Reg: Hi, welcome back to www.stopIranWar.com. I'm Reg. I'm a securingamerica blogger. I'm here with Jon Soltz and, of course, General Wesley Clark.

Jon Soltz: Thank you, Reg. Welcome back to stopIranWar.com , and we're honored to have Reg, one of our, our best bloggers here with us today.

Reg: There's been a debate about whether striking Iran is good for Israel.

Jon Soltz: Well Reg, you know, obviously I served in Iraq. I served in Iraq as an American soldier, but also as a, as a Jewish-American. I wanted to join the Army. I went to Israel when I was sixteen, and I was very, you know, motivated by the fact that everybody serves. And even when I went to Iraq, I still, actually it's on my dog tags here "Jewish," and it's, it's, it's obviously a concern that I have. But I actually, I think, agree with General Clark, and I'll let him elaborate, that striking, I can't say it any clearer, that striking Iran will- is detrimental to Israel's security. And I'd like to ask General Clark his, his perspective on it from the strategic standpoint.

General Wesley Clark: Well, I wouldn't say that you never can use military force, but I can't see the circumstances right now where it would benefit Israel. It's far better if we can persuade Iran not to acquire nuclear weapons, and do it with all the positive incentives that are out there. We need to be shaping a new vision for the, for the region, and people in the region have to feel differently about each other. And the United States really is the power that can help bridge the gaps of mistrust if we ourselves have new vision. So, I think that I wouldn't say 'never' on military force in cases like this, because every President has said that he will fight to preserve the safety and security of the State of Israel. But I do think that in this case we got to lead with dialog and diplomacy and shaping a new vision. So, I don't see the, I don't see the talk on the striking in Iran right now as being productive. I think it's a distraction from what we need to be focusing on.

Reg: Jon, do you agree with General Clark on the importance of protecting Israel?

Jon Soltz: Well, of course as, as a soldier, as an officer in the Army, as, as a Jewish American, I, I think that, you know, we all agree that Israel has a right to exist and that we need to protect it, but to preemptively strike Iran without dialog, to me, would only cause a problem much like in Iraq with the Mahdi Army and the Shia militias or with Hezbullah. And, and, and that would, in the short term really cause more of, of conflict on Israal's Northern border region, and, and I just can't say that, that, you know, striking Iran unilaterally right now is in Israel's best interests.

Reg: General Clark, what do you think Iran's response would be to an attack?

General Wesley Clark: Well, Iran is going - if it's attacked, it's going to be a big, powerful attack - it's going to lose most of it's conventional military response. One of it's first immediate responses would be to trigger another attack against Israel by Hezbullah. In fact, Hezbullah has rearmed. They've rebuilt strong points. Now, they're a little bit further North. They're not right on the border, but they're North of where the UN people are. But they're within range of longer range rockets, and apparently they've been brought in, and it's been fortified. So, I'm sure that the Israelis are looking at how to prevent this and protect against what we saw the last time, how devastating and demoralizing these rocket attacks can be. So, I, I, I think that the United States and Israel have to do what's right, but in this case, you also have to recognize what the consequences would be. So, this is the time to talk and work to prepare for another eventuality, but you can't fool yourself about what might happen. This, this could be a long and protracted struggle once the initial volley against Iran is undertaken.

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John Solz: www.stopIranWar.com. Please, act now.

General Wesley Clark: Thank you.