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| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 415225
4/25/2008 9:19 AM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
2 killed in shooting attack in Sharon region
[link to www.ynetnews.com]
Gunman fires at two Israeli guards in charge of checking Palestinians arriving from West Bank at industrial zone near Nitzanei Oz. Islamic Jihad, Hamas claim shared responsibility for attack, say terrorist crossed barrier disguised as a woman. IDF sources criticize security at terminal Raanan Ben-Zur Latest Update: 04.25.08, 13:04 / Israel News
Two Israeli guards were killed Friday morning in a shooting attack in an industrial zone near Nitzanei Oz in the Sharon region. The two were in charge of checking Palestinians arriving from the West Bank. The two were identified as Shimon Mizrahi, 53, of Bat Hefer and Eli Wasserman, 51, of Alfei Menashe
The Al-Quds Brigades, the Islamic Jihad's military wing, and the Izz al-Din al-Qassam, Hamas' military wing, claimed shared responsibility for the shooting attack
The organizations claimed that the attack’s executer was a terrorist wanted by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, who arrived at the Israeli Arab village of Qalansuwa disguised as a woman. Later on, the terrorist changed into worker’s garments and advanced towards the factory, where he executed the attack “dedicated to Gaza’s residents.”
The joint statement stressed that the attack was aimed at illustrating that as far as the Palestinians are concerned, a truce with Israel must be comprehensive and include the West Bank.
A senior Islamic Jihad source in the West Bank told Ynet that the shooter had escaped from a PA prison several days ago. According to the source, the attack was carried out in response to Israel's "ongoing crimes" against the organization's members, and in order to signal to the PA that it should stop pursuing the group members.
Following the attack, IDF forces combed the area in search of the terrorists and the entrance to the industrial zone was blocked.
At around 7:20 am, Magen David Adom emergency services received a report on people injured by gunshots in the northern area of the industrial zone, which is located not far from the West Bank city of Tulkarem. Large rescue forces were dispatched to the area.
Itzik Mimran, a paramedic, told Ynet, "We arrived at the area and found two people lying on the on the ground, one near the factory's eastern wall and the other not far away.
"We tended to them, but one of them was killed on the spot and proclaimed dead. The second one still had a pulse and we began resuscitating him, but were eventually forced to proclaim him dead as well."
An initial investigation into the incident revealed that one terrorist or more arrived at a factory in the area, opened fire and escaped. An MDA crew proclaimed two men, in their fifties, dead. A pistol was found on one of the guards' body.
The industrial zone is built in a manner that did not enable the terrorist to flee into Israel, but only back into Tulkarem. "We will find the shooter, regardless of how long its takes us," a senior IDF source told Ynet. |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 415225
4/25/2008 10:43 AM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
Israeli warplanes intensify flights over Lebanon
Irish Sun
Thursday 24th April, 2008
story.irishsun.com
The Israel Air Force has dramatically escalated flights over Lebanese air space, in violation of international law.
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) says the daily number of Israeli air violations surged from 282 in February to 692 in March.
In the first two weeks of April the number has surged again to 476.
“The overflights constitute violations of Lebanese sovereignty and the Blue Line and continue to undermine the credibility of UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces,” the UN Assistant-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Angela Kane, told the Security Council on Wednesday night.
“The Government of Israel has continued to claim the flights are carried out for security reasons. My representatives in the region and I have regularly continued to reiterate our concern and call on Israel to cease the increasing number of overflights, which stand in violation of Security Council resolutions,” she said.
The Israeli flights over Lebanon have been going on for decades, despite international protests.
When the Lebanon war of 2006 came to an end a negotiated ceasefire which translated into UN Resolution 1701 was supposed to bring them to an end. This was so only for a matter of weeks before the Israel Air Force was back in business.
At that time international condemnation of the flights escalated however Israel was undeterred.
"They can protest for as long as they like. Our reconnaissance flights will continue," then deputy defence minister Ephraim Sneh said at the time.
"These are not agreed flights but operations carried out to locate enemies, terrorists," he said.
"The fact there was a ceasefire in Lebanon has not transformed this country into another Switzerland."
The minister was speaking a day after France, which commands the UN peacekeeping force overseeing the truce in Lebanon, and the UN, pressed Israel to halt the overflights, which they called a violation of the ceasefire.
A UN statement issued in the name of special envoy to Lebanon, Norwegian Geir Pedersen, condemned the persistent violations of Lebanese air space.
"Geir Pedersen expresses his serious concern at the continuing overflights by Israel which constitute a breach of Lebanese sovereignty and specifically of Security Council Resolution 1701," it said. |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 415225
4/25/2008 11:13 AM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
add to the mix - a US navy contracted ship fired on Iranian boats |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 192909
4/25/2008 11:44 AM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
Israel rejects Hamas cease-fire offer as humanitarian crisis deepens in Gaza
Israel says offer is a bid to buy time.
[link to www.csmonitor.com] |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 415225
4/25/2008 1:15 PM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
Joint Chiefs Chairman Says U.S. Preparing Military Options Against Iran
By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 25, 2008; 11:43 AM
[link to www.washingtonpost.com]
The nation's top military officer said today that the Pentagon is planning for "potential military courses of action" against Iran, criticizing what he called the Tehran government's "increasingly lethal and malign influence" in Iraq.
Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said a conflict with Iran would be "extremely stressing" but not impossible for U.S. forces, pointing specifically to reserve capabilities in the Navy and Air Force.
"It would be a mistake to think that we are out of combat capability," he said at a Pentagon news conference.
Still, Mullen made clear that he prefers a diplomatic solution to the tensions with Iran and does not foresee any imminent military action. "I have no expectations that we're going to get into a conflict with Iran in the immediate future," he said.
Mullen's statements and others by Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently signal a new rhetorical onslaught by the Bush administration against Iran, amid what officials say is increased Iranian provision of weapons, training, and financing to Iraqi groups that are attacking and killing Americans.
In a speech Monday at West Point, Gates said that Iran "is hell-bent on acquiring nuclear weapons." He said a war with Iran would be "disastrous on a number of levels. But the military option must be kept on the table given the destabilizing policies of the regime and the risks inherent in a future Iranian nuclear threat."
Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, who was nominated this week to head all U.S. forces in the Middle East, is preparing a briefing soon to lay out detailed evidence of increased Iranian involvement in Iraq, Mullen said. The briefing will detail, for example, the discovery in Iraq of weapons that were very recently manufactured in Iran, he said.
"The Iranian government pledged to halt such activities some months ago. It's plainly obvious they have not. Indeed, they seem to have gone the other way," Mullen said.
He said recent unrest in the southern Iraqi city of Basra had highlighted a "level of involvement" by Iran that had not been understood by the U.S. military previously. "It became very, very visible in ways that we hadn't seen before," he said.
But while Mullen and Gates have recently stated that the Tehran government certainly must know of Iranian actions in Iraq, which they say are led by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, or Quds Force, Mullen said he has "no smoking gun which could prove that the highest leadership [of Iran] is involved in this." |
| Military Man
User ID: 422915
4/25/2008 1:25 PM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
Joint Chiefs Chairman Says U.S. Preparing Military Options Against Iran
[link to www.washingtonpost.com] |
| Ignob
User ID: 422925
4/25/2008 1:45 PM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures jumped more than $3 in mid-morning trading Friday after news reports that U.S. military force fired at an Iranian boat. A ship contracted by the U.S Military Sealift Command fired at least one shot toward an Iranian boat, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed U.S. defense official. More details were not yet available. Crude-oil for June delivery gained $3.04, or 2.6%, to $119.10 on the New York Mercantile Exchange after the news. Crude was trading higher before the report but was up less than $3.
Market Watch
[link to www.marketwatch.com]
i  |
| Military Man
User ID: 422915
4/25/2008 4:38 PM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
Look for things to heat up again this weekend across the middleeast.
60 Minutes did an interview of one of Israel's leaders of the IAF and his comments are ominous to the fact that Israel is prepared to take Iran out. Further, there have been numerous U.S. comments of late including one by the Joint Chief of Staff also warning of preparing for possible confrontation with Iran. Further, Iran's pal Sadr has been attacked and his 60,000 men are failing miserably in keeping the U.S. at bay. Worse yet, Iran has used its swift boats to again confront the U.S. To make Iran stick out even further as a sore thumb, Iranian arms are being discovered allover in Iraq, raising the ruffles of the U.S. even further.
Iran can see the writing on the wall. They need to flare up the region to take themselves out of the line of fire. The target shaped around Iran is getting bigger.
Iran has numerous entities to use to short-circuit the spotlight on themselves in the short-term while they develop their nukes; including Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas, and even Al Quaeda units. The warnings coming from sarel and the U.S., the release of Syrian nuke site bombing data, the lack of any potential cease fire with Hamas, Syria's threats of retaliation most likely coming any day, Hezbollah's threats of retaliation coming any day, it all churns into one hell of a messy substance that can only mean more war.
My expectations for the weekend for myself may include mowing the lawn and drinking a few beers, but for Iran, it may include forcing Sadr to declare "all-out war" again, another Hamas attack, Syrian division movements, Hezbollah missile transfers, connecting fuses for IED's to give to Al Quaeda and any other matter that could attempt to keep world attention off of Iran for a few more weeks or months. |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 423040
4/25/2008 4:54 PM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
Look for things to heat up again this weekend across the middleeast.
60 Minutes did an interview of one of Israel's leaders of the IAF and his comments are ominous to the fact that Israel is prepared to take Iran out. Further, there have been numerous U.S. comments of late including one by the Joint Chief of Staff also warning of preparing for possible confrontation with Iran. Further, Iran's pal Sadr has been attacked and his 60,000 men are failing miserably in keeping the U.S. at bay. Worse yet, Iran has used its swift boats to again confront the U.S. To make Iran stick out even further as a sore thumb, Iranian arms are being discovered allover in Iraq, raising the ruffles of the U.S. even further.
Iran can see the writing on the wall. They need to flare up the region to take themselves out of the line of fire. The target shaped around Iran is getting bigger.
Iran has numerous entities to use to short-circuit the spotlight on themselves in the short-term while they develop their nukes; including Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas, and even Al Quaeda units. The warnings coming from sarel and the U.S., the release of Syrian nuke site bombing data, the lack of any potential cease fire with Hamas, Syria's threats of retaliation most likely coming any day, Hezbollah's threats of retaliation coming any day, it all churns into one hell of a messy substance that can only mean more war.
My expectations for the weekend for myself may include mowing the lawn and drinking a few beers, but for Iran, it may include forcing Sadr to declare "all-out war" again, another Hamas attack, Syrian division movements, Hezbollah missile transfers, connecting fuses for IED's to give to Al Quaeda and any other matter that could attempt to keep world attention off of Iran for a few more weeks or months. Quoting: Military Man 422915
The last part of what you said can be sumerised into the " blah blah blah," of what is going on...
btw i catched the Syria Ambassador to washigton press conference and when asked if he expects tensions to escalate he said somthing along the lines that " we are at war with israel and these air raids are common isnt just this one was reported." and the syrian army is ready and blah blah blah....
Also he said peace with israel and syria is very high...
Military Man ,
every friday Hamas and others do somthing big... today last week and the weekbefore that always on fridays =/???
I dont think we will see war this weekend.... the pasta is still boiling...
Btw.... are you saying Iran fuses its proxies to detract attention from itself?? thats what i got from your post? |
| Military Man
User ID: 422915
4/25/2008 5:12 PM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
I dont think we will see war this weekend.... the pasta is still boiling...
Btw.... are you saying Iran fuses its proxies to detract attention from itself?? thats what i got from your post?
That is the reasoning. Of course Iran wants all of its allies armed to the teeth and well-trained to be ready for the "real" war when it erupts. At the same time, Iran uses its friends as detractors to actually keep the heat off of themselves. In 2006, the Hezbollah definitely kept the heat off of Iran as the world's attention was focused on trying to keep the war from blowing up into a greater event. Even the Hamas v. Israel issue keeps Iran out of the spot-light. Iran simply wants to buy more time to build its nukes, its that simple. |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 423040
4/25/2008 5:29 PM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
I dont think we will see war this weekend.... the pasta is still boiling...
Btw.... are you saying Iran fuses its proxies to detract attention from itself?? thats what i got from your post?
That is the reasoning. Of course Iran wants all of its allies armed to the teeth and well-trained to be ready for the "real" war when it erupts. At the same time, Iran uses its friends as detractors to actually keep the heat off of themselves. In 2006, the Hezbollah definitely kept the heat off of Iran as the world's attention was focused on trying to keep the war from blowing up into a greater event. Even the Hamas v. Israel issue keeps Iran out of the spot-light. Iran simply wants to buy more time to build its nukes, its that simple. Quoting: Military Man 422915
Why doesent America or Israel ..... wake up and realize there plans and be like " we arnt stupid ... its on BITCH."
BTw i read on fox that the DOD postponed a briefing to the press on Irans envolvment with arms in and to IRAQ due to requests by the Malki govt on the grounds that it might damage political relations with Iran aND Iraq... you know about this? |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 423040
4/25/2008 5:31 PM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
ooo and that guy ALBARIDI head of the IAEA is a nut job hes soo pro-iranian and syrian and terrorism that its not even funny.... he needs to be removed.... hes one of the main reasons Iran has gotten soo far ... he kisses their asses and says what they want him 2 say... |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 192909
4/25/2008 8:03 PM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
Israel's Air Force Chief: Iran Threat Real
Tells 60 Minutes Israel's Air Force Is Ready For Any Threat, Especially A Nuclear Iran
[link to www.cbsnews.com] |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 192909
4/25/2008 8:07 PM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
Israel: Syria may rethink retaliation in light of nuclear revelations
The closed-door hearings of the House Intelligence Committee regarding a site in Syria that the Israel Air Forces bombed last September were closely followed Thursday by senior officials in Israel.
U.S. officials said that the Israeli strike destroyed a Syrian nuclear reactor built with North Korean design help.
Senior Israeli defense sources said Thursday night that it was still early to gauge how Damascus would react to the news, but warned that the Syrians may now reconsider and decide to retaliate against Israel in some way.
American release of details about the strike would embarrass Syrian leader Bashar Assad, and lead him to take a more aggressive stance toward Israel.
[link to www.haaretz.com] |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 423110
4/25/2008 8:27 PM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
Military Man, thanks for keeping us updated and I know that whatever happens in the middle east will affect us all. Will Russia and China stay out of it? I hope so. |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 121743
4/26/2008 12:54 AM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
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| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 262098
4/26/2008 12:55 AM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
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| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 176444
4/26/2008 11:42 AM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
This is the closest we have been to Isaiah 17:1 and the destruction of Damascus. Could it be that Syria is so embarrased at thier clandestine nuclear operation being exposed by Israeli "moles" and subsequently destroyed, that Bashar Assad may just seek revenge and bring to wrath of God upon all Syria?
----------------------------------------------------------
Analysis: Assad caught red-handed may now go for revenge
April 25, 2008, 6:54 PM (GMT+02:00) [link to www.debka.com]
Ready for nuclear
fuel rods as per North
Korean model
US and Israel intelligence experts upgrade the chances of president Bashar Assad retaliating for the Israeli attack, which irreparably damaged the secret nuclear North Korea built for him in eastern Syria - now that the episode is out in the open. DEBKAfile quotes those experts as recalling Saddam Hussein's burning ambition to hit Israel's nuclear site at Dimona after Israeli jets smashed Iraq's French built nuclear reactor in 1981.
Assad will find it hard to avoid avenging his humiliation Thursday, April 24, when America's top intelligence officials briefing congressional committees laid bare detail after detail of Syria's nuclear program. They all agreed that it was incumbent on the United States to take further steps against Iran as well as Syria to avert any more developments which endanger the world.
The briefing brought out key data hidden from the public in the eight months since the Israeli raid.
1. It confirmed DEBKAfile's October 2007 report that North Korean personnel had built a reactor for the production of plutonium for nuclear weapons in a hidden canyon of of eastern Syria.
2. Israel managed to plant a mole or moles inside the reactor compound capable of producing professional photos from inside the reactor. US lawmakers where shown, for instances, images of a concrete floor with rows of holes ready for the nuclear fuel rods to power the plant.
Assad must have been irked beyond endurance when his most coveted secrets and security were shown to the world as having been blown wide open, when the regime he heads depends for its survival on a battery of secret police and undercover agencies with eyes and ears everywhere.
3. The Israeli raid demonstrated too that Syria's military establishment has been penetrated as fatally as his clandestine agencies.
4. The congressional briefing will have done more to mar the relations of trust between Tehran and Damascus than any diplomatic or military action. Cracks are inevitable in their strategic pact. It will be hard for Iran to continue to pose as the No. 1 Middle East power after Syria, its foremost ally and military mainstay, exposed its extreme vulnerability.
5. Tehran's precise role in the Syrian nuclear program is not known, but it was obvious to the American lawmakers listening to the intelligence briefing that Syria would not have built a nuclear reactor without Iran's knowledge and consent, and that the Syrian plant was designed to be an integral part of Iran's own nuclear program.
Iran will no doubt have inferred from the disclosures about the Israeli attack on the Syrian reactor and its painful fallout for the Assad regime that its own projects may be subjected to the same fate.
It is a matter of record now that Israel is the only country in the world to have ever destroyed two nuclear reactors in successful go-it-alone, intelligence-backed military operations. |
| Mossad Agent's Wife
User ID: 391142
4/26/2008 2:08 PM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
I have been in the States as much has gone on since the war threats started to emerge before Purim.
Information coming in to my husband still reveals the plan of war to come this summer or at longest, before December. The Syrian troops are at the border. Iranian agents are known to co-exist with the Hezbollah throughout Lebanon, north and south of the Litni. My husband has seen the listening posts with many foreign agents (not just Iranian) and the launching sites for zelfor missiles and even longer range missiles.
There are consultations amongst European allies and the U.S. as to whether Iran should be attacked or whether Israel does it alone. Though some nations are very generous in their offers, it appears that Israel will have most of the burden. It is a race between the enemies and the Israeli front on whom is willing to and ready to launch the war first.
Iran has become frustrated with Hamas as she has not illicited a more severe response from attacks on the homeland. Look for greater attacks and even a new front opening up soon.
Do not look for war as it is coming and will find us in many ways far more seriously than what has been faced for many decades. The fig tree will be shaken and pruned and when it is over, I am afraid that I will have lost many neighbors and friends.
My last warning for the week, peace talks mean nothing when you have scuds loaded with weapons of mass destruction. |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 423550
4/26/2008 3:58 PM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
Moosad agent wife,
Come for 60 SHANA LA MEDNA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| Military Man
User ID: 121743
4/26/2008 6:27 PM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
North Korea is and has been working behind the scenes with Syria for a while.
Read this article.
Kim Jong-il builds ‘Thunderbirds’ runway for war in North Korea
[link to www.timesonline.co.uk]
Last year Jane’s Defence Weekly reported that dozens of Iranian engineers and Syrians were killed on July 23 attempting to load a chemical warhead containing the nerve gases VX and sarin onto a Scud missile at a plant in Syria.
The Scuds and warheads are of North Korean design and possibly manufacture. Some analysts think North Korean scientists were helping the Syrians to attach air-burst chemical warheads to the missiles.
Syria possesses more than 100 Scud-C and ScudD missiles which it bought from North Korea in the past 15 years. In the 1990s it added cluster warheads to the Scud-Cs that experts believe are intended for chemical weapons.
Like North Korea, Syria has an extensive chemical weapons programme including sarin, VX and mustard gas, according to researchers at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute in California.
The Scud-C is strategically worrying to Israel because Syria has deployed it with one launcher for every two missiles. The normal ratio is one to 10. The conclusion: Syria’s missiles are set up for a devastating first strike. |
| Captain Trips
User ID: 269684
4/27/2008 10:03 AM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
Will Israel use Neutron Bomb weaponry in the next war with Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon ? |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 262098
4/27/2008 10:13 PM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
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| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 262098
4/28/2008 4:45 AM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
|
| i is that which i is 
Hawaii me sea, where you see?
User ID: 342515
4/28/2008 4:55 AM
 | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
Hi,
According to the dictionary, all peoples in the Land of Palestine are Semites, including both Arabs and Jews. They are not different races, just different religions.
They together lived in peace before being invaded by the European Zionists.
It is time for the United States to quit taking sides and to get out of the religious wars of the Middle East.
Let them live in peace or die in war. Their choice.
Peace, love, and enlightenment.
If we do not live in peace together, we die in war together!
"I am not afraid to stand alone, but it's always more fun if I have friends standing with me." Lena Coleon. |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 415225
4/28/2008 9:01 AM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
The Syrian Nuclear Mystery Evolves
[link to www.stratfor.com]
Syria has been accused of new shipments of sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles to Hezbullah in Lebanon
US warships are parked off the Lebanese coast
The Israelis recently jammed the Lebanese cellphone network, presumably in an effort to disrupt command and control processes
Syria was massing forces presumably designed to deal with an Israeli attack in Lebanon
The US administration just briefed Congress on the Israeli raid in Syria September 6, 2007 that destroyed a North Korean-designed nuclear reactor
And now the UN is upset with Israel and the US for acting on this information without going to them
And then...
The Syrian Foreign Minister - standing next to his counterpart in Teheran, no less - publicly announced a peace offer with Israel in exchange for the Golan Heights, and
Israeli government statements point towards a reciprocation of that offer
The only thing that's abundantly clear about the situation in Israel is that it's murky.
The Bush administration briefed the U.S. Congress on Thursday about the reasons behind the Sept. 6, 2007, Israeli raid on Syria. According to the secret briefing — the content of which, of course, not only was leaked immediately (as was intended) but was essentially confirmed by a White House spokeswoman — the target was a nuclear reactor, able to produce plutonium, that had been built with the assistance of North Korea. The administration showed a videotape, apparently produced by Israeli intelligence, showing faces that were said to be in the facility and to be clearly Korean.
What is important to note is this information is not new. It is a confirmation of the story leaked by the administration shortly after the attack and also leaked by the Israelis a bit later. The explanation for the attack was that it was designed to take out a reactor in Syria that had been built with North Korean help. There are therefore three questions. First, why did the United States go to such lengths to reveal what it has been saying privately for months? Second, why did the administration do it now? Third, why is the United States explaining an Israeli raid using, at least in part, material provided by Israel? Why isn’t Israel making the revelation?
It has never been clear to us why the Israelis and Americans didn’t immediately announce that the Syrians were building a nuclear reactor. Given American hostility toward Syria over support for jihadists in Iraq, we would have thought that they would have announced it instantly. The explanation we thought most plausible at the time was that the intelligence came from the North Koreans in the course of discussions of their nuclear technology, and since the North Koreans were cooperating, the United States didn’t want to publicly embarrass them. It was the best we could come up with.
The announcement on Thursday seems to debunk that theory, at least to the extent that the primary material displayed was U.S. satellite information and the Israeli video, which was said to have been used to convince the United States of the existence of the reactor and of North Korean involvement. So why didn’t the administration condemn Syria and North Korea on Sept. 7? It still seems to us that part of the explanation is in the state of talks with North Korea over its own program. The North Koreans had said that they would provide technical information on their program — which they haven’t done. Either the United States lost its motivation to protect North Korean feelings because of this or the Bush administration felt that Thursday’s briefings would somehow bring pressure to bear on North Korea. Unless the United States is planning to use these revelations as justification for attacks on the North Koreans, we find it difficult to see how this increases pressure on them.
More interesting is the question of why the United States — and not Israel — is briefing on an Israeli raid. Israeli media reported April 23 that the Israelis had asked the Americans not to brief Congress. The reason given was that the Israelis did not want the United States to embarrass Syria at this point. As we noted on April 23, there appeared to have been some interesting diplomatic moves between Syria and Israel, and it made sense that revealing this information now might increase friction.
If this read is true, then it would appear that the United States briefed deliberately against Israeli wishes. Certainly, the Israelis didn’t participate in the process. One answer could be that the United States is unhappy about Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s moves on Syria and wants to derail them. The United States wanted Syria out of Lebanon. The Israelis have a more complex view of their presence. In some ways, they see the Syrians as a stabilizing force. And they certainly aren’t eager to see Bashar al Assad’s government fall, since whatever might replace the al Assad government would probably be worse from the Israeli point of view. That would mean that the Israelis would want to take out the reactor, but not necessarily rub the Syrians’ nose in it.
So there are two plausible answers to Thursday’s show. One is to increase pressure on North Korea. The second is to derail any Israeli-Syrian peace process. The problem is that it’s hard to see why North Korea is going to be moved by the official declaration of what Washington has been saying from the beginning. The second would assume that U.S.-Israeli relations had deteriorated to the point that the United States had to use this as a lever. That’s tough to believe.
The senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, Peter Hoekstra, said after the briefing, “This administration has no credibility on North Korea. A lot of us are beginning to become concerned that the administration is moving away from getting a solid policy solution to ‘let’s make a deal.’”
So that seems to undermine the prep for strike theory. That leaves tension between the United States and Israel as the last standing theory. Not a good theory, but the last standing one. |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 269684
4/28/2008 9:47 AM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
Turkey: There's a long way to go before Israeli Syrian peace
[link to www.ynetnews.com]
Turkish foreign minister says agreement between longtime enemies requires 'strong political determination' on both sides
Associated Press Published: 04.28.08, 13:55 / Israel News
Turkey's foreign minister said Monday there was still a lot to achieve before any peace agreement between Israel and Syria.
Ali Babacan told reporters Monday that an agreement between the longtime enemies requires "strong political determination" on both sides.
Turkey, which has close ties to both Israel and Syria, has disclosed that it is trying to restart low-level talks between the two countries as a prelude to bringing the leaders of Syria and Israel together.
The last round of direct peace talks between the two countries broke down in 2000 over the details of Israel's proposed withdrawal from the Golan Heights.
A senior Israeli official said Sunday that peace with Syria was in Israel's interests, on the condition that Damascus is cut off from the axis of evil.
However, the official stressed that negotiations could take time and required patience, and that while the Turkish channel betweenIsrael and Syria did exist, expectations regarding the issue should be kept realistic.
If Syria breaks away from the axis of evil, if the transfer of arms to Hizbullah is halted and if Jihad and Hamas bases are removed from Damascus – this will constitute progress, and not all this talk and decelerations," he stated.
According to the official, "If Israel will be required to pay the price in question, namely ceding the Golan Heights, without getting anything in return – then we have gained nothing." |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 269684
4/28/2008 9:48 AM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
Palestinian groups vow to avenge 'Beit Hanoun massacre'
[link to www.ynetnews.com]
Outraged by killing of five family members in Beit Hanoun by IDF shell, Gaza factions pledge to make 'Zionist enemy' pay. 'Even if we attend peace talks, we won't hesitate to kidnap or kill Israelis,' PRC spokesman says
Ali Waked Published: 04.28.08, 12:35 / Israel News
The death of five members of the Abu-Meatak by an IDF shell in Beit Hanoun Monday drew outraged responses and threats from the Palestinian organizations in Gaza that vowed to avenge what they defined as a "Zionist massacre."
The shell killed a mother and her four children, as well as a 15-year-old Palestinian teen and a local gunman.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack, saying "it does not serve the efforts to achieve calm and undermines the peace process." Abbas also stressed the need to keep the Palestinian people protected from the consequences of warfare.
A Hamas spokesman, Fawzi Barhoum, told Ynet that "the IDF's operation is a dangerous crime and proves the enemy's stupidity. This massacre reflects the Zionist enemy's criminal way of thinking and its efforts to undermine the prospects for a lull and the attempt to bring stability and security to the region."
Barhoum added that "the Zionist enemy will pay a heavy price for the massacre in Beit Hanoun. The Zionists will not be safe as long as our children are being killed. We shall continue with the resistance and strike the enemy."
Members of the Popular Resistance Committees have also pledged to carry on with their operations against the IDF. "Even while attending peace talks, if we get a chance to kidnap a soldier or kill a Zionist – we will not hesitate to do so," the group's spokesman Muhammad Abed al-Aal told Ynet.
"By this action the enemy tried to prove that it is not begging for a lull, while the opposite is in fact true. In any case, no talks could prevent us from attacking the enemy. We will exact a heavy price," he concluded. |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 269684
4/28/2008 9:48 AM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
Paying the price of our arrogance
[link to www.ynetnews.com]
Publication of Syrian nuke reactor’s photos recklessly exposed intelligence assets Alex Fishman Published: 04.28.08, 09:36 / Israel Opinion
The moment the State of Israel allowed one of its intelligence bodies to hand over the incriminating material to another country, so that it will be presented in civilian forums, Israel in fact no longer had any control over the material.
The publication of relatively fresh intelligence information is always problematic, but what happened this time can be termed a reckless intelligence striptease. Now, after we praised ourselves in public and boosted our national moral ahead of the 60th Independence Day celebrations, it is time to start monitoring the damage caused by none other than those in charge of classified information security.
Those are the people who explain to us how irresponsible the media are – while they proceed to commit the most severe offences, not to mention turning the military censor into a laughing stock.
Defense officials are now infuriated by the manner and scope of the publication, which exposed our intelligence capabilities. The problem is not with the satellite photos, but rather, with the photos taken in and around the Syrian reactor. We are not talking about mere archive photos, but rather, relatively recent ones taken by someone inside the facility or around it.
It doesn’t matter at all who shot those photos: What we have here is the exposure of capabilities and intelligence sources. We also have a possible exposure of a breach in the Syrian security and intelligence apparatus. The moment these photographs were published, the Syrians were sure to be doing everything in their power to identify and block this breach.
There is no way in the world that an intelligence agency would hand over fresh photos of a target taken by its own agents or other sources to a foreign agency, with the knowledge that these photos will be published internationally almost immediately – as if saying: Look at us, we were here.
Long-term damage
There is no kind of diplomatic or political event that justifies the exposure of this kind of intelligence asset; certainly not a Congress hearing dealing with North Korea’s violations while it engages in talks with the US.
Syria is a bitter enemy, and the ability to penetrate into the secret core of the enemy is a precious national asset that sometimes has no substitute.
If the claims that Israel was the one that handed over the photos to the American Administration are true, this was likely done in order to convince it of the creditably of the information it possessed regarding Syria’s nuclear activity. Yet had the Americans presented the photos to the North Koreans behind closed doors, without sharing their source , that would have been less problemati. At least it would have spared us the provocation of the Syrians.
It is also very likely that someone in Israel has an interest in showcasing to the Americans Israel’s capabilities and how credible our information is, even when it comes to other countries in the region.
Yet none of these reasons justifies harming a national intelligence asset. If Israel indeed acquired the photos, it could have showed them to the Americans but not hand them over.
Intelligence officials on both sides agreements about what should be published and how. Yet the moment such material falls into the hands of Israeli and American politicians, who are making use of it for domestic purposes, all these agreements are worth nothing.
In the short-term they may be able to argue that no damage has been done and that, on the contrary, Israel’s deterrence capabilities were boosted – there’s nobody like us in the world. However, in the long-run we shall be paying the price for this boastfulness. |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 269684
4/28/2008 11:25 AM | | Re: War Thread - The Official Israel v. Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas War Thread 2008. | Quote |
-why Israel even considers a truce with Hamas is beyond me
Hamas leader: We won't rest until Jaffa, Haifa, Ashkelon are freed
Published: 04.28.08, 18:09 / Israel News
[link to www.ynetnews.com]
Hamas leader Dr. Nizar Rian said that the organization will not put down its weapons until Jaffa, Haifa, Ashkelon, and all of the Palestinian cities are released, "and until Muslims return to pray at the mosques in those cities."
Rian spoke during the funeral of the Abu Ma'atik family, who were killed during an IDF air raid in Gaza on Monday. (Ali Waked) |
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