Haaretz
Nisan 18, 5765
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon notified
Congress on Tuesday of a proposed sale to Israel of 100 guided
bunker-busting bombs, a move that analysts said could prompt concerns
about a unilateral Israel strike against Iran.
Israel has requested
the sale of the Lockheed Martin Corp. GBU-28s worth as much as $30
million, the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a
notice required by law for government-to-government military
sales.
The GBU-28 was developed for penetrating hardened command
centers located deep underground and would be used by the Israeli Air
Force on their U.S.-built F-15 aircraft, the agency said.
Israel --
believed to be the Middle East's only nuclear armed state -- has denied
speculation that it might make a military strike on Iran to prevent it
from producing an atomic bomb.
In 1981 Israel sent jets to bomb an
Iraqi reactor, driving Saddam Hussein's quest for a bomb underground, and
fueling speculation of a similar strike on Iran.
Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon, in a interview with CNN earlier this month, said his country
was not planning any military attack on Iran.
Sharon, in a separate
interview with Fox News, said: "Of course we take all precautions and all
the steps to defend ourselves. But it's not that Israel should give the
answer to the international problem" of Iran potentially developing a
bomb.
In January, Vice President Dick Cheney warned Israel could in
the future try to attack Iran's nuclear facilities.
The Defense
Security Cooperation Agency said the sale of the GBU-28s would "not affect
the basic military balance in the region."
John Isaacs, president
of the Council for a Livable World, said the proposed sale was clearly "a
provocative step" that would prompt concerns about a unilateral Israel
strike, particularly in Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East.
"One
could be suspicious that these bombs could be used for an Israeli attack
on Iran," Isaacs said, noting that the bunker-busting bombs in question
were nonnuclear, which limited their ability to dig far
underground.
"This particular munition is designed to destroy
deeply buried high-value assets such as command centers or nuclear weapons
facilities," agreed Loren Thompson at the Virginia-based Lexington
Institute. "Draw your own conclusions."
The success of any such
strike on possible Iranian nuclear facilities would depend on the quality
of intelligence about the location of such facilities, as well as how far
underground such sites were buried, Isaacs said.
"It's not a
slam-dunk in any way," he added.
Once notified, Congress has 30
days to reject planned foreign military sales but rarely does so.