When Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu held the first top-secret meeting of his "Iran War Team," the neutralization of the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP) was most certainly identified as a necessary condition for success.
Netanyahu didn't fill the room with a bunch of yes-men.
So even if he wanted to (and I genuinely don't think Netanyahu wanted to) engage in wishful thinking, the independent members of the team wouldn't abide by assuming that somehow Fordow would work out.
That somehow America would ultimately bomb Fordow with their most powerful bunker busters.
And that the optimistic estimates that American bunker busters are sufficient to do the job are correct.
To be clear:
Israel isn't picking targets from a target bank in some kind of tit-for-tat with Iran.
We are following a schedule.
And somehow that plan does indeed address Fordow.
We do not know how yet, but we did not know any of what has happened over the past few days until it happened, because Netanyahu seems to knows how to inspire loyalty in his decision makers while not expecting them to be yes men.
So it's time for all the retired generals and former intelligence heads now sharing their 'wisdom' on television panels to have a modicum of modesty.
They are clueless about what the plan is.
So they should think twice before proclaiming that we have no solution for Fordow and should immediately abandon the operation.
Dr. Aaron Lernerheads IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis, since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on Arab-Israeli relations