Israeli Threat of Heavy Blow at Iraq Is Told
WASHINGTON — In the hours following the first Scud missile attack on Israel in January, Israeli officials threatened to launch a large-scale air and ground assault on Iraq but were dissuaded from doing so by Washington, a senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday.
The senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Israel informed the United States of plans to send aircraft and special forces ground troops into western Iraq in an effort to eradicate Saddam Hussein’s mobile Scud missile launchers.
The retaliatory strategy was first discussed between Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Arens shortly after Scud missiles began raining down on Israel on Jan. 17, the official said.
The United States then initiated a flurry of diplomatic activity that succeeded in persuading Israel not to retaliate.
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