WAR'S A NO NO, BUSH SAYS

I read in Haaretz a few weeks ago the Olmert was sort of upset because Bush refused to give him permission to attack Iran. Of course some of my Lebanese friends told me "Haha, they are afraid." Ya, right. Ok, now it's all in the Guardian. So something must be true. Israel would hit Iran anytime and they are ready for it. And that's why the Heybollah guys are ready for battle at the southern border. They need to defend their bank.

"The British newspaper The Guardian on Thursday quoted European officials as saying that the United States earlier this year refused to agree to an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.

According to the report, "European diplomatic sources" said that "Israel gave serious thought this spring to launching a military strike on Iran's nuclear sites but was told by President George W. Bush that he would not support it and did not expect to revise that view for the rest of his presidency."

The Guardian quoted the sources as saying that the issue was raised during a one-on-one meeting between Bush and outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert during the American president's trip to Israel in May to mark its 60th anniversary.
The sources reportedly attributed the American rejection of an Israeli attack to two factors: fear of Iranian retaliatory attacks on American targets, and concern that an Israeli strike would not successfully take out Iran's nuclear facilities, which are not concentrated in a single area, and some of which are subterranean.

Haaretz reported earlier this month that the U.S. denied Israel a security aid package including "bunker-buster" bombs, permission to use an air corridor to Iran, and an advanced technological system out of concern that Israel would use it to attack nuclear facilities in Iran. "