“Bombardear o Irã é a idéia mais Estúpida que Eu já ouvi”

O ex-chefe do Mossad, Meir Dagan disse que um ataque ao Irã seria um suicídio para Israel.

Por Luis R. Miranda
The Real Agenda
Março 13, 2012

Nada é mais claro. “Um ataque ao Irã sem explorar todas as opções disponíveis não é a maneira certa de fazer as coisas.” Esta é a avaliação do ex-chefe do Mossad, Meir Dagan, diretor de inteligência de Israel, o equivalente do chefe da CIA. Rumores sobre sua oposição a um ataque israelense ao Irã foram divulgados na mídia por algum tempo, mas é a primeira vez que Dagan aparece na televisão para falar claramente sobre o que ele acredita ser uma missão suicida do Israel , uma missão que não vai impedir que o Irã obtenha uma arma nuclear, se esse país realmente quer uma.

Em suas próprias palavras, Dagan deixa claro que há pelo menos 3 anos para usar a diplomacia e sanções para impedir um Irã nuclear. O ex-espião que se aposentou do Mossad — embora muitos acreditam que ele foi demitido pelo atual primeiro-ministro israelense Benjamin Netanyahu — se opõe à política de ataques preventivos por parte de Israel contra o Irã. Em uma entrevista muito editada concedida à CBS, Dagan disse que o regime iraniano é “racional” para compreender as conseqüências de criar ou obter uma arma nuclear. Este nível de racionalidade, diz Dagan, não é o mesmo que se conhece no mundo ocidental, mas ele não tem dúvida de que os iranianos estão considerando todas as implicações de suas decisões.

Quando perguntado por que o mundo não poderia então ter um Irã nuclear, o ex-chefe de inteligência resgatou uma idéia amplamente desacreditada, de que o Irã tem a intenção de varrer Israel do mapa. Sua afirmação refere-se a uma citação do líder iraniano Mahmoud Ahmadinejad quem nunca disse tal coisa. O que ele disse, como relatado por muitos meios de comunicação, é que ele queria arrancar o regime Israelense do mapa, não o povo judeu. “Acho que os iranianos são mestres da negociação”, disse Dagan. Ele acrescentou que ficaria preocupado se, por exemplo, os europeus decidiram sentar-se com os iranianos para negociar, e diminuíssem ou suavizaram as sanções como uma condição para tais negociações.

Meir Dagan, chefiou a agência de inteligência de Israel por mais de 9 anos. Ele e seus colegas foram responsáveis pela morte de membros do Hamas e outros na Organização para a Libertação da Palestina (OLP). Ele e sua equipe foram encarregados dos programas para fornecer equipamentos defeituosos para o Irã para atrasar seu plano de enriquecer o material para produzir energia nuclear. Eles também foram responsáveis pelo assassinato de cientistas iranianos que trabalham diretamente no programa de enriquecimento nuclear.

Dagan disse que o Irã não tem interesse em manter os preços do petróleo baixos, porque é sua principal fonte de renda e que um Irão nuclear não garantiria a estabilidade no Oriente Médio. Talvez um Irã nuclear não ajudaria a manter os preços do petróleo baixos, mas certamente ajudaria a equilibrar a luta pelo poder entre Israel e seus aliados ocidentais e os países como Irã, Paquistão, Rússia e China. Aliados do Irã parecem ecoar o conselho dado pelo Dagan de não atacar o Irã. A Rússia disse que não vai permitir qualquer ataque contra a Síria ou o Irã, e o mesmo foi dito pela China. Recentemente, importantes autoridades chinesas alertaram as suas organizações de defesa para se preparar para uma guerra contra os Estados Unidos no caso em que o governo liderado por Barack Obama, decidisse apoiar um ataque israelense ao Irã.

Tanto o Paquistão quanto a Rússia falaram publicamente sobre a sua oposição a um ataque ao Irã ou a Síria. Os líderes paquistaneses deixaram claro que dariam uma mão aos seus vizinhos, se Israel ou os EUA decide atacá-los. Dagan passou a dizer que um Irã nuclear seria mais fácil para criar as condições para a manutenção de um Oriente Médio instável, a fim de manter os preços do petróleo artificialmente elevados. A questão é, não é isso o que os EUA e Israel tem feito — para manter a instabilidade no Oriente Médio — ao atacar países árabes sem nenhuma razão, baseando tais ataques em informações de inteligência falsa muitas vezes fornecidas pelo Mossad ou a CIA? Uma coisa é certa, um Irã nuclear não seria páreo para Israel, que tem mais de 300 armas nucleares, nem para os Estados Unidos pela mesma razão. Irã teria uma arma nuclear, ou algumas armas nucleares que não seriam capazes de igualar o arsenal de Israel ou dos Estados Unidos. O que um Irã nuclear faria, sem dúvida, é dar maior estabilidade à região desde que Israel e os Estados Unidos deveram pensar duas vezes antes de atacar o país liderado por Ahmadinejad — diretamente ou através de seus governos proxy.

O ex-chefe de inteligência disse que um dos meios para mudar o Irã é apoiando organizações de oposição e grupos de estudantes e minorias étnicas. Ele, no entanto, negou o envolvimento do Mossad em qualquer ação que, direta ou indiretamente, fizera exatamente isso. Não há necessidade de explicações, no entanto. Há muitas evidências de que o Mossad tem elementos que operam no Irã e que estão realizando operações de desestabilização encobertas para influenciar as decisões do Irã. Ele disse que era dever do Mossad oferecer qualquer ajuda a quem deseja iniciar uma mudança de regime no Irã. Dagan salientou que um ataque ao Irã este ano seria imprudente, especialmente porque a intervenção militar não impedirá o Irã de obter uma arma nuclear, que é o que Israel supostamente teme. “Só o atrasaria”, diz Dagan. Ele disse que impedir o Irã de obter uma arma nuclear é uma tarefa muito complicada, porque ao contrário do que muitos acreditam o Irã tem dezenas de sites nucleares e não somente uns poucos como alguns acreditam.

Embora publicamente Barack Obama concorda com o parecer do Dagan, na prática, o governo dos EUA age de forma muito diferente. Os EUA enviaram vários navios de guerra para a região do Golfo, especificamente o Estreito de Hormuz, uma área que o Irã ameaçou fechar se for atacado por Israel ou os militares dos Estados Unidos. “Um Irã nuclear não é um problema israelense, mas um problema global”, disse o ex-chefe do Mossad. Ele acrescentou que, se Israel não ataca o Irã militarmente, ele prefere que seja EUA. Israel é conhecido por atacar sites unilateral e preventivamente em países vizinhos como o Irã e a Síria. Mas desta vez o Sr. Dagan acredita que as coisas podem acontecer de outra forma. Ele disse que um ataque ao Irã no futuro próximo irá levar a uma guerra regional como nunca antes visto, com foguetes voando e explodindo  em território israelense do norte e sul. Talvez é por isso que Israel vem treinando para destruir foguetes com o seu sistema anti-mísseis. A defesa parece ser a preparação para o tipo de cenário descrito pelo Dagan na sua entrevista. “Seria um impacto devastador sobre a nossa capacidade de continuar com nossas vidas diárias”, disse Dagan sobre os ataques que viriam do Hamas e do Hezbollah se Israel decidir bombardear o Irão. “Eu acho que Israel poderia estar em uma situação muito grave por muito tempo”, disse Meir Dagan.

“Um ataque militar contra o Irã nao vai preveni-lo de conseguir uma bomba nuclear, apenas irá atrasá-lo”, disse Dagan. Embora ele passou a maior parte de sua vida realizando ataques terroristas contra os árabes, Dagan disse que para ele não há nenhum prazer ou alegria em matar pessoas. Tem muitas pinturas em casa, onde interpreta os árabes, que diz que ele admira. “Eu sei que soa anti-semita dizer que alguns dos meus melhores amigos são árabes, mas eu realmente, realmente admiro algumas das qualidades dos árabes.” Apesar da glorificação que a repórter da CBS fez ao chamar os ataques terroristas do Mossad de  assassinatos “primorosamente executado”, Dagan disse que não era assim. A maioria das pessoas acreditam que a saída do Meir Dagan do Mossad é uma conseqüência direta de sua oposição a um ataque ao Irã e a  operação do Mossad que ocorreu em Dubai para matar funcionários iranianos em um hotel daquela cidade. Acredita-se que Benjamin Netanyahu não oferecieu o trabalho mais uma vez ao Dagan e está e a razão pela que ele esta falando publicamente contra qualquer ação militar contra o Irã.

Meir Dagan, nega que esteja em busca de vingança.

“Bombardear Irán es la Idea más Estúpida que he Escuchado”

Por Luis R. Miranda
The Real Agenda
12 de marzo 2012

No hay nada más claro. “Un ataque a Irán sin explorar todas las opciones disponibles no es la manera correcta de hacer las cosas.” Esta es la evaluación del ex jefe del Mossad, Meir Dagan, director de inteligencia de Israel, un equivalente del jefe de la CIA. Los rumores sobre su oposición a un ataque israelí contra Irán se han difundido en medios de comunicación desde hace un tiempo, pero es la primera vez que Dagan aparece en televisión para hablar con claridad acerca de lo que él cree que es una misión suicida para Israel, una misión que no detendrá a Irán para obtener un arma nuclear si realmente lo quisiera una.

El ex-jefe de Mossad, Meir Dagan dice que un ataque a Irán sería suicidio para Israel.

En sus propias palabras, Dagan deja claro que hay por lo menos 3 años para usar la diplomacia y las sanciones a fin de evitar un Irán nuclear. El jefe ex espía que se retiró del Mossad — aunque muchos creen que fue despedido por el actual primer ministro israelí, Benjamin Netanyahu, — se opone a la política de ataques preventivos de Israel contra Irán. En una entrevista bastante editada dada a CBS, Dagan dijo que el régimen iraní es muy “racional” que entiende las consecuencias de la creación o la búsqueda de un arma nuclear. Este nivel de racionalidad, dice Dagan, no es lo mismo que la gente conoce en el mundo occidental, pero él no tiene ninguna duda de que los iraníes están teniendo en cuenta todas las implicaciones de sus decisiones.

Cuando se le preguntó por qué el mundo no podía entonces tener un Irán nuclear, el ex jefe de inteligencia echó mano de una idea en gran medida desacreditada; que Irán tiene la intención de borrar a Israel del mapa. Su declaración se refiere a una cita del líder iraní Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, que nunca dijo tal cosa. Lo que dijo, como informaron muchos medios de comunicación, es que deseaba arrancar al régimen Israelí del mapa, no al pueblo judío. “Creo que los iraníes son maestros de la negociación”, dijo Dagan. Agregó que estaría preocupado si por ejemplo los europeos decidieran sentarse con los iraníes a negociar, mientras disminuyen o suavizan las sanciones como condición para tener esas conversaciones.

Meir Dagan, dirigió la agencia de inteligencia de Israel por más de 9 años. Él y sus colegas fueron responsables por el asesinato de miembros de Hamas y otros de la Organización para la Liberación de Palestina (OLP). Él y sus equipos dirigían los programas para proporcionar equipos defectuosos a Irán con el fin de retrasar su plan para enriquecer los materiales para producir energía nuclear. También fueron responsables por el asesinato de científicos iraníes que trabajaban directamente en el programa de enriquecimiento nuclear.

Dagan dijo que Irán no tiene interés en mantener los precios del petróleo en baja, ya que es su principal fuente de ingresos y que un Irán nuclear no garantizaría la estabilidad en el Oriente Medio. Tal vez un Irán nuclear no ayudaría a mantener los precios del petróleo en baja, pero sin duda ayudaría a equilibrar la lucha de poder entre Israel y sus aliados occidentales y los países como Irán, Pakistán, Rusia y China. Los aliados de Irán parecen hacer eco de los consejos que Dagan da para no atacar a Irán. Rusia ha dicho que no permitirá ningún ataque contra Siria o Irán, y también lo ha hecho China. Recientemente, prominentes funcionarios chinos alertaron a sus organizaciones de defensa para prepararse para una guerra abierta contra los Estados Unidos, en el caso de que el gobierno encabezado por Barack Obama, decida apoyar a un ataque israelí contra Irán.

Tanto Pakistán como Rusia hablaron públicamente sobre su oposición a un ataque contra Irán o Siria. Los líderes paquistaníes han dejado en claro que echarán una mano a sus vecinos si Israel o los EE.UU. decide atacarlos. Dagan llegó a decir que un Irán nuclear haría más fácil para crear las condiciones para mantener un Medio Oriente inestable, con el fin de mantener el precio del petróleo artificialmente alto. La pregunta es, ¿no han hecho esto Estados Unidos e Israel — mantener la inestabilidad en Oriente Medio — al atacar  países árabes sin ninguna razón, basando los ataques en información de inteligencia falsa que a menudo fue proporcionada por Mossad o la CIA? Una cosa es cierta, un Irán nuclear no sería rival ni para Israel, que cuenta con más de 300 armas nucleares, ni para los Estados Unidos por la misma razón. Irán tendría un arma nuclear, o unas pocas armas nucleares que no serían capaces de igualar el arsenal de Israel ni el de Estados Unidos. Lo que un Irán nuclear sin duda haría es dar mayor estabilidad a la región pues Israel y Estados Unidos tal vez lo pensarían dos veces antes de atacar el país encabezada por Ahmadinejad — directamente o a través de sus gobiernos proxy.

El ex jefe de inteligencia dijo que uno de los medios para lograr el cambio en Irán es hacerlo a través de organizaciones de oposición como grupos de estudiantes y de etnias minoritarias. Él, sin embargo, negó la participación del Mossad en cualquier acción que directa o indirectamente hizo exactamente eso. No hay necesidad de explicaciones, sin embargo. Hay muchas evidencias de que el Mossad tiene elementos que operan en Irán que están llevando a cabo las operaciones secretas de desestabilización para influir en las decisiones de Irán. Él dijo que era el deber del Mossad ayudar a cualquiera que quisiera impulsar un cambio de régimen en Irán. Dagan hizo hincapié en que un ataque a Irán este año sería imprudente, sobre todo porque una intervención militar no impediría que Irán obtuviera un arma nuclear, que es lo que Israel supuestamente más teme. “Solamente lo retrasaría”, dice Dagan. Él dice que impedir que Irán obtenga un arma nuclear es una tarea muy complicada, porque a diferencia de lo que muchos creen, Irán no tiene un puñado de sitios nucleares, sino decenas de sitios.

Aunque públicamente, Barack Obama, está de acuerdo con la opinión de Dagan, en la práctica el gobierno de EE.UU. actúa de manera muy diferente. Los EE.UU. ha enviado varios buques de guerra a la región del Golfo, específicamente con el Estrecho de Ormuz, una zona que Irán ha amenazado con cerrar si es atacado, ya sea por Israel o las fuerzas militares de Estados Unidos. “Un Irán nuclear no es un problema israelí, sino un problema global”, dijo el ex jefe del Mossad. Agregó que si Israel no ataca a Irán militarmente, él prefiere que sea EE.UU. que lo haga en lugar de cualquier otro país. Israel es conocido por unilateral y preventivamente atacar sitios en los países vecinos, como Irán y Siria. Pero esta vez el señor Dagan cree que las cosas pueden suceder de otra manera. Dijo que un ataque a Irán en un futuro próximo será provocar una guerra regional como nunca antes vista, con cohetes sobrevolando y aterrizando en territorio israelí desde el norte y el sur. Tal vez es por eso que Israel ha estado entrenando para destruir cohetes entrantes con su nuevo sistema anti-misiles en tierra. La defensa parece estar preparándose para el tipo de escenario que Dagan describe en la entrevista. “Sería un impacto devastador a nuestra capacidad para continuar con nuestra vida diaria”, dijo Dagan, acerca de los ataques de Hamas y Hezbolá, si Israel decide bombardear Irán. “Creo que Israel podría estar en una situación muy grave por un buen tiempo”, advirtió Meir Dagan.

“No sería un ataque militar lo que detendría a Irán, eso apenas lo retrasaría”, aclaró Dagan. A pesar de que pasó la mayor parte de su vida llevando a cabo ataques terroristas contra los árabes, Dagan dijo que para él no hay placer o alegría en el asesinato de personas. El mismo tiene un montón de cuadros en su casa, donde interpreta a los árabes, que dice que admira mucho. “Sé que suena antisemita si digo que algunos de mis mejores amigos son árabes, pero yo realmente, realmente admiro algunas de las cualidades de los árabes.” A pesar de la glorificación que la reportera de CBS hizo sobre los asesinatos llamándolos de “exquisitamente ejecutados “, Dagan dijo que no era tal cosa. La mayoría de la gente cree que la salida de Meir Dagan del Mossad es una consecuencia directa de su oposición a un ataque contra Irán, así como de la fallida operación que Mossad llevó a cabo en Dubai para matar a personal iraní dentro de un hotel de esa ciudad. Se cree que, Benjamin Netanyahu no le ofrecieron el trabajo una vez más y que esta es la razón por la que Dagan está hablando en público en contra de cualquier acción militar contra Irán.

Meir Dagan, niega que él está buscando venganza.

‘Bombing Iran now is the Stupidest Idea I’ve ever Heard’

by Luis R. Miranda
The Real Agenda
March 12, 2012

It doesn’t get any clearer than that. “An attack on Iran without exploring all available options is not the right way how to do it.” These is the assessment of the former chief of Mossad, Meir Dagan, Israel’s top intelligence officer, an equivalent of the head of the CIA. Rumors about its opposition to an Israeli attack on Iran have circulated the media for a while now, but it is the first time Dagan goes on television to speak clearly about what he believes is a suicide mission for Israel, a mission that won’t stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon if they really wanted one.

Former Mossad Spy Chief Mier Dagan.

In his own words, Dagan makes it clear that there are at least 3 years left to use diplomacy and sanctions in order to prevent a nuclear Iran. The former spy chief who retired from Mossad — although many believe he was fired by current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — opposes Israel’s policy of pre-emptive strikes against Iran. In a fairly edited interview given to CBS, Dagan said that the Iranian regime is a very “rational” one that understands the consequences of creating or seeking a nuclear weapon. This level of rationality, says Dagan, is not the same than the people know in the western world, but he has no doubt that the Iranians are considering all the implications of their decisions.

When asked why couldn’t the world handle a nuclear Iran, the former intelligence chief resourced to a largely debunked idea; that Iran had the intention to wipe Israel off the map. His statement refers to a quote from Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who never said such a thing. What he said, as many alternative media reported, is that the Iranian leadership wished to wipe the Israeli Regime off the map, not the Jewish people. “I think the Iranians are masters of negotiation,” said Dagan. He added that he would be concerned if for example the Europeans decided to sit down with the Iranians while easing the sanctions as a condition to have such talks.

Meir Dagan ran Israel’s top intelligence agency for over 9 years. He and his colleagues were responsible for the murder of members of Hamas and others from the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). He and his teams ran programs to provide defective equipment to Iran in order to delay their plan to enrich materials to produce nuclear energy. They were also responsible for the murder of Iranian scientists who worked directly in the nuclear enrichment program.

Dagan said Iran has no interest in keeping oil prices low, because it is their main source of income and that a nuclear Iran would not guarantee stability in the Middle East. Perhaps a nuclear Iran would not make the prices of oil go down, but it would certainly help balance the power struggle between Israel and its western allies and countries like Iran, Pakistan, Russia and China. Iran’s allies seem to echo Dagan’s advice not to attack Iran. Russia has said that it will not allow an attack on Syria or Iran and so has China. Recently, prominent Chinese officials alerted their defense organizations to prepare for an open war against the United States, in the case the government led by Barack Obama decides to support an Israeli attack on Iran.

Both Pakistan and Russia spoke publicly about their opposition to attacking Iran or Syria. The Pakistani leaders have made it clear they will side with their neighbors if Israel or the US decide to attack them. Dagan went on to say that a nuclear Iran would have it easier to create the conditions to keep an unstable Middle East in order to keep the price of oil artificially high. The question is, haven’t the United States and Israel done exactly the same — keeping the Middle East unstable — by attacking Arab countries for no reason, basing those attacks on false intelligence which is often provided by Mossad or the CIA? One thing is certain, a nuclear Iran would not be a match neither for Israel, who has more than 300 nuclear weapons, nor for the United States for the same reason. Iran would have one nuclear weapon, or a few nuclear weapons that would not be able to match neither Israel’s nor the US’s arsenals. What a nuclear Iran would definitely do is bring more stability to the region as Israel and the United States — directly or through proxy governments — would perhaps think twice before attacking the country headed by Ahmadinejad.

The former intelligence chief said that one of the ways to bring about change in Iran is to do it through proxy organizations, such as opposition, student and minority groups. He, however, denied Mossad’s involvement in any action that directly or indirectly did exactly that. No need for explanations, though. There is plenty of evidence that Mossad has elements operating in Iran who are conducting secret destabilizing operations to influence Iran’s decisions. He did say that it was Mossad’s duty to help anyone who wanted to push for regime change in Iran. Dagan emphasized that an attack on Iran this year would be reckless, especially because a military intervention would not stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, which is what Israel supposedly fears the most. “It would only delay it,” says Dagan. He says preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon is a very complicated task, because unlike what many people believe, Iran doesn’t have a handful of nuclear sites, but dozens.

Although publicly Barack Obama agrees with Dagan’s opinion, in practice the US government acts very differently. The US has sent several war ships to the Gulf region, specifically to the Strait of Hormuz, an area that Iran has threatened to seal off if it is attacked either by Israel or the US military forces. “A nuclear Iran is not an Israeli problem, it’s a global problem,” said the former Mossad chief. He added that if Israel did not militarily attack Iran, he would prefer the US to do it rather than anyone else. Israel is known for unilaterally and pre-emptively attacking sites in neighboring countries such as Iran and Syria. But this time Mr. Dagan believes things may happen differently. He said that an attack on Iran in the near future will ignite a regional war like never seen before, with rockets flying over and landing on Israeli territory from north and south. Perhaps that is why Israel has recently been training to destroy incoming rockets with their new land-based defense system.The country seems to be preparing for the kind of scenario that Dagan described on his interview. “It would be a devastating impact on our ability to continue with our daily life,” said Dagan about attacks from Hamas and Hezbollah, if Israel decides to bomb Iran. “I think Israel could be in a very serious situation for quite a time,” warned Meir Dagan.

“There wouldn’t be a military attack that would halt a nuclear Iran, it would only delay it,” clarified Dagan. Although he spent most of his life carrying out terrorist attacks against Arabs, Dagan says that for him there is no pleasure or joy in killing people. He himself has a bunch of paintings in his home, where he portrays Arabs, who he says he admires a lot. “I know it will sound anti-semitic if I say that some of my best friends are Arabs, but I truly, really admire some of the qualities of the Arabs.” Despite the CBS reporter glorification of Dagan’s killings by calling them “exquisitely executed” cover missions and assassinations, Dagan said it wasn’t such a thing. Most people believe that Meir Dagan’s demise from Mossad are a direct consequence of his opposition to attacking Iran as well as for the operation Mossad carried out in Dubai to kill Iranians inside a prominent hotel. It is believed that Benjamin Netanyahu did not offer him the job once again and that this is the reason why he is speaking out in public against any military action against Iran.

Meir Dagan denies he is looking for revenge by speaking out.

Don’t attack Iran, says ex-Mossad chief

Agence France Presse
March 9, 2012

The former chief of Israel’s Mossad spy agency has cautioned against an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites and put his trust firmly in US President Barack Obama to intervene if and when necessary.

Ex-Mossad chief Meir Dagan, together with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: AFP

In excerpts of an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” program to be aired in full on Sunday, Meir Dagan said he believes the Iranian regime is a “very rational one,” including firebrand President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

“An attack on Iran before you are exploring all other approaches is not the right way,” Dagan said.

“And (President Obama) said openly that the military option is on the table and he is not going to let Iran become a nuclear state, and from my experience, I usually trust the president of the US.”

The Obama administration maintains that tough sanctions on Iran and diplomatic efforts need to be given more time before any resort to bombing raids.

Israeli leaders however say time is running out for any pre-emptive strike. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that sanctions against Iran have not worked, and “none of us can afford to wait much longer.”

Dagan, who retired in January 2011 after eight years as director of the Israeli intelligence service, has repeatedly warned that an attack could fail to curb Iran’s atomic ambitions while risking engulfing the region in conflict.

In the “60 Minutes” interview, he said he did not believe the Iranians were rushing forward to produce a bomb as they understood the consequences.

“But no doubt, they are considering all the implications of their actions,” Dagan said. “They will have to pay dearly… and I think the Iranians at this point in time are… very careful on the project.”

US military commanders say they have drawn up contingency plans for a potential attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta confirmed as much in an interview Thursday.

Dagan, who refused to be drawn on whether Israel has supported youth opposition groups in Iran, said that trying to foment regime change was a smarter tactic.

“It’s our duty to help anyone who likes to present an open opposition against their regime in Iran,” he said.

Asked if he would rather that Israel waited and allowed the United States to act first, Dagan replied: “If I prefer that someone will do it, I always prefer that Americans will do it.”

Analysts and former US military officers say Israeli aircraft could do serious damage to Iran’s nuclear sites but would face a challenge hitting an underground facility near Qom and that America’s vast air force far outstrips Israel’s capabilities.

The United States, Israel and much of the international community fear Iran’s nuclear program is an attempt to build a weapon — a charge Tehran denies.

Mossad in South America

Wayne Madsen Report

“N”, a correspondent from an Iranian media agency, whom I met in the association of foreign journalists in Caracas, told me that he Israeli Mossadused to work in Buenos Aires for some time. Things were going well, N’s employer was satisfied with the job he did, and he planned to spend a few more years in Argentine, but eventually had to change his plans. After a while “N” noticed that he was under surveillance and that his mail regularly got stolen. Uninvited guests started to frequent his office. He talked to the local police and counterintelligence service, but both replied they had nothing to do with the problem. They did mention to “N” cautiously that he was in the sphere of interests of «the Zionists». He told me: «The people in my agency in Tehran knew that Iranian citizens often encounter such problems and concluded that the Mossad was planning a provocation against me. This is why I relocated to Venezuela. It is a country friendly to Iran, one enjoys a certain level of security guarantees here and can expect to be protected in case of need».

I had a similar conversation with “F”, a journalist from Syria. He told me frankly that he preferred to stay on the alert even in Venezuela because the Israeli intelligence service watches over all Syrians working in Latin America and often attempts to compromise them. Like most of his countrymen, “F” believes that hostile acts by the Mossad — drugs put in his pocket, allegations of links to Arab terrorists, the emergence of «documentary evidence» of connections to Colombian guerrillas — are likely. “F” said: «I am ready to face whatever happens. I’m not paranoid, I just look at things realistically. I even obtained a gun permit» and showed me a gun he wore under his jacket.

The Mossads’s objectives are listed on its official web site. They include secret collection of operative, political, and strategic information abroad, termination of terrorist activity targeting Israeli and other Jewish installations, prevention of development or acquisition of nuclear weapons by countries hostile to Israel, and covert operations abroad. The January, 2010 killing by the Mossad of the leader of the the paramilitary wing of Hamas Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel gives an idea of what the term «covert operations abroad» refers to.

A Mossad hit squad of 11 agents disguised as tourists blocked the corridor leading to the hotel room where al-Mabhouh stayed. Then the Israeli hitmen got inside, electroshocked and strangulated the man. In several hours the Mossad agents left the Emirates with fake British, Canadian, Irish, and Australian passports.

The demonstrative character of the act was supposed to highlight the Mossad’s capability to score with the enemies of Israel in any part of the world. The operation drew extensive coverage in Latin American media, most of which published the photos of the Mossad agents and, of course, that of their chief – the 64 year old Meir Dagan who has long deserved the nickname of «a man with a knife between his teeth». Among other operations, hundreds of killings of Iranian and Iraqi scientists who were involved in military-related research and were regarded as potentially dangerous to Israel are tracked to Dagan.

According to ALAI (Latin America Information Agency), the Mossad is using at least 40 Israeli companies (as well as embassies and other official institutions of the state of Israel) as fronts for its activity. The total number of the Mossad operatives in Latin America is not greater than 100-110, but an extensive network of agents and the cooperation with Jewish organizations and communities ensure the Mossad’s presence across Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Mossad’s interests gravitate to the regions south of the Rio Grande which are densely populated by Arab immigrants. The Mossad analysts believe that the epicenter of the potential «Muslim terrorism» in Latin America is located in the Zone of Three Borders between Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil. Venezuela’s Isla Margarita, a place where Lebanese and Syrian immigrants hunting for pearls started to settle down in the early XX century, is viewed similarly. When a free trade zone was opened on Margarita Island, the Arab populations switched to selling shoes, textile, and bijouterie. The Venezuelan government was a number of times forced to disprove allegations that Chavez hosts Muslim terrorists. In reality, Margarita is a small island where more or less everybody knows everybody else and no secret activity — least the operation of Hezbollah training camps — is possible.

Over the years of spying on the above «terrorist centers» Mossad never discovered the networks that could present a threat to Israel. Nevertheless, the Mossad’s efforts were not wasted, at least since the Israeli «reliable» data were invariably used by Washington in planning its struggle against terrorism in Latin America. This is the mechanism of ideological support for the establishment of increasing numbers of US military bases on the continent in the proximity of the Latin American countries with «populist» regimes.

In many cases, Israeli intelligence operatives are involved in legal arms trade business which they use to gain connections in local military circles and security services.

The Mossad also uses affiliated companies to advise its Latin American colleagues on fighting terrorism, «leftist extremism», guerrilla groups and their support networks, as well as to help intelligence services modernize their technical base. A company most often mentioned in the context is Israel’s Global CST, whose CEOs are retired high-ranking Mossad operatives. In July, 2009 the Peruvian government hired the company to help reorganize the country’s intelligence community in order to boost the efficiency of its struggle against «subversive and terrorist organizations» including the re-emerging Sendero Luminoso Maoist group. Global CST is also helping the Peruvian government create a joint system of control over mobile communications, Internet, and other communications media.

Global CST has grown notably more active in Colombia. The Israeli company familiarizes the country’s military intelligence and political police (DAS) officers with new techniques in the spheres of anti-terrorist activity and espionage. Over recent years, Columbia’s intelligence services have been increasingly assertive outside the country, evidently imitating the modus operandi of their CIA and Mossad peers. Columbia maintains intelligence networks in Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, and other Latin American countries. The FARC and ELN envoys are finding themselves under permanent surveillance, routinely kidnapped and sometimes — assassinated.

International Security Agency (ISA) mainly staffed by former Israeli special forces officers and intelligence operatives is also active in Latin America. The agency (in tight cooperation with the CIA and the Mossad) took part in the coup that displaced M. Zelaya, the legitimate President of Honduras. Currently ISA specialists are working in the security service of the current President of Honduras P. Lobo, who was propelled to presidency as the result of an imitation of free elections like those Washington realized in Iraq and Afghanistan.

There is a consensus among experts that the Mossad’s number one adversary and target in Latin America is Hugo Chavez, the political leader condemning Israel’s attempts to resolve conflicts in the Middle East by force. Chavez suspended Venezuela’s diplomatic relations with Israel in August, 2006, following the Israeli aggression against Lebanon. At that time Israeli Ambassador Shlomo Cohen and the embassy staff (mostly Mossad operatives) left Caracas. In several months Chavez took steps to normalize the relations with Israel, largely in response to the requests made by Venezuela’s 12,000 Jewish community.

The diplomatic relations between Venezuela and Israel were severed again in January, 2009 when the former protested the crimes committed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli operation resulted in the killing of over 1,000 Palestinians, a third of them — children. In a televised address, Chavez criticized Israel as a country guilty of genocide and inhumane persecution of Palestinians. Not surprisingly, Israel’s reaction was negative. In November, 2009 Shimon Peres addressed a thinly veiled threat to Chavez by saying that «Chavez will soon disappear». The Venezuelan leader remarked that Perez had to undertake a long journey to Latin America to say the words and wondered publicly what would have happened if similar words were said about Peres in Venezuela.

TV commentator and former Venezuelan Vice President José Vicente Rangel often warns in his TV show that the Mossad is planning to assassinate Chavez. Agents with the corresponding qualifications were sent to Columbia, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Panama, and Curacao Island. In Rangel’s view, the greatest threat emanates from Colombia as DAS — instigated by the CIA — already conspired quite a few times to kill Chavez. Alarming comments were also made by US journalist Eva Hollinger who is a renown expert in operations against Venezuela. Author of CIA in Venezuela Hose Sant Ross calls the Venezuelan authorities to be mindful of the Mossad’s operations in the country.

As a rule, the efforts of Venezuelan security services to identify the Mossad agents echo with carefully orchestrated protests staged by the country’s Jewish community and with «solidarity» campaigns across Latin America. Media synchronously respond by charging Chavez with antisemitism and collusion with Muslim extremism.

Actually, the theme of antisemitism recurs due to a range of causes, for example whenever the Venezuelan government takes measures to scrutinize the country’s financial sphere. For decades, there used to be a number of jewelry stores in La Francia building in downtown Caracas, not far from the Venezuelan Foreign ministry, where gold and jewelry were bought and sold with practically no fiscal control. The administration’s attempts to make the business take legal shape and to subject the accounting documents of the stores to the long-overdue audit were condemned by the opposition media as persecution of Jewish businessmen. Nevertheless, the announcement of the coming audit had an explosive effect: in a matter of hours La Francia building was completely abandoned. The most valuable stuff was evacuated secretly at night.

Venezuelan counterintelligence agents watched the process from a distance, occasionally taking pictures. They did not expect to learn anything new — it was known that the Mossad used La Francia to carry out its financial transactions.

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