Obama urged to show strength against Iran

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JERUSALEM, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- The best way for U.S. President Obama to prevent war with Iran is to provide credible support for Israel, a former Israeli intelligence chief said Saturday.

In an op-ed piece in The Washington Post, Amos Yadlin, now head of the Institute for National Security Studies, said Obama should address the Knesset, or Israeli parliament, notify Congress he will use military force if needed and strengthen the U.S. military in the region. After Yadlin's piece was published, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, said an attack on his country would be the end of Israel.

"Ironically, the best assurance the U.S. president can give Israel is a commitment to, if all else fails, resort to military action to protect critical U.S. interests," Yadlin concluded. "But time is running out to make this commitment credible to the people of the United States, Israel and Iran. As the adage goes, if you want peace, prepare (credibly) for war."

Hajizadeh responded to Yadlin's piece with threats.

"If the loud cries of the leaders of the Zionist regime are materialized, it would be the best opportunity for obliterating this fake regime from the face of the earth and dump it into the dustbin of history," he said in a speech broadcast on Press TV.