Bush denied Israeli request to cooperate in attacking Iran

[Puppycow]

Story

January 11, 2009
U.S. Rejected Aid for Israeli Raid on Iranian Nuclear Site
By DAVID E. SANGER
WASHINGTON — President Bush deflected a secret request by Israel last year for specialized bunker-busting bombs it wanted for an attack on Iran’s main nuclear complex and told the Israelis that he had authorized new covert action intended to sabotage Iran’s suspected effort to develop nuclear weapons, according to senior American and foreign officials.

White House officials never conclusively determined whether Israel had decided to go ahead with the strike before the United States protested, or whether Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel was trying to goad the White House into more decisive action before Mr. Bush left office. But the Bush administration was particularly alarmed by an Israeli request to fly over Iraq to reach Iran’s major nuclear complex at Natanz, where the country’s only known uranium enrichment plant is located.

ANyone suprised that the Israelis really wanted to do this or that Bush denied their request? I'm a little suprised and concerned about the loose lips on this supposedly "secret" request. Israelis will have have to think twice about what they tell the US president in the future, because it may find its way to the pages of the NY Times.

 

[bigjelmapro]

Secret, covert. None of the two. Who says this potential request for bunker busters is ear-marked specifically for Iran's nuclear targets? Who's the source?