TEL AVIV Ñ Israel and the United States continue to disagree over
the prospect of an Iraqi attack on the Jewish state.
Western diplomatic sources said the dispute took place during strategic talks between the two
countries last week during the visit by Defense Undersecretary Doug Feith to
Israel.
The focus of the disagreement was a scenario in which Iraq preempts an
expected U.S. attack on Baghdad, Middle East Newsline reported. In this scenario, Iraq launches a missile
or WMD attack on Israel in an attempt to spark a Middle East war and divert
international attention away from the regime of President Saddam Hussein.
The sources said Israel insists that it must respond to such an attack.
The Israeli delegation to the strategic talks maintained that under such a
scenario U.S. forces would not be in a position to defend against or respond
to such an Iraqi attack.
The United States has urged Israel to commit to restraint under such a
scenario, the sources said. U.S. officials were said to have told their
Israeli counterparts that the U.S. military will soon be prepared to respond
to any Iraqi attack and warned any Israeli retaliation would derail the
entire effort to destroy the Saddam regime.
Western reports have asserted that Israeli special forces and
intelligence units are operating in northern Iraq. The London-based British
Broadcasting Corp. said Israeli elite units are said to have launched
operations in western Iraq to ensure the absence of Iraqi missile batteries.
