IranGen. Dempsey: U.S. military options against Iran “better” than last year
General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who is on an official visit to Israel and Jordan this week, said that in his meeting with Israeli leaders he told them that “since I was here last year [October 2012], [the United States has] better military options than we did a year ago” to deal with Iran’s nuclear weapons program. “That’s because we’ve continued to refine them,” he said. “We’ve continued to develop technology, we’ve continued to train and plan.”
General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who is on an official visit to Israel and Jordan this week, told the New York Times that the views of the United States and Israel on the issue of Iran’s nuclear weapons program were closer than what is typically portrayed in the press, and that there are effective military options to thwart the Iranian arch toward the bomb, should such option be necessary.
After his meetings with Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, defense minister Moshe Ya’alon, and military chief of staff General Benny Ganz, General Dempsey said, he “sensed agreement” that diplomatic initiatives and economic sanctions “were having an effect” on Iran, which is seeking to develop the ability to build nuclear weapons.
The Israelis “of course want us to continue to present a credible military threat to support those diplomatic and economic efforts,” General Dempsey said, adding that he told them, “since I was here last year, we have better military options than we did a year ago.”
“That’s because we’ve continued to refine them,” he said. “We’ve continued to develop technology, we’ve continued to train and plan.”
Haaretz reports that this was Dempsey’s second visit to Israel since his appointment to the post in 2011, his first having taken place in October of last year.
The discussions focused on the Iranian nuclear threat, the ongoing civil war in Syria, and the unstable security situation in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
General Dempsey told the Times that Israel’s security fears growing from the Syrian conflict include the flow of arms that could eventually be turned against Israel, and the prospect of growing Iranian influence in Syria and throughout the region.
