I find this story almost mind-blowing!
We all knew that it had to be Israel that launched this latest missile strike against Syria. After all, it is one in a series, and who else could or would launch such an attack from the sea?
As to what exactly was the rationale behind the attack, it is open to speculation:
- Dissatisfaction with the lack of US action in Syria.
- An attempt to sabotage upcoming peace talks in Geneva.
- As stated, an attack on a weapons convoy, bound for Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Personally, I think Israel is simply trying to provoke a response. They know it won’t come from Assad as he has all his resources tied up in fighting the rebel armies. The response they are looking for is from Iran – one that will sabotage any peace negotiations between the Americans and the Persians.
Putting all this to one side though, I still find the Israeli response to being exposed as the culprits astonishing! We didn’t expect them to apologise, of course, but we might have expected that Israeli officials would at least try to explain why they attacked another sovereign nation without provocation. Instead their response seems to have been one of indignance! Apparently they feel ‘compromised’, and they are horrified that their ally, the USA, has identified them as being responsible for the crime!
I suppose this is just the norm nowadays. High profile criminals never expect to be held accountable for their crimes, while those who expose them are invariably hunted down and made to pay – Mordechai Vanunu, Julian Assange, Bradley Manning, Ed Snowden, … Have we really reached the point though now where the Israeli government doesn’t even feel a need to try to justify its acts of war?!
Father Dave
source: www.timesofisrael.com…
Israel ‘furious’ with White House for leak on Syria strike
Israel is fuming with the White House for confirming that it was the Israeli Air Force that struck a military base near the Syrian port city of Latakia on Wednesday, hitting weaponry that was set to be transferred to Hezbollah.
Israel has not acknowledged carrying out the strike, one of half a dozen such attacks widely ascribed to Israel in recent months, but an Obama administration official told CNN on Thursday that Israeli warplanes had indeed attacked the Syrian base, and that the target was “missiles and related equipment” set for delivery to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
A second TV report, on Israel’s Channel 2, said the leak “came directly from the White House,” and noted that “this is not the first time” that the administration has compromised Israel by leaking information on such Israeli Air Force raids on Syrian targets.
It said some previous leaks were believed to have come from the Pentagon, and that consideration had been given at one point to establishing a panel to investigate the sources.
Channel 2′s military analyst, Roni Daniel, said the Obama administration’s behavior in leaking the information was unfathomable.
Daniel noted that by keeping silent on whether it carried out such attacks, Israel was maintaining plausible deniability, so that Syria’s President Bashar Assad did not feel pressured to respond to the attacks.
But the US leaks “are pushing Assad closer to the point where he can’t swallow these attacks, and will respond.” This in turn would inevitably draw further Israeli action, Daniel posited, and added bitterly: “Then perhaps the US will clap its hands because it will have started a very major flare-up.”
Channel 2 speculated that the US might have leaked word of Israel’s attack as a warning to Israel to desist from such actions. Alternately, it might be seeking to signal that it was part of the tough policy designed to prevent a flow of sophisticated weaponry to Assad. But these and other possible explanations simply didn’t justify the leak, which the TV report described as “illogical” and “foolish.”
Jerusalem’s reported anger with the White House over the leak coincided with efforts by the Administration to assure Israel that it is holding to a tough line on Syria and in the effort to thwart Iran’s nuclear program, and is maintaining its robust military partnership with Israel.
On Thursday, the US ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, reiterated America’s commitment to thwarting Iranian nuclear weapons ambitions. “Let me be absolutely clear: President Obama is determined to ensure that the Islamic Republic does not acquire a nuclear weapon,” Power said at the Anti-Defamation League’s centennial conference held Thursday in a Manhattan hotel. Addressing the subject of nuclear negotiations with Iran, she said the Obama administration considers a bad deal worse than no deal and that the administration will not accept a bad deal.
Later Thursday, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel told the same gathering that the US is testing Iran’s diplomatic intentions but remains “clear-eyed” on Iran’s role as a state-sponsor of terror and exporter of extremism.
Hagel also announced that the US will fast-track delivery of six advanced Osprey helicopter-airplanes to Israel. “Israel will get six V-22s out of the next order to go on the assembly line, and they will be compatible with other [Israeli defense] capabilities,” Hagel said, anticipating delivery in two years time. NBC News said Israel requested that the delivery of the Ospreys be expedited because of threats from Iran and Syria.
Hagel added that “the Israeli and American defense relationship is stronger than ever, and it will continue to strengthen.”
read the rest of this article here.
Filed under Israel and Palestine by on Nov 3rd, 2013. 1 Comment. 
You might wonder why I’m publishing this extract from an article about Syria on israelandpalestine.org…. It’s because it’s all deeply connected.
Why is the US, along with so many of its ‘allies’ in the Middle East, concerned to see the ‘Assad regime’ toppled? Is it really because of humanitarian concern for the oppressed people of Syria? Not a chance! It’s because the US and most of the Sunni Arab countries want to bring down the Shiite alliance – Syrian, Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Ahmadinejad is the real target, as Iran is the only real barrier to US/Israeli hegemony in the region, and yet the US (if not Israel) still fears a direct assault on Iran, and for good reason! The safer strategy is to weaken Ahmadinejad’s allies and so bring about regime change in Iran. That’s the goal.
And so the media sells us the story of Robin Hood and his merry men taking on the evil Syrian dictator. Of course Assad is no saint but, as Mother Agnes showed us, the situation is far more complex than our governments would have us believe, and the hypocrisy of the West’s supposed humanitarian concern is appalling!
Father Dave
source: www.mcclatchydc.com……
Syrian rebels say Americans, Britons helped train them in Jordan
By David Enders McClatchy Newspapers ‘
AMMAN, Jordan — Weeks before the Obama administration and other Western nations recognized a new Syrian opposition coalition as “the legitimate representative” of the Syrian people, Syrian rebels were receiving training in the use of light and heavy weapons with the backing of the Jordanian, British and U.S. governments, participants in the training have told McClatchy.
The training took place as far back as October and involved hundreds of rebels, the participants said. In one case, the rebel participant said men he believed were American intelligence officers observed what was taking place..=20 Another said he believed British officers were helping to organize the training. The training itself was handled by Jordanian military officers, the rebels said.
“We hoped there would be more training on larger weapons,” said Kamal al Zoubani, a fighter from the southern Syrian city of Daraa, which often is referred to as the birthplace of the uprising against President Bashar Assad, which began nearly 22 months ago. “But we were allowed to take light weapons back to Syria with us.”
By November, another rebel said, the training had expanded to anti-tank weapons and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.
American officials, citing concerns that they didn’t know the political leanings of anti-Assad groups, have said repeatedly that they aren’t providing weapons to the rebels, leaving that to countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
But there’s been little discussion of what role the United States might be playing in training rebel fighters, whose offensives against loyalist Assad forces have been gaining traction in recent months.
This week, the Obama administration recognized the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces as the likely successor to the Assad regime and urged countries to funnel aid through it for the rebels. In tandem with that decision, the administration labeled a key rebel group, the Nusra Front, whose fighters have been at the front lines of many recent rebel victories, an offshoot of al Qaida in Iraq in hopes that Qatar and Saudi Arabia would stop assisting it.
Read the full story here: www.mcclatchydc.com……
Filed under israel and palestine articles, israel and palestine conflict by on Dec 17th, 2012. Comment.
Father Roy writes: There’s an interesting article from Ha’aretz pasted below. Let’s take a closer look at Hezbollah. Have you noticed? There’s something about Muslim Militant Groups that’s refreshingly honest. Muslim Militant Groups tend to take responsibility for their militant activities. Not so with the CIA. Not so with the Mossad. Muslim Militants generally don’t engage in covert activities such as false flag operations. I’m not making an unpatriotic statement here. I’m merely suggesting that all of us should consider the speck and the mote before we presume to pass judgement on our neighbors. Because hypocrisy does not facilitate the peace process.
Israeli aircraft penetrate Lebanon’s air space all the time: israeli planes lebanon airspace – AOL Search Results. It was Hezbollah … in the year 2000 … that ended Israel’s 18-year occupation of the southern 1/10th. of Lebanon. Hezbollah is an integral part of Lebanon’s government now. Israel still occupies Sheeba Farms. Bibi wants the EU to put Hezbollah on their list of terrorist organizations as the US has done. The EU has resisted doing that … so far.
Is everybody on the mailing list aware that Hezbollah maintains a vast social services network? hezbollah social services network – AOL Search Results. Please read on … about the drone.
Peace,Roy
Hezbollah chief claims responsibility for drone that entered Israeli airspace
Nasrallah says drone aircraft flew over ‘sensitive installations’ and was shot down near the Dimona nuclear reactor.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday claimed responsibility for a drone that was shot down by Israel after it had entered its airspace last week.
Israeli officials had previously hinted that the drone might have been the work of the Shiite movement, which is believed to have advanced Iranian weapons and has sent drones over Israel in the past.
Nasrallah said on Thursday the drone aircraft which his group sent into Israel was shot down near the Dimona nuclear reactor.
“The drone flew over sensitive installations inside southern Palestine,” he said in a televised speech.
“The Resistance in Lebanon (Hezbollah) sent a sophisticated reconnaissance drone from Lebanon toward the [Mediterranean] Sea … before it entered [Israeli airspace] and hovered over many important locations before it was discovered by the Israeli air force,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech on the movement’s al-Manar television.
He said the unarmed drone was not Russian made, but Iranian and was assembled in Lebanon
“The drone managed to arrive in an area close to the Dimona plant,” Nasrallah said.
The Hezbollah chief said that the main achievement of the drone was to fly that far in an area secured by U.S.-Israeli air defense systems.
“We will leave it for the Israelis to sit down and discover the drone’s abilities … We are only revealing part of our capabilities and concealing many others,” Nasrallah added.
The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon denied earlier this week that the drone had come from Lebanon.
Earlier Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hezbollah of sending the drone.
In a statement from his office, Netanyahu said during a tour of the southern frontier with Egypt that Israel would “act with determination to defend its borders”, just as “we thwarted over the weekend Hezbollah’s attempt” to penetrate Israeli airspace.
Under surveillance by Israeli fighter jets, it was shot down on Saturday over a forest near the West Bank.
On Saturday, the Israeli Air Force shot down an unidentified aerial vehicle that penetrated Israel’s airspace.
The IDF said Saturday that the drone arrived in Israel from the west after flying over the Mediterranean and the Gaza Strip.
After the drone traveled east some 35 miles (56 km) across Israel’s southern Negev desert, the drone was shot down above a forest in an unpopulated area near the border with the West Bank, the IDF spokesperson said.
On at least one previous occasion, Hezbollah has launched a drone into Israel across its northern border with Lebanon.
Filed under israel and palestine conflict, israel and palestine religious conflict by on Oct 12th, 2012. Comment.
Peers,let’s put our heads together and do some serious thinking. Before we find ourselves in another world war which nobody wants. Please read this report: Israel blames Iran for Bulgaria bombing. Now read this report: Iran blames Israel for Bulgaria Bombing. The Prime Minister of Bulgaria refuses to support either claim. Bulgaria’s position is stated clearly in the paper trail: “We do not want to get involved in this long-standing conflict, as we are very vulnerable.” “Let’s wait for evidence to support such claims.”
A few days ago Netanyahu was pointing his finger at Hezbollah. Nasrallah responded: “Hezbollah doesn’t target Israeli tourists in foreign lands. We target Israel’s military when it’s occupying Lebanon.” Peers, when we think about it, it’s unlikely that an Arab group was responsible for the bombing. Arab groups usually take responsibility for their militant activities, which helps to explain a news report from yesterday: EU refuses Israeli request to blacklist Hezbollah.
Thinking is hard work, Peers, but somebody has got to do it. If not us… who? If not now… when? Please read on. Peace, Roy
Note: The highlights in the following report are mine. I highlighted the concluding paragraph. Peace, Roy
Click here: BBC News – Bulgaria blast: Burgas bus bomber ‘part of group’
24 July 2012 Last updated at 11:36 ET
Bulgaria blast: Burgas bus bomber ‘part of group’
Israel’s tourism minister paid his respects to the bomb victims at the site of the blast on Tuesday
The suicide bomber who killed six people in Bulgaria last week was part of a sophisticated group of conspirators, Prime Minister Boiko Borisov has said.
He said the group had arrived in Bulgaria a month before the attack.
But he declined to back Israeli claims that Iran and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah played a role.
Five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver died in last Wednesday’s bombing in Burgas on the Black Sea.
The identity of the man who carried out the bombing remains unclear.
As well as those killed, dozens of people were wounded in the blast.
Israeli Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov laid a wreath at the bomb site during a memorial ceremony on Tuesday.
Mr Borisov, who was speaking in Sofia alongside White House counter-terrorism chief John Brennan, said the US was supporting Bulgaria’s investigation into the attack.
Mr Borisov did not say exactly how many people had been involved in the conspiracy he described, but he said they had been “exceptionally skilled” and operated under “strict conspiracy rules” to keep the plot hidden.
Those involved used “leased vehicles, they moved in different cities so as not to be seen together, and no two of them can be seen in one place on any security camera”.
“There was absolutely no chance of preventing such an act of violence,” the prime minister insisted.
“We could have only detected it by chance or if we had been informed by the services that such activities were under way in Bulgaria.”
Shortly after the bombing, Bulgarian authorities released CCTV images of the man they believed carried out the bombing, but they appeared to contrast with some witness descriptions.
Mr Borisov said authorities had shared fingerprints and DNA samples with other security services but no match had been found, and the man’s identity remained elusive.
But he added that they knew “when he arrived, the presumed flight and where it came from”, reported AFP news agency.
Mr Borisov also refused to back Israeli claims of involvement by Iran or Hezbollah, saying “we do not want to get involved in this long-standing conflict as we are very vulnerable”.
Filed under Israel and Palestine, map of israel and palestine by on Jul 28th, 2012. Comment.
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