Barack Obama set about tightening US cooperation with Israel after discovering Iran had embarked on nuclear weaponization. He was persuaded by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak that there was no time to lose for eradicating Iran's nuclear program – hence the White House flip-flop on attacking Iran.

Iran has embarked on "activities related to possible weaponization," said American sources Thursday, Dec. 22, thereby crossing the Obama administration's red line. This accounts for the dramatic reversal of the US administration's wait-and-see policy on attacking Iran, as articulated this week by Leon Panetta and top US soldier, Gen. Martin Dempsey. debkafile reports the US and Israeli are now in sync on action against Iran and have tightened cooperation.

Hours after US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told CBS that Iran could build a nuclear bomb in a year or less, Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint US Chiefs of Staff, issued a warning: "Iran is playing a dangerous game that could ensnare the Middle East, the Middle East and others into conflict and a renewed arms race. Don't push it." The loss of the drone is not the end of US efforts, he said, adding: "America is sharing intelligence with Israel."

"Despite the efforts to disrupt the Iranian nuclear program, they have reached a point where they can assemble a bomb in a year or potentially less," said US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta in a CBS interview Tuesday, Dec. 20 marking a radical change in US administration policy. "That's a red line for us and that's a red line, obviously, for the Israelis," he said. Instead of warning Israel against striking Iran, Panetta said: "If we have to do it we will deal with it."

The US will not review its reconnaissance drone flights over Iran for fear they will also be downed and captured like the RQ-170. Iran could not have accomplished this coup alone because it would have required the technology for filtering through billions of coded communications relayed from Langley to ...

Bigheaded from capturing the US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth  drone, Tehran Monday, Dec. 12 announced plans soon for a navy drill to practice closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the most important oil transit channel in the world. Iranian lawmaker Parviz Sorouri said, "Iran will make the world unsafe if the world attacks Iran." The drill will challenge US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's recent warning that Iranian disruptions of Persian Gulf free traffic would be a red line for the US.

 

Israel has flatly refused to give the Obama administration a promise to abstain from attacking Iran's nuclear sites. US and Israeli military experts disagree on most things except that there would be no real military obstacles to reaching all of Iran's nuclear sites.

US President Barack Obama declared in ringing tones Wednesday, Nov. 30, "We don't compromise when it comes to Israel's security." Three days later, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in a lecture to the Brookings Institute outlined America's demands of Israel: To abstain from attacking Iran and rely on the US; to negotiate with the Palestinians; to reach out to Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, and to pursue only goals shared with the US – demands almost synonymous with the Israeli opposition's platform.

American sources told Fox News early Sunday, Nov. 6 that all the senior Israeli ministers formerly against attacking Iran's nuclear sites are now for it, after updates on Iran's clandestine progress toward building a nuclear weapon. The ministers also believe new sanctions would not be tough enough. debkafile: Washington's uncritical references to Israeli plans signal Tehran that because of the level it has reached in its weapons-geared nuclear program, the US can no longer hold Israel back from exercising its military option.

The United States has finally given Israel a green light to attack Iran – but only its Red Sea warships not its nuclear sites. But Israel is wary of an armed clash with Iran – at least until Gilad Shalilt is safe at home and it can be sure ...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu asked the full government Tuesday night, Oct. 11 to endorse deal with Hamas for bringing Gilad Shalit home within days although the price agreed is heavy: 1,000 jailed Palestinian terrorists, including 60 convicted for multiple murders. debkafile discloses that deal was the outcome of a secret accord between US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and, Hamas' Khaled Meshaal providing for the Hamas bureau's transfer from Damascus and gradual withdrawal from ties with Tehran.

 

War tensions between Turkey, NATO and Syria shot up again Tuesday, Oct. 4, with the announcement from Ankara that Turkey embarks Wednesday on a 10-day "mobilization" exercise in the southern province of Hatay along the Syrian borderwhere 7,000 Syrian refugees are sheltering. A visit by the Turkish prime minister is also expected. Earlier, debkafile reported exclusively that Bashar Assad had been threatening for three months to destroy Tel Aviv within six hours of an attack on Syria.

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Israel of increasing isolation in the Middle East and said "Israeli leaders must restart negotiations with the Palestinians and work to restore relations with Egypt and Turkey." Before landing in Israel Monday, Oct. 3, he also said:“Real security can only be achieved by both a strong diplomatic effort as well as a strong effort to project your military strength.”
debkafile: Israel is paying the price for not striking Iran and for Washington's evolving ties with the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Iraqi Prime Minister's delay in confirm his deal with US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta for an American military nucleus to remain in Iraq after the pullout persuaded the US official to cut a back-up deal with semi-autonomous Kurdistan to provide the US army and air force with ...

New US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki quietly agree to at least 15,000 US troops remaining in Iraq after 2011in the guise of diplomats and other civilian personnel with America keeping control of four big air bases – two of them facing Iran. The Iraqi ...

Tuesday July 12, the day French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Afghanistan and stated that a quarter of France's 4,000-strong contingent would be pulled out by the end of 2012,  Afghan President Hamid Karzai's half-brother, Kandahar strongman Ahmad Wali,was shot dead by a bodyguard. This was no coincidence, debkafile's sources note: Taliban was again refuting the accounts of the situation in Afghanistan presented by US, British and French leaders as having little resemblance to reality.