Israel’s dilemma
Sir: Jeffrey Goldberg (‘Israel isn’t bluffing’, 10 March) is probably right, but if Israel does attack Iran, they are in a no-win situation. Iran is a large country some distance away. One or two bombing missions will have little effect — look at the weeks it took for Nato to degrade Libya’s defences.
Either Israel fails, in which case that leaves it in a weak position, or else it succeeds in bombing Iran into submission, in which case Russia will have to upgrade Iran’s defences, probably helped by China, because an Israel so strong it could dominate the entire region would be unacceptable.
The best we can hope for is a token attack, such as the one against Syria a few years ago: more a political statement than a genuine act of war.
Andrew Levens
Cirencester
Ukip and the bogeyman
Sir: I am astonished that Rod Liddle has joined the establishment, the BBC, and other media in trying to discredit Ukip by associating it with the BNP.
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