," Farkash said adding, "When they realise we mean business this time, they won't want to lose their regime".
