WarSclerotic

WikiLeaks: Iran can attack Israel within 10-12 minutes.

IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi said that Iran has over 300 missiles that could reach Israel within 10-12 minutes, according to cables released by WikiLeaks on Sunday.

During a November 15, 2009 meeting with a US Congress delegation led by Ike Skelton (D-MO), Ashkenazi added that that Israel was prepared for a major war against Hamas.

“I’m preparing the Israeli army in a major war, since it is easier to scale down to a smaller operation than to do the opposite,” he said.

Ashkenazi told the delegation that “rocket threat against Israel is more serious than ever. Therefore, Israel has a strong emphasis on missile defense.”

He added that although the Iranian threat is serious, the threat from Hamas and Hizbullah, which are funded by Iran, is most acute. Their rockets are more accurate than Iran’s, due to their proximity to Israel.

“We therefore believe,” Ashkenazi said, “that the next war will take place in the same areas where the previous wars occurred,” Lebanon and Gaza.

According to the cables, Ashkenazi said that Hizbullah has over 40,000 rockets, most of which can reach any point within Israel, and Hamas has the ability to strike Tel Aviv.

Disruption of daily life in Tel Aviv is a major goal of Hizbullah and Hamas, and their weapons stockpiles indicated to the IDF that they are aiming for a lengthy conflict with Israel in which they plan to send a “massive number” of rockets into Israel daily.

The chief of staff explained that anti-missile defense systems can not cover the whole country; therefore the IDF sends out drones over Lebanon to “identify potential targets,” he said. “So far, the drones have been a success.”

Ashkenazi said that during Operation Cast Lead the IDF made mistakes, but never deliberately attacked civilians. He added that in the next war, Israel can not be restricted in urban battles.

In a related cable, from September 2009, Maj.- Gen. Yoav Galant told Senator Kirsten Gilibrand (D-NY) that had the IDF enterted main urban areas in Gaza, Operation Cast Lead would have lasted three days, not three weeks.

Iran: We shot down 2 ‘Western spy’ drones – Israel News, Ynetnews.

Revolutionary Guards’ air force commander boasts that all ‘enemy’ bases in Gulf are within range of Iranian missiles

AFP

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have shot down two “Western spy” drones in the Gulf, the Fars news agency quoted a top commander of the elite military force as saying on Sunday. 

“Westerners have a series of capabilities which cannot be ignored, especially satellites, or for example they have spy planes which can take pictures in some places,” Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the air force wing of the Guards said.

He said that the drones were mainly being used in Iraq and Afghanistan but “some violations against our soil” have also occurred. “And we have so far downed many of their advanced spy planes. In the Persian Gulf we have downed two of their planes and this is the first time that we are saying it,” Hajizadeh said without specifying when exactly the drones were shot down. He also boasted that all “enemy” bases in the region were within range of Iranian missiles, referring to arch-foe the United States. He said that even the aircraft carriers deployed in the region were no longer a threat to Iran. “There was a time when an aircraft carrier was something to rely on and when they told a country that this warship was moving towards your shore, the government of that country would be toppled,” Hajizadeh said. “But now this has become a threat for them. We have full control of our enemies. We notice whatever changes taking place on our shores. When they go on alert in the warships or when they put on life jackets to launch boats in the sea, we are aware of that.”

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps was set up as a force to defend the 1979 Islamic revolution from internal and external threats.Its commanders have repeatedly boasted of its capabilities and delivered warnings to regional foe Israel, which has not ruled out a military strike to prevent Iran acquiring a nuclear weapons capability.