WarSclerotic

Gantz: Israel must always be war-ready – Israel News, Ynetnews.

In a special holiday interview, IDF Chief Benny Gantz explains his operational doctrine, says military working tirelessly to ensure enemy forces never surprise Israel again

Yossi Yehoshua

Medvedev: Syria leadership should leave … JPost – International.

    Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday that the Syrian leadership should leave power if it is unable to implement promised reforms, the state-run RIA news agency reported.

“We are using our channels and are actively working with the Syrian leadership, we are demanding that the Syrian leadership implement the necessary reforms,” RIA quoted Medvedev as saying.

“If the Syrian leadership is incapable of conducting such reforms, it will have to go, but this decision should be taken not in NATO or certain European countries, it should be taken by the Syrian people and the Syrian leadership.”

Last week, Russia joined forces with China to veto a European-drafted UN Security Council resolution condemning Syria and hinting that it could face sanctions if it continues its crackdown on protesters.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told the council that Moscow’s veto reflected “a conflict of political approaches” between Russia and the European council members.

Churkin said that Moscow was firmly opposed to the threat of sanctions against Damascus, adding that what he described as the confrontational approach of the European delegations was “against the peaceful settlement of the crisis.”

He reiterated his concerns that passing the European resolution on Syria could have opened the door to a Libya-style military intervention in the Syrian authorities’ six-month crackdown on anti-government demonstrations there.

Churkin added, however, that Moscow would prefer it if Syria was “quicker with implementing the promised changes.” He was referring to Syrian President Bashar Assad’s promised democratic reforms.

In Syria, another round of protests – CNN.com.

CNN) — Security forces in Syria fired on protesters Friday, killing at least one person and wounding many more as demonstrators took the streets after weekly Muslim prayers, activists said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based activist group, said one person was shot in the head and killed and five others were wounded in the Damascus suburbs.

The forces opened fire and wounded more than two dozen people near a mosque in the western city of Homs, the observatory said.

Anti-government demonstrations have raged in Syria for nearly seven months, and the Bashar al-Assad regime has launched a fierce crackdown on protesters. The death toll has exceeded 3,000, the observatory said. Most of those killed have been civilian protesters and others have been security forces.

Activists stage nationwide protests with a specific theme every Friday after Muslim prayers. Today the protest theme is “National Council represents me,” a reference to a Syrian opposition movement.

Many world powers have been outraged over the government’s crackdown. The European Union and United States have already imposed sanctions against the regime.

But earlier this week, Russia and China vetoed a U.N. Security Council draft resolution condemning Syrian authorities for their violent crackdown on anti-government demonstrators.

The two nations argued that even in its watered-down form without economic sanctions, the proposed resolution would have led to military intervention similar to the NATO operation to protect anti-government protesters in Libya.

Some countries are taking their own steps to pressure al-Assad. After the U.N. vote, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his government is preparing sanctions on Syria.

Iran’s biggest financial scam weakens Ahmadinejad; economic hardship may revive unrest in Iran.

Al Arabiya

Thursday, 06 October 2011

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is facing a fresh political blow over the biggest financial scandal in Iran’s history. (Photo by Reuters)

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Scores dead as army and deserters clash; U.N. says 2,900 killed in Syria crackdown.

Al Arabiya

Thursday, 06 October 2011

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says that more than 2,900 people, mainly civilians, have been killed in the six months since the beginning of the crackdown on anti-government protests in Syria. (Photo by Reuters)

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LYONS: Only one solution to Iran: Regime change – Washington Times.

With hostile forces soon off our coast, support for opposition is crucial

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s deplorable performance before the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 22 was not unexpected. His declaration that Iran would never recognize Israel’s right to exist – even if statehood were granted to the Palestinian people – should put to rest the common liberal thesis that if only the Israeli-Palestinian problem were resolved, peace and stability would reign in the Middle East. Nonsense. Aside from the fact that we do not know the outcome of the Arab Spring uprising, that thesis has always been misguided. Further, it should be clear that the Islamic jihadists will always find another cause for promoting their agenda of a world dominated by Islam.

It also should put to rest President Obama’s goal of engaging the Iranian theocracy and the illegitimate Mr. Ahmadinejad in resolving outstanding issues and convincing Iran to give up its nuclear weapons program. It should be clear by now that neither economic sanctions nor inducements will cause the fanatical Iranian theocracy to change course. We have to face up to the reality that Iran has been at war with the United States for more than 30 years. Its acts of war have been well documented in many judgments in U.S. federal courts and is beyond debate. Iran’s history as the world’s leader in state-sponsored terrorism using primarily proxies is also well documented. These acts include the takeover of our embassy in Tehran in November 1979, the bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut on Oct. 23, 1983, and the truck bombing of Khobar Towers in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, on June 25, 1996, which killed 19 U.S. military personnel and wounded about 500.

Iran has continued to sponsor multiple acts of terrorism throughout the world and has used the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps‘ (IRGC) Qods Force in providing financing, training and material support – including the supply of improvised explosive devices to insurgents our military have been fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Iran’s continuous, unchallenged acts of aggression against the United States have cost thousands of American lives, both military and civilian. Never in the course of this great nation’s history have we not responded to such flagrant acts of aggression.

We have clear evidence how Iran played a key role in aiding and abetting the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attackers. Three former 9/11 Commission staff members have stated that the evidence is “clear and convincing” that Iran was involved in the attacks. Such evidence makes a mockery of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s repeated claim that the United States staged the attacks.

In the Persian Gulf, Iran continues to threaten our naval forces with simulated attacks by IRGC-controlled high-speed patrol craft. It’s conditioning our naval forces to allow Iranian naval craft and ships to get dangerously close, which is a clear formula for disaster. There have been a series of “near-misses” in the Gulf.

Calls for establishing a hotline between the U.S. 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain and the Iranian Naval Headquarters will not solve the problem. In addition to the headquarters level, the communications need to be between on-scene commanders to avoid an unintended confrontation. As a former commander, I think the rules of engagement (ROEs) need to be changed to prevent any Iranian patrol craft or ship from achieving a close-in attack position.

The latest Iranian challenge is that it just announced that it plans to deploy its naval forces off our coast. They most likely will operate out of Venezuela, where they have established close ties with the leftist anti-American Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The Iranians also are constructing a missile base in Venezuela. With the fanatical mullahs and their apocalyptic mindset, this base cannot be permitted to become operational.

American officials have stated repeatedly that a nuclear-armed Iran is unacceptable. Therefore, I believe the military option to destroy their nuclear infrastructure must remain on the table. At the end of the day, our issues with Iran can only be solved by regime change. From the Carter administration to the current Obama administration, we have shown that we lack the political will to take the necessary military action when we have been challenged repeatedly by Iran.

In 1998, when Saddam Hussein continued to ignore U.N. sanctions, Congress passed and President Clinton signed into law the Iraqi Liberation Act, making regime change in Iraq the policy of the United States and approving $100 million for funding Iraqi opposition groups. That formula should be applied to Iran. Iran, like Iraq, has repeatedly ignored U.N. sanctions to halt its nuclear weapons program. Congress should enact and President Obama should sign into law an Iranian Liberation Act, making regime change in Iran U.S. policy. A $100 million fund should be provided to support the Iranian opposition group, thereby reviving the 2009 “Green Revolution.” The same formula should be applied to bring about regime change in Syria, Iran’s only ally. Such action would be consistent with Mr. Obama’s new foreign-policy approach of “leading from behind.”

Retired Adm. James A. Lyons was commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and senior U.S. military representative to the United Nations.

Israel Readies for Iran Attack | American Free Press.

By Keith Johnson –

A Sept. 23 report by Newsweek journalist Eli Lake reveals that Barack Obama secretly approved the transfer of 55 high-tech bunkerbusting bombs to Israel during the early days of his administration. Although this disclosure should come as no surprise, it does demonstrate that tensions between Obama and the Israeli government are nowhere near as bad as some claim, and that military cooperation between the two countries is as strong as it’s ever been.

Lake’s latest piece raises more questions than it answers. Particularly, why did the U.S. shroud this latest deal in such secrecy when previous transfers of the same weapon were transacted conspicuously?

The bombs identified by Lake are GBU-28 hard target penetrators— deadly projectiles that can be launched from Israel’s F-15 fighter jets and are capable of destroying heavily fortified targets beneath 100 feet of earth or 20 feet of concrete. They were initially deployed by the U.S. for Operation Desert Storm, but used more extensively in the Battle of Tora Bora on caves during the bombardment of Afghanistan and western Pakistan in 2001 and 2002.

Delivery of at least some of those weapons was confirmed in July 26, 2006 when The Telegraph reported: “Britain has been used as a staging post for major shipments of bunker-busting bombs from America to Israel. The Israelis want the 5,000-pound smart bombs to attack the bunkers being used by Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon.”

The article went on to cite defense sources who confirmed: “Two chartered Airbus A310 cargo planes filled with GBU 28 laser-guided bombs landed at Prestwick Airport, near Glasgow, for refueling and crew rests after flying across the Atlantic.”

Since the transactions were conducted in such secrecy, some are wondering whether Obama had actually approved delivery of a new, more advanced bomb that exceeds that weapon’s capabilities?

A nuclear variant of the GBU-28 is the B61-11, which can also be deployed from Israel’s existing delivery systems, and—according to the June 1997 edition of Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists—is capable of “destroying the deepest and most hardened of underground bunkers, which the conventional warheads are not capable of doing.”

In an April 6, 2006 article for The New Yorker, Seymour Hersh reported that the Pentagon presented plans to the Bush White House for the deployment of the B61-11 to strike Iran’s underground nuclear facilities at Natanz.

There is no doubt that Israel would love to get its hands on such a weapon, though they would not be able to negotiate openly for its procurement. Israel is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and keeps its nuclear arsenal largely under wraps. Any deal would have to be transacted in the strictest confidence, as would the delivery of such a weapon.

So far, neither Newsweek nor any other source has nailed down exactly when the delivery of bombs to Israel occurred. However, one clue is contained in a November 2009 U.S. cable released by Wikileaks, which reads, “The transfer should be handled quietly to avoid any allegations that the U.S. government is helping Israel prepare for a strike against Iran.”

Four months later, on March 15, 2010, The Scotland Herald reported: “Hundreds of powerful U.S. bunkerbuster bombs are being shipped from California to the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in preparation for a possible attack on Iran.”

It’s reasonable to speculate that the shipment contained munitions that were later transported from this transfer point to Israel via ship or submarine. It would have also been an ideal time to do so. Just days earlier, Vice President Joe Biden had been in Israel urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cease construction of illegal settlements in Jerusalem, and the world perceived that the relationship between the two nations was at an all-time low.

DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security.

DEBKAfile Special Report October 7, 2011, 1:14 AM (GMT+02:00)

IDF reservists on sudden call-up maneuver

Tensions peaked again around Syria’s borders with Israel, Turkey and Jordan as the first two embarked on large-scale mobilization maneuvers near those borders Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 5-6 and the Jordanian armed forces prepared to follow suit.
debkafile‘s military and intelligence sources report that the United States and Turkey urged Jordan’s King Abdullah to hold a similar maneuver or reinforce his units on the Syrian border. But Bashar Assad decided that being forced to build up his forces on Syria’s borders with Turkey and Israel was enough and a Jordanian exercise must be stopped.

Thursday, he sent his powerful brother-in-law Gen. Asef Shawqat to Amman with a stern warning for the king: If the Hashemite Kingdom lines up with Turkey and Israel and deploys extra troops on the Syrian border, Assad will order his air force to bomb Jordanian towns.

And if Israel intervenes to engage Syrian bombers, Damascus would launch surface missiles against Jordanian cities.

It was the second time this week that the Syrian ruler had threatened to punish an enemy with ground-to-ground missiles. Tuesday, Oct. 4, debkafile revealed that Assad had threatened to demolish Tel Aviv by missiles within six hours of an attack on Syria.

Jordan’s Abdullah told Gen. Shawqat he agreed to give up his planned military exercise, but not his opposition to Assad actions.
In Washington, Ankara and Jerusalem, the Syrian message to Jordan was taken as an implied warning to Turkey and Israel alike that Assad had no intention of taking their military exercises lying down either and a military response was coming.

The Turkish war game is taking place in the Hatay province which borders on northern Syria. It is scheduled to last nine days. Israel ended its two-day maneuver Thursday, deploying troops within sight of southwest Syria and Jordan.

Israeli and Turkish military movements were coordinated by NATO’s European commander Gen. James Staviris who he visited Tel Aviv and Ankara for this purpose in the last week of September.

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta gave the exercises a seal of approval during his visit to Israel Monday, Oct. 3.

The next day, both armies were in the field. The United States informed both governments that US warships had been deployed in the eastern Mediterranean against any unforeseen events.

Turkish-Israeli military ties remain frozen and relations sour. But Ankara did not refuse American mediation for coordinating their exercises for the first time in more than a year.
The two-day Israeli war game was not announced. It entailed the call-up of the Northern and Central Commands reserve brigades without prior notice. The units were directed to collect the men and officers from home and drive them to their units on the assumption that a missile attack on Israel was already underway and road disruptions prevented them from making their own way.
Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, summed up the exercise by telling the troops: “In the current instability around us, we must be sure that our forces are on the highest level of readiness and keep on enhancing it.”