Practice Makes Perfect!

On 7 June 1981, Israel attacked and destroyed Iraq's nuclear reactor at Osirak near Baghdad. This preemptive strike prevented Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein from developing an nuclear weapon. A weapon he actually said that he was working on to use against Israel. The UN condemned Israel at the time for this action, but in retrospective analysis the world owes Israel a debt of gratitude for their foresight. The 1991 Gulf War would have been a very different one if Saddam had nuclear weapons and was willing to use them.

On Friday the New York Times reported that Israel carried out a major military drill during the first week of June that US sources say was apparently a rehearsal for a potential attack on Iran's nuclear sites.

Several US officials were quoted by the newspaper as saying that it seemed the drill was an effort to develop Israel's capacity to carry out long-range strikes and to show the gravity with which Israel views the Iranian nuclear issue.

More than 100 IAF F-16 and F-15 fighter jets took part in the exercise, which was carried out over the eastern Mediterranean and over Greece, the officials said.

The drill also included IAF rescues helicopters, said the officials, adding that the helicopters and refueling tankers flew more than 900 miles, which is approximately the distance between Israel and Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Natanz.

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In the months before the attack on Iraq's nuclear facility, the IAF practiced and practiced their attack. Practicing for an attack is nothing new to any military in the world. That's one reason militaries have war games.

Nevertheless, a senior Pentagon official, who the Times claimed was briefed on the drill, and who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it appeared to serve multiple purposes.

One aim, according to the official, was to practice flight tactics, aerial refueling and all other details of a possible attack on Iran's nuclear sites and its long-range missiles.

A second goal, the official was quoted by the Times as saying, was to give a clear message to the US and the rest of the world that Israel was prepared to attack Iran if diplomatic efforts to stop the country's march toward the production of bomb-grade uranium fail.

"They wanted us to know, they wanted the Europeans to know, and they wanted the Iranians to know," the Pentagon official reportedly said. "There's a lot of signaling going on at different levels."

But that this has been released now may be a signal to Iran that Israel is not a paper tiger as they have so often claimed as have their proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas. Although it now seems that stiffer sanctions might be imposed upon Iran, the Israelis are not going to rule out a military options. That is if they can ever get rid of Olmert and get someone as Prime Minister with a couple of balls. Until that time I hope that the IAF keeps practicing for an air strike on Iran. For after all we all know:

Practice Makes Perfect!