Talk:Israeli website reports speculation over U.S. attack on Iran in April

Reliable??

Not sure if this is true,...so I started it...Anymore sources available? Got to go for now. DragonFire1024 19:47, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

the CNS thingy mentions Arab press reports, CNN-IBN doesn't seem to think any sources are necessary, just blandly assert. i'd suggest we look for those Arab news reports, and attribute the claim to them. –Doldrums(talk) 19:50, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Fixed...more sources are there. DragonFire1024 04:32, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Speculation

"Reports say . . ." it's more like "Reporters are speculating . . ."
and on Good Friday, noless? Well, if it happens on that day, I think we can say that the Crusades have formally begun again. Bush will be "George the Lionhearted" instead of "Dubya." --SVTCobra 00:02, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Sources

Well I came up with more sources than I thought I could. It turns out it was an unnamed Russian official...Debka.com has the story on the military personnel, but it comes up in a pop-up window and has no direct source URL. You will have to go to the main page, listed at the bottom of the sources, and click on the article on their front page. DragonFire1024 04:31, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

I can't reach debka.com at all. --SVTCobra 04:57, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Well I googled the name of the site and it came up...the Name of the site is DEBKAfile...if you Goolge Exact words: Debka website, it comes up. DragonFire1024 05:03, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, it finally loaded. Why don't you list their article in the sources? I mean why report on second-hand stuff if you can go straight to the horse's mouth? --SVTCobra 05:13, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Read above...no direct URL link to the article...when you click on the more button it pops up in a new, non copy and paste (the url) window... DragonFire1024 05:18, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

What!?! Do I have buy a magazine subscription as well? What kind of reliable news source behaves in this way? Anyway, I am done with this for the night. If you don't mind the colloquialism, I call BS! Well . . . I guess we will all see on April 6. --SVTCobra 05:35, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

This is got to be bull. Bush does not have nearly as much support as he need to invade another country. Beside, when did Russian journalists have such classified information on US military? 129.173.96.167 15:30, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

Speculation?

Not sure what to say about this article. Tone it down, change title and remove from firstlead. international 05:41, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Well for one, its a report on what someone and something said. The title is what it says may...attack Iran...not that it will. You cannot tone down already publihed reports from the sources...This is a perfect firstlead...very big international interest. DragonFire1024 05:53, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Speculation is speculation. Well its intreasting, its still speculation. They could just be trying toscare Iran, or doing something totally unrelated. (Note, I agree with DragonFire, its published its finished. I personally don't think that the lead article should be about someone saying someone migh do something. However if I'm reverted, i don't really care that much). Bawolff ☺☻ 06:02, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

I won't revert, i just was upset that you chose to do so before discussing. *sigh* DragonFire1024 06:05, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

official US stand

has been that it wants diplomatic solution to the nuclear issue. needs to be sourced and reported. –Doldrums(talk) 11:08, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

another facet to the "attack"

now this is interesting. –Doldrums(talk) 11:35, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

IMO, Russia and Iran have been having their own little cold (or fun in their eyes) for a long time. Would not be surprised if Russia was just trying to scare Iran for fun...given their recent nuclear agreements. DragonFire1024 11:39, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

time claim 0400 misquoted and missing timezone info

• debka source: http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=3990
  • Operation Bite has been scheduled for April 6 at 0040 hours - that means 40 minutes past midnight in some timezone
• wikinews article (present version):
  • April 6 at 4:00 a.m. local time

The present timezone in Israel is UTC+3 and in Iran (at least Teheran) it's UTC+3:30 e.g. according to http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/ (this includes daylight savings corrections).

Is there time info in any other of the sources? If not, then we have at least five different possible values of the time:

• if 0040 is UTC, then in local (Israeli) time this would be 03:40 am local time
• if 0040 is UTC, then in local (Iranian) time this would be 04:10 am local time
• if 0040 is local Israeli time, then in local (Israeli) time this would be 00:40 am local time
• if 0040 is local Israeli time, then in local (Iranian) time this would be 01:20 am local time
• if 0040 is local Iranian time, then in local (Israeli) time this would be 00:10 am local time
• if 0040 is local Iranian time, then in local (Iranian) time this would be 00:40 am local time

None of these agree with our present text, though they're no more than a few hours off.

It's also possible that someone just misread "0040" for "0400" and then decided it must be local time without stating which local time.

My suggestion: we put

"in the early hours of April 6 (local time),"

instead of

"on Good Friday, April 6 at 4:00 a.m. local time,"

Boud 16:02, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

The following source does state 04:00 local time, it mentions mostly a US attack, doesn't mention Israeli participation, so presumably that would be Iranian local time (removes some of the ambiguity i mentioned above): http://www.rense.com/general75/bite.htm . It cites this french-language rian.ru article http://fr.rian.ru/world/20070319/62260006.html which does say 4am to 4pm.

The rian.ru 62260006 article says the plan is an attack 4am to 4pm during the first week of April just before Easter in order that Westerners are mostly on holidays following the attack and "Western opinion" will be on holidays, and it could be on 6 April which is a holiday in Muslim countries. It cites the original source as the Russian weekly "Argoumenty nedeli" (Sunday Arguments).

Hmmm... So i guess debkafile misquoted? Boud 16:19, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

April is key

There are actually six aircraft carriers in a state of readiness for "troop surge". April 6th might not be the day, but April is mentioned a lot in the international and military press. Here are a few subjects and sources that can be researched further:

- USS Ronald Reagan was near Phillipines last week, practising drills with Japanese maritime security forces. - USS Ted Roosevelt is undergoing updates at Norfolk shipyard, including RAM missiles being added. - The Sixth fleet of Marines (about 2000 people) is in Mediterranean near the port of Haifa. - USS Nimitz left San Diego with thousands of crew members on April 2nd, perhaps to replace USS Ike, or not. - USS Ike and Stennis are now in Persian Gulf, with about 10,000 US military personnel related to that effort. - USS Harry Truman left Norfolk shipyard December 2006. Navy news sources said it recently completed training cycle "to prepare for surge capability" in April 2007. - Navy reports it wants 6 CVN's in Pacific theater, of which 3 need to be based at San Diego. - USS Carl Vinson announces this week that its home port will be moved from Norfolk to San Diego. - Fuel supply to Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant is a major topic in UPI news, in India and in Arab press. - Iran's angry reaction to UN sanctions on nuclear material and financing is well-documented. - Articles on the Russian company "Atom Stroi Export" in Arabic News get into a lot of detail on whether UN sanctions are applicable to the "civilian" Bushehr nuclear project. What happens to the spent nuclear fuel rods is not yet determined. This fuel supply issue, during a period when Iranian officials report "great progress" in Bushehr, is raised in the middle of a major international debate on nukes in Iran. - SIX US aircraft carriers and their strike forces are ready, or getting ready, for Persian Gulf duty (see above). - Diego Garcia, a UK and US base south of India, is shrouded in mystery, but there are at least a few planes there. - many threats and promises on timing are reported by UPI ; tough language from Ayatollah in March, and vague answers from many US military sources on the degree of readiness.

The speculation is not really "are we going in," but when. Other media topics lately seem trivial compared to this powder-keg.

Signed,

Junebaby