WarSclerotic

Why did Nasrallah devote his pro-Palestinian speech to Iraq?

debkafile‘s military sources report increased Hizballah involvement in actions to terrorize, subvert and destabilize Iraq. A US intelligence source told debkafile‘s Iraq and counter-terror sources Monday Sept. 6: “Hizballah is striking US targets in Iraq as sub-contractor for Iran and Syria.”
According to the Sunday Times of Sept. 5, Iranian “firms” in Kabul are shelling out $1,000 to Taliban for every American soldier they kill in Afghanistan.
These developments make nonsense of the dire predictions heard from some American military experts that an Israeli strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities would unleash a wave of anti-US terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is happening anyway without Israel lifting a finger against Iran or its aggressive allies.
debkafile‘s counter-terror sources can exclusively reveal the nature and makeup of Hizballah’s operation in Iraq:  The Lebanese terrorists are working directly and through two Iraqi Shiite affiliates.
1. Asaib al-Haq (League of the Believers):  Under a variety of names, such as the Qais Khazalis for its commander, this group spent the last four years under the tutelage of Hizballah officers at Revolutionary Guards bases in Iran.A few weeks ago, the Lebanese officersleft Iran and crossed into Iraq disguised as Shiite pilgrims  to spread out in Baghdad and the southern Iraqi towns of Karbala, Najef, Nassiriyeh and Basra from which to attack attack US targets.

2. Kata’ib Hizballah (Hizballah Brigades): This organization is commanded by Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis who visited Damascus on Aug. 21 with the Revolutionary Guards chief Gen. Ali Jafaari. They got together there with Syrian and Hizballah officers to synchronize their campaigns of violence in Iraq, Israel and the West Bank.
The Iraqi operation was clearly uppermost on the mind of Hizballah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, judging from the number of words he poured out on Iraq in his speech in Beirut on Palestine Solidarity Day of Sept. 3 and the way he bracketed the two “resistance struggles.”
“The steadfastness of the Palestinians, Syria, Iran and the Iraqi people has been able to foil the US plot seeking to partition the region and liquidate its resistance,” he said. “The US withdrawal from Iraq is a sign of weakness and defeat.” Furthermore, “the Americans came to Iraq to stay there and control it, but years later, they were surprised by the early resistance and cited enormous and strategic mistakes in their reading of the Iraqi arena.”

debkafile‘s military sources report that Hizballah’s increased involvement in actions to terrorize, subvert and destabilize Iraq on behalf of Syria and Iran is their first practical step for reviving the Eastern Front which threatened Israel in the days of Saddam Hussein.
In its contemporary re incarnation, the Eastern Front would be orchestrated from Tehran and link up with the armed-to-the-teeth Northern Front composed of Iran’s cohorts, Hizballah, Syria and the Palestinian rejectionists.

Israels’ power reactor at Dimona, Negev

A top Iranian general said Friday, Sept. 3: “Iran hopes there won’t be a need to target the nuclear facility of the Zionist regime, but if there is, Israel would receive dreadful retribution.” Gen. Hasan Firouzabadi, supreme commander of Iran’s military and Revolutionary Guards armed forces, went on to say, “Our developed weapons can hit any part of the Zionist regime.”

Firouzabadi was the first senior Iranian military figure to publicly indicate Tehran readiness for the Middle East’s first nuclear war. Saturday, Sept. 4, Israeli ambassador in Washington Michael Oren reported that Hizballah had posted in South Lebanon 16,000 rockets, altogether quadrupling the number ranged on the Israeli border four years ago (in violation of UN resolution 1701).
Their range now covered every part of Israel as far south as Eilat with enhanced precision.
This would obviously include Dimona.
In Havana, Fidel Castro again warned that a nuclear conflict was inevitable if the United States, in alliance with Israel, tried to impose international sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. His speech to students was highlighted by the Iranian media.
A few hours earlier, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a pro-Palestinian rally that the talks re-launched between Israel and the Palestinians must fail. “The fate of Palestine will be decided through resistance and not in Washington,” he declared.
As thousands shouted “Death to America! Death to Israel!” the Iranian president mocked Arab leaders by yelling: “The people of the Middle East are capable of ridding the region of the state of Israel even if their leaders chose not to.” He pointed a finger at Abdullah King of Jordan and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who took part in the ceremonial opening of Israel-Palestinian talks in Washington on Sept. 2, for a broad hint that their peoples would rise up against them.
Ahmadinejad then sneered at his favorite targets: “I want to say that no only the Zionists, but even their masters are too small to lay a finger on the Iranian nation and its rights.”  By’ “rights,” he referred to Iran’s development of nuclear weapons, which he said they were “too small” to halt.

debkafile‘s Iranian sources stress that Iranian threats to the Jewish state have becoming increasingly harsh and pugnacious marking their contempt for the Netanyahu government’s non-response and what they take as Israel’s tacit surrender to the activation of their first nuclear reactor at Bushehr on Aug. 21.

Israeli warships targeted

Tehranand its extremist and terrorist allies, having failed to abort Barack Obama’s initiative for direct Israel-Palestinian diplomacy, have hit back with two belligerent steps. debkafile‘s military sources disclose that Syria and the Lebanese Hizballah have set up a joint military command for sinking Israeli warships, and Hamas has brought all 13 Palestinian rejectionist organizations under one roof for a sustained bid to intensify terror operations against Israel.
At a news conference in Gaza early Friday, Sept. 3 – shortly after the Washington talks were rated positive – a Hamas military arm spokesman announced the creation of a single command encompassing all 13 Palestinian rejectionist groups operating out of the Gaza Strip and Damascus for a concerted campaign of terror against Israel.
In answer to a question, Abu Obeida said the new policy of expanded attacks may well rain missiles on Tel Aviv. “From now on, everything is open,” the Hamas spokesman said.
At that moment, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was on a flight home from Washington, surrounded by an intense PR effort to present him as emerging from his first conversation with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas as a super-peacemaker. The Americans, the Palestinians and his own aides were well aware that the ceremonial inauguration of the talks had yielded very little after their goals were sharply pared down. No accord but only a document of general principles is now expected to come out of the continuation of the dialogue – once every two weeks in the coming year. This, too, would oblige Israel to withdraw from large sections of the West Bank. Further steps were relegated to the distant future.
In the meantime, Syria, Hizballah and the Palestinian terrorist community are using the very act of diplomacy as the impetus for a violent response.
Whereas the prime minister’s rhetoric in Washington laid heavy emphasis on the negotiations measuring up to Israel’s security needs, in practice, he refrained from ordering an Israeli reprisal against the Hamas command centers which ordered two attacks on West Bank roads, although four Israeli civilians paid with their lives and two more were injured.
Syria, Hizballah and the Palestinian terrorist commands operating out of Damascus, Gaza, Beirut and Sidon to took this restraint as a starting signal for reviving concerted attacks on Israel.
Syrian President Bashar Assad and Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah decided to expand the secret military cooperation pact they recently concluded – to which no Israeli political or military leader has so far responded – to the Mediterranean Sea, where their operational and intelligence assets will together seek out and try and sink Israeli missile ships and submarines.
To this end, they have earmarked marine units and their Iranian- and Russian-made shore-to-ship missile force – the largest of its kind in the world – as well as Syrian assault helicopters flown by crews trained to strike seaborne targets. The Hizballah marine unit was trained and equipped by Iranian Revolutionary Guards marine instructors.
The Mediterranean coastal strip from Syrian Latakia in the north, running through the Lebanese ports of Tripoli, Sidon and Tyre and down south to the Gaza Strip, have been declared a joint sea front dedicated to attacking Israeli targets.
High-ranking Israeli military sources told DEBKA file Thursday night that while it was hard to imagine Syrian or Hizballah managing to hit Israeli submarines, they are quite capable of fomenting violence on the sea and attacking Israeli naval craft and bases. Their joint command means they are sharing intelligence on Israeli naval activity and monitoring the movements of vessels while still in Israeli territorial waters and before they take up stations opposite the Lebanese or Syrian coasts.
Our military sources add that, from the strategic viewpoint, the Washington dialogue and the disproportionate
hype surrounding it were counter-productive in that it led to the resumption of Hamas terrorist activities on the West Bank and strengthened the military partnership between Syria and Hizballah for aggression against Israel. Netanyahu’s single-minded focus on diplomacy at the expense of neglecting rising threats and blocking military activity allowed these perils to develop and abound.
His restraint did not help Mahmoud Abbas’ failing fortunes at home. His standing took a bad knock from the way Hamas managed to pull off two terrorist operations on the West Bank. In a desperate bid to show they were in control, Palestinian security sources reported Thursday night that two suspects were in custody for Monday’s drive-by shooting near Hebron and they had leads to the perpetrators.
debkafile‘s counter-terror sources disclose that the two “suspects” are the used car salesmen who sold the vehicle the Hamas gunmen used in their attack. They had no clues to offer about the identities or whereabouts of the purchasers who have disappeared without a trace.
Netanyahu is scheduled to continue his talks with Abbas in Sharm el-Sheikh on Sept. 14-15 – and again at fortnightly intervals during the coming year under Washington’s watchful eye. It is hard to see how they can keep going in a climate of rising military tensions and expanding terrorist outbreaks.