In an interview with ABC, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said that an Israeli strike on Iran would mean a global catastrophe.
An Israeli strike of Iran’s nuclear facilities could spark a nuclear conflict, which could spiral into a global catastrophe, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told ABC on Monday, adding that he supported what he called “smart” sanctions on Tehran as part of attempt to make it abandon its nuclear program.
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Referring to the possibility that Israel may attack Iran if negotiations over its contentious nuclear programs fail, Medvedev told Good Morning America that “it would be the worst possible scenario,” adding that “war means lives lost.”
The Russian president also tried to estimate the meaning of what he sees as a war in the Middle East erupting as a result of such a move on Israel’s side, saying “everyone is so close over there that nobody would be unaffected. And if conflict of that kind happens, and a strike is performed, then you can expect anything, including use of nuclear weapons.”
“And nuclear strikes in the Middle East, this means a global catastrophe. Many deaths,” Medvedev said.
This doesn’t seem to have bothered Russia too much in the past.
You can see Medvedev’s thoughts on Iran’s from 16:15 in the interview, and on an Israeli strike from 21:40.
Notice how despite supporting “effective and smart” sanctions, he admits sanctions rarely turn out to be effective (from 19:00 onwards).
Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)?
11:02PM: Meet Israel’s latest lottery winners.
10:02PM: Another poll that suggests most US Jews have rocks in their head.
10:00PM: Iran has stated they will soon join the ‘world nuclear club.’ Which is kind of like the ‘Mile High club’, since both involve screwing over the world.
7:55PM: The IDF has published this photo of the weapons found on the terrorists killed earlier today.
6:20PM: Mati Gill, a retired captain in the IDF and formerly the bureau chief for the minister of public security, explains how Anat Kamm’s actions were not in the name of freedom of the press.
In the aftermath of the publication of the Anat Kamm affair, which was catalyzed by Judith Miller’s op-ed in the Daily Beast Web site, we can now evaluate the lessons learned.
In this process I believe there are two issues which need to be separated and evaluated differently.
First, there is the public critique of Israel’s censorship rules for security-related matters, which has been voiced by Miller as well.
Secondly, there is the so-called jailing of a “23-year-old Israeli reporter” (to use Miller’s own words to describe Kamm) who supposedly acted in the name of a “free press” and the “right of the public to know.”
It is absolutely necessary to differentiate between these two issues so as to focus on the true nature of Kamm’s actions.
First, let’s be sure to keep this case in perspective. This is a case of an IDF soldier who served as a secretary at the Central Command in a position which gave her access to sensitive files. She (allegedly) used and abused this access to download/copy thousands of classified files and hand them over to the press.
She did not do so as a journalist, but as a soldier with security clearance.
Her motive is still unclear. It obviously wasn’t only ideological – to reveal unlawful misconduct of her commanders in a certain course of action – as has been suggested. For if that were the case, why would she feel the need to steal other documents that were completely unrelated?
WHAT IS clear is that Kamm (allegedly) broke the rules and the law, and should be prosecuted and punished accordingly. There is no case for her martyrdom in the name of freedom of the press.
This is not a similar case to that of Judith Miller’s, i.e the whole Bush-Cheney-Scooter Libby leak fiasco for which she was imprisoned for refusing to reveal a journalistic source.
This is also not like the Pentagon Papers affair. Kamm is not Daniel Ellsberg. Her actions were of a wider scope than just revealing unlawful misconduct on the part of the IDF. Therefore, any attempt to turn her into a martyr is outrageous. It is not only factually false, but also belittles truly heroic actions like those of Miller and Ellsberg.
Furthermore, the second issue which arises from this case is that the censorship rules in this country are outdated, especially in an age when de facto they are bypassed by foreign publications. The security establishment greatly erred in its insistence on preventing the Israeli press from reporting on the subject. In fact, the concealment of the affair only contributed to creating a mystery surrounding the actions of Kamm, and allowed foreign journalists to draw comparisons between Israel and such rogue countries as Iran, Cuba and North Korea.
The security establishment would have been better off forgoing any attempt at censorship and should have let Kamm’s (alleged) criminal actions be exposed. In this case, transparency would have truly been a strength, rather than a weakness.
5:45PM: Via MEMRI comes this clip of Dr. Sallah Sultan, President of the American Center for Islamic Research, “educating” Arabs about the Jewish Passover on Al Aqsa television.
Needless to say, his goal is not to increase peace, love and understanding.
Dr. Sallah Sultan: I want our brothers, and the whole world, to know what’s going on these days, during Passover. Read Dr. Naghuib Al-Kilani’s book, Blood for the Matzos of Zion. Every year, at this time, the Zionists kidnap several non-Muslims [sic] – Christians and others… By the way, this happened in a Jewish neighborhood in Damascus. They killed the French doctor, Toma, who used to treat the Jews and others for free, in order to spread Christianity. Even though he was their friend and they benefited from him the most, they took him on one of these holidays and slaughtered him, along with the nurse. Then they kneaded the matzos with the blood of Dr. Toma and his nurse. They do this every year.
The world must know these facts about the Zionist entity and its terrible corrupt creed. The world should know this.
Notice how he uses the word “Zionists” – as if this will shield him from charges of antisemitism – although he slips a few times and refers to “Jews.”
Meanwhile, I wonder if Donald Bostrom saw this clip. He could do with some new material (hat tip: Winds of Jihad).
2:58PM: Earlier today, IDF troops killed a number palestinian terrorists attempting to plant a bomb near the border fence.
The Israeli media is reporting at least 3 dead, while the palestinian Ma’an News is currently reporting 2 dead and 2 injured.
Either way, it’s Reaper time!
2:48PM: In an unprecedented ruling, the High Court of Justice has granted permission for an Israeli (Israeli Arab writer Ala Halihal) to visit an enemy state (Lebanon) for an international conference of Arab authors, despite opposition from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Interior Minister Eli Yishai.
Why do I get the feeling Halihal and his fellow Arab authors will not be discussing peace at this conference?
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