Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — An Israeli or U.S. military strike should aim to set back
Iran’s nuclear weapons program by at least five years, a report said.

Israel’s former military intelligence chief asserted that a decision to
attack Iran does not require destruction of all its nuclear assets. [Ret.]
Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, a former combat pilot, said any Israeli or
Western-led attack must ensure that Teheran’s nuclear capabilities were
significantly downgraded as part of a long-term process.

“Theoretically, the best result of a military operation would be a five
year delay,” Yadlin said in a report titled “A Conceptual Framework and Decision Making Model for Israel about Iran,” said. “To turn those five years into 10 and then into many decades, it is incumbent to ensure that the entire world is prepared to participate in the ongoing effort to stop Iran the day and the decade after the attack.”

Yadlin, director of the Institute for National Security Studies, has
been regarded as a leading consultant to the Israeli government and
military. He is believed to have attended numerous sessions between Israeli and U.S. officials and strategists on the Iranian threat.

In his study, Yadlin did not advocate a military campaign against Iran.
He warned that Israel requires U.S. and international support even after the
destruction of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

“Demonstrating the scope of losses to Iran from maintaining its military
nuclear program, continuing the sanctions, blocking critical technologies
and materials, threatening repeated attacks, and continuing diplomatic
pressure are all part of a necessary next stage campaign in which Israel
cannot succeed on its own,” the report said.

The report urged the development of a credible military option that
could force Iran to end uranium enrichment and open nuclear facilities to
inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Yadlin said any
agreement with Teheran must roll back Iran’s nuclear program.

“A good agreement would be measured by its ability to stop the nuclear
clock and even turn it back,” the report said. “A good agreement would keep
Iran at least two years away from nuclear bombs.”

Yadlin urged Israel not to lead international efforts against Iran.
Instead, Israel should focus on “gaining legitimacy” for an eventual
military operation, at least from the United States.

“Without legitimacy allowing an international campaign over the
subsequent decade, Israel faces the risk of finding itself opting for
bombing and bearing its full cost, and still ending up with the
Iranian bomb and its attendant dangers,” the report said.

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