>>>
an amazing story taking place in
iran
. yesterday an iranian
nuclear scientist
was ait isssassinated. it's likely ? part of a war against the
nuclear program
. look what's happened in the past few years. five scientists have been targeted in similar attacks. one survived. the others were killed. a number of mysterious explosions have been reported at sites thought to be military complexes. one of the attacks killed a top missile expert. back in
2009
, a
computer virus
infested the country's
nuclear facilities
causing significant damage and delay. no country has taken responsibility for any of these attacks, but
iran
has accused the
united states
and
israel
. secretary of state
hillary clinton
forcefully denied american involvement.
>>
i want to categorically deny any
united states
involvement in any kind of
act of violence
inside
iran
.
>>
so what's going on here? robert barings is now an intelligence columnist. thank you, sir. what's going on? generally what's going on? the attacks have a pattern? does it have the fingerprints of an israeli industry?
>>
it has to be the
israelis
. you look at the target and you look at the capabilities. it's not american e. there's no lethal finding against
iran
. the israels, as far as i can see, are trying to provoke the
iranians
into doing something.
>>
that's always my question. consequences explained and dealt with when they ?come. what could -- we have an american over there condemned to death. is that one of the assets brutally stated against us that they can execute him? would they go that far as payback for something like this assuming we had some role in knowing about this?
>>
they have done a couple things. they have hit the
british embassy
. they kidnapped this american fbi agent. they can do a number of things. but what we're seeing is an escalation, chris. it's almost as if the intention is to get the
iranians
to fire a missile at an
oil tanker
in the straight after her muse. it would help them because the
israelis
would force them to hitting back, and that's exactly what they want.
>>
you think it's
israel
trying to get us into this thing. let's go to
richard
angle. you had a report ob the nightly news last night. give us the gist of it.
>>
i think you need to understand this in the larger context. last month, the
united states
passed incredibly harsh sanctions on
iran
. the expected outcome of this is that
iran
feeled backed into a corner.
iran
has responded with bellicose language. and now there's tension in the straight of hormuz. so going back to the last guest was talking about, if you want to hit
iran
and you need a context to do that, the way to do that is by forcing
iran
into a ? corner. forcing your adversary to make an aggressive move and then everyone will think you are correct when you respond with force.
>>
why is it important for
israel
, if it's
israel
doing the attack on the iranian
nuclear facilities
, why would
israel
-- how would that help
israel
? the world is tough on
israel
. would anybody take the edge off attacking
iran
no matter what preceded it?
>>
let's say
iran
goes out and launches an attack on
iran
. the next day,
oil prices
go through the roof. $200 a barrel for oil. everyone blames
israel
. there was ways around this. if suddenly
iran
feels strangled, their economy is under collapse, it it does something like put sea minds in the strait of hormuz,
oil prices
go up any way, then an israeli attack happens or some sort of
military action
happens against
iran
, then you look like the savior.
>>
let me get back to bob. do you believe this is what's going on? do you think a rational observer would say this is moving towards creating a pretext?
>>
absolutely. this is speculation, of course. i don't know what the
israelis
are planning. i know the
white house
doesn't want a war x but we see this pressure, this logic of war that keeps on marching forward, and the
iranians
are looking at a year or two to hit the
nuclear facilities
. they cannot ? be seen to initiate this. if you keep assassinating the people, it's a humiliation. you make it a reaction out of them. . and the world says there's nothing we could have done except hit the
israelis
. these assassinations alone don't stop their
nuclear program
. they are simply a provocation.
>>
what about you,
richard
?
>>
i think it is. the
israelis
can't be seen as drawing first blood. killing a 32-year-old scientist who worked in procurement is not going to stop the program. they have so far killed five people, four of them civilians. one of them a general who were involved in the missile program or the
nuclear program
directly. it has a psychological impact, but it's not going to slow down or stop the program. so i think you have to look at the other objective. is the objective to try and make yourself feel better? is it to try to put the
iranians
on edge? is it to try to provoke a response from them? or is it a bit of all of that?
>>
how can the
united states
not see this ased aerer sar y'all by
israel
to try to hook us into a war? if that's the case. if bob is right saying this is an attempt to try to get us in by trying to get the
iranians
mad at us, if that's seen to manipulate us into a war we don't want to get into, how can we see that as not hostile?
>>
i'm not sure if it's to draw the u.s. into a war, ? but it gives
israel
the ability to do this action unilaterally. i don't think
israel
would tell the
united states
they are going to do it. we would wake up and it's happened. they would need to tell
saudi arabia
to give them fly-over rights, but i don't think the
israelis
expect the u.s. to do this for them.
>>
i thought you were saying that
israel
is trying to provoke the
iranians
into attacking us?
>>
if we're attacked, it gives the israels and americans on the same side, no choice but to hit the
iranians
. they need our
air force
to complete the job. they they can't do it alone.
>>
this is something we'll be talking about from now to
election day
. i have been reading all the politics on the table. this is of interest to our country,
israel
, and of course,
iran
. it's involved in politics. not just the survival of
israel
. thank you,
richard
en gel and
bob baer
.
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