Shimon Peres: “The military way will not solve the problem” with Iran

By Cernig

The father of the Israeli nuclear programme, and now President, says he's clearly opposed to Israeli and American saber-rattling about a military option against Iran.

“The military way will not solve the problem,” said Peres..., in an interview with The Sunday Times. “Such an attack can trigger a bigger war.”

Sipping black coffee at the presidential residence in Jerusalem, Peres also criticised American foreign policy in highly unusual terms for an Israeli leader, saying it relied too much on military force in attempts to impose democracy on the Middle East.

“Bush stood up with the democratic slogan [for the Middle East] which is based on American democratic ideas and faced . . . enormous opposition,” he said. “In my opinion, the Americans are making a mistake in their foreign policy. “When they intervene abroad, they’d do better using the economy, which doesn’t provoke such antagonism.”

... Turning to Tehran’s nuclear threat, he said: “There are two ways – a military and a civilian way. I don’t believe in the military option – any kind of military option,” he concluded, admitting with a smile that “what I’m saying to you I say to Olmert, but I can’t tell you what Olmert says to me”.

The views of the Israeli prime minister and defence minister are not secret, however. Both have vowed that Israel will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons. They are convinced that Iran is developing a nuclear capacity for military reasons, not for peaceful purposes as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims.

Peres, a believer in international cooperation, said: “We need a wider coalition to stop Ahmadinejad.”

He believes Iran is not the “enemy” of Israel and that such problems lie not in a country obtaining nuclear weapons, but in dangerous leaders like Ahmadinejad possessing them.

“I recently told [Vladimir] Putin [the Russian prime minister] that the Marxists say that religion is the opium of the masses. I say the religion is the opium of leaders [such as Ahmadinejad].”

Peres only just stopped short of suggesting that with different leadership Iran might be permitted nuclear weapons. “If Switzerland announces tomorrow that it has nuclear weapons, would anyone worry?

...“An American general once said that you only go to war if you have no other option. We have another option,” he said.

That's a lot of welcome sense from the six-decade veteran of Israeli politics who has been PM twice.

Comments

[Blue Girl]

Good! Adding his voice to that of former Mossad chief Ephraim Halevy, maybe someone will listen!

[Ron Beasley]

Too bad the Israelis don't seem to like sane politicians anymore than the US voters do.