Israeli Military Intel: Iran "Halfway" Toward Nuclear Weapon (Plus: Syria, Hezbollah, And Hamas All The Way Toward Every Other Kind Of Weapon)
Iran is halfway to a nuclear bomb, and Hizbullah, Hamas and Syria are using this period of relative calm to significantly rearm, Brig.-Gen. Yossi Baidatz, the Military Intelligence's head of research, told the cabinet Sunday during a particularly gloomy briefing on the threats facing the country. Baidatz said there was a growing gap between Iran's progress on the nuclear front and the West's determination to stop it. "Iran is concentrating on uranium enrichment, and is making progress," he said, noting that they have improved the function of their 4,000 centrifuges.
Turns out that the foreign policy experts who made up excuses for ignoring Iran may have erred. They've gone from "they don't want nukes" to "they want nukes but they can't get the tech to work" to "they got the tech to work but the lunatics aren't the ones in control of the country." Who knows what they'll think of next.
The rest of the stuff lines up with reports that Iran just delivered advanced missiles to Hezbollah and that Hamas is acquiring weapons faster than ever. In Lebanon the little darlings - who now control the Lebanese government, enacting what they want and vetoing what they don't - have been building an out-and-out army with out-and-out military bases. They're even supposed to be tracking Israeli aircraft, albeit sometimes with mixed success. And in Gaza, of course, Hamas has its own army and is gearing up for its own war.
State's grand solution is to hope that security and territorial concessions will pry these cretins apart. Now here's Syria saying that they'll never stop supporting Hamas and Hezbollah. And now here's Hamas saying that they'll never stop supporting Syria. And now here's Iran saying that they'll never stop supporting Hamas. And since Iran uses Hamas as a proxy and Hezbollah as a de facto Iranian militia - it doesn't seem like anyone's breaking off ties with anyone else anytime soon.
But maybe they were all just kidding about that.
References and Previously after the jump...
References:
* Military intelligence: Iran halfway to first nuclear bomb [JPost]
* Report: Iran supplied Hizbullah with advanced missiles [YNet]
* Hamas smuggling continues 'rapidly' [JPost]
* Iran Takes Over Hezbollah After Hezbollah Takes Over Lebanon (Plus: State Department Naturally Urging Israel To Cede More Land... To Hezbollah) [MR]
* Awful: Hezbollah wins veto power over Lebanese government decisions; Update: “A necessary and positive step,” says U.S.
* Hizbollah builds up covert army for a new assault against Israel [Guardian]
* Hizbullah capture of mountain village seen as threat to Israel [Guardian]
* Foreign media: Hizbullah trying to track IAF planes [JPost]
* Hezbollah downs Lebanese chopper, thinking it Israeli [Ha'aretz]
* Hamas Has A Trained and Armed Military of 7,500 Troops [MR]
* Hamas Killing Babies And Wiping Out Fatah-Linked Families In Gaza, Preparing To Roll Fatah In The West Bank [MR]
* 'Syria won't end Hizbullah, Hamas ties' [JPost]
* Syria-Israel moves will not affect Hamas links: Meshaal [AFP]
* Ahmadinejad: Iran will support Hamas until collapse of Israel [Ha'aretz]
* Hamas serving as Iran's 'proxy warriors,' Rice says [AFP]
Previously:
* Reuters Publishes State Department Leak: US Attack On Iran Would Be All-Out War
* Iran Builds Nuclear Missiles, Threatens Israel, Accidentally Misplaces Enough Uranium To Make Six Bombs (Plus: State Department Experts: Engage Iran!)
* State Department Strategy Of Shielding Hezbollah During Lebanon II Working Out Great As Presidential Elections Postponed Again
