perfidy

As they say in Texas, anyway.

From Saturday's UK Telegraph: Israel seeks all clear for Iran air strike

Israel is negotiating with the United States for permission to fly over Iraq as part of a plan to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.

I know that such things as war-games, scenario planning, and clearing access to intervening airspace are required, even in a case where the likelihood of an actual bombing run is 0.01%. Left unclear in the news story linked above, of course, is any indication of said likelihood, let alone the chances of such a mission meeting its objective.

I prefer to think it's just posturing, for several reasons.

First, while sanctions are generally slow in achieving their aims, and cannot be counted on, in any event, to do so, they're initially more efficient, in lives and other costs, than popping a cap in a sovereign country's metaphorical ass. Outright war should be a final resort, and when it occurs, should be conducted in a fairly ruthless manner, designed to position the end of the war as close to the start as possible. Iran's nuke program should be halted, for a host of good reasons, but in a rational world, it's not yet clear that anyone should lose their life in order to effect that halt.

Second, if there's any contentiousness in the negotiations, and the poo hits the propellers, I'd hate to see a new sub-genre created, wherein there's a conspiracy theory on a level with the approximately 273,000 Google hits available for the "USS Liberty".

"We are planning for every eventuality, and sorting out issues such as these are crucially important," said the official, who asked not to be named.

"The only way to do this is to fly through US-controlled air space. If we don't sort these issues out now we could have a situation where American and Israeli war planes start shooting at each other."

Blue-on-blue action is among the last of the things needed, presently, or ever. I'm sure that some who remember the Liberty would, rightly or not, be tweaked by the possible recurrence of such a scenario.

Finally, and contrary to the claims from many quarters, in and out of Iraq, the US is not the colonial master of Iraq. Israel had better-damned-certain be negotiating with the Iraqi government at least in addition to, if not rather than the US. I'm thinking that's a trickier negotiation, however.

[wik] Rut roh!

[alsø wik] No, really? Thanks for the newsflash, Sy.