If Iraq attacks Israel with non-conventional weapons, causing massive casualties among the civilian population, Israel could respond with a nuclear retaliation that would eradicate Iraq as a country. This assessment, from American intelligence, was presented last week to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Haaretz reported Thursday.
The U.S. intelligence assessments include an analysis of possible Israeli responses. The lowest probability is that Israel would respond initially with a conventional military retaliation if it is slightly harmed, and would add a warning that a non-conventional response was possible if the Iraqi attacks on the Israeli civilian population continued.
According to the newspaper, the possibility of Israel using nuclear weapons against Iraq appears in a document submitted by military expert Dr. Anthony Cordesman, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
In the worst case scenario, writes Cordesman, Israel could face an existential threat to important urban areas such as Tel Aviv or Haifa. Under such conditions, it would threaten nuclear retaliation against Iraqi cities and military forces to cease the Iraqi attack.
Meanwhile, it is reported that the US government has offered nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) millions of dollars to establish humanitarian relief projects in Iraq and neighboring areas ahead of military action against Saddam Hussein’s regime.
In a front page article, the London-based newspaper the Financial Times (FT) said the US state department had called on NGOs to bid for US$6.6 million of government funds to pay for at least five US humanitarian projects. It would constitute the first time that the United States has funded relief work in Iraq since United Nations embargo was imposed on the country 12 years ago, the FT quoted a US official as saying.
Once the projects -- including facilities for medical care, shelter, water and relief supplies for refugees -- were in place, international aid workers would be evacuated from the region ahead of any military action, and replaced by local staff.
"I find it strange that at this particular moment, the US government is announcing an open competition for proposals for humanitarian assistance projects in Iraq, specifying that it can be in any part of the country," said Joel Charny, vice president for policy at Washington-based Refugees International. "It seems in contradiction to the policy of embargo and limiting assistance to areas controlled by (Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein," Charny added, according to the FT. (Albawaba.com)
