Israeli national security adviser: November is "point of no return" for taking out Iran's nukes

In an interview in an Israeli newspaper this week, Giora Eiland, Israel's national security adviser, made a startling statement: November will be the "point of no return" for taking out the Iranian nuclear program.

"Point of no return" is a phrase with a history. In 1981, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin demanded to know when Saddam Hussein's nuclear plant at Osirak, Iraq, would reach it. Military intelligence then, as always, was muddy. Some of Begin's advisers counseled patience. Others warned that delay could be fatal. The most influential advocate of the go-for-it approach was Begin's minister of defense - Ariel Sharon.

Iran is now on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons. This week, President Bush said categorically that he will not let that happen. But how will he stop it? Persuasion? The Iranians are spitting in the face of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Invasion? The U.S. military is already busy in Iraq and Afghanistan. Covert action? A botched operation would bring the wrath and scorn of the world down on the United States...

The Bush administration already has supplied the tool kit, including F-16I, the first Israeli warplane capable of striking Iran without in-flight refueling. The United States also has supplied ordnance capable of piercing massive fortifications.

"It is rather significant that the United States is now selling Israel over $300 million worth of bunker-busting bombs. They don't need those for the Palestinians," Richard Holbrooke told Bill O'Reilly on Sept. 23. O'Reilly was visibly surprised by the clear implication of this observation. Holbrooke is, after all, the leading Democratic spokesman on foreign affairs, John Kerry's presumptive secretary of state...

This may be America's last remaining point of 100 percent bipartisan foreign policy agreement: Israel was right to smash the Iraqi reactor 23 years ago, and it should be equipped for a similar job in Iran."