WarSclerotic

From Wikipedia

The Battle of Latakia (Arabic: معركة اللاذقية‎; Hebrew: קרב לטקיה‎) was a small but revolutionary naval action of the Yom Kippur War, fought on 7 October 1973 between Israel and Syria. It was the first naval battle in history to see combat between surface-to-surface missile-equipped missile boats and the use of electronic deception.[1] Background At the outset of hostilities, the Israeli Navy set out to destroy the naval capabilities of the Syrians, who were equipped with Soviet Komar-class and Osa-class missile boats. The Syrian missile boats were equipped with Soviet manufactured P-15 Termit (NATO reporting name: SS-N-2 Styx) anti-ship missiles with twice the range of the Israeli Gabriel anti-ship missiles.[2] Battle The four Israeli Navy Sa’ar 3-class and one Sa’ar 4-class missile boats headed towards the Syrian port of Latakia in two parallel columns. In the western column were the missile boats Miznak (Blast), Ga’ash (Storm), and Hanit (Lance); the eastern column was composed of the missile boats Mivtach (Reliance) and Reshef (Spark). At 22:28 hours the Israelis encountered the Syrian K-123 torpedo boat which was sunk with 76mm cannon fire from Mivtach and Hanit. As they headed toward the shore, the Israeli ships engaged a 560-ton Syrian T43-class minesweeper and also sank it, this time using four Gabriel anti-ship missiles. At 23:30 the Israelis made contact with two Syrian Komar-class and one Osa-class missile boats. The Syrian missile boats fired their Styx missiles at long range, but as the missiles approached, the Israelis employed electronic countermeasures and launched chaff rockets to successfully decoy the missiles. When the Israeli ships closed the range, they fired five Gabriel missiles, sinking one Komar and the Osa immediately and damaging the second Komar. The surviving Syrian Komar tried to escape, but it ran aground in shallow water and was destroyed by 76mm cannon fire at 00:26 hours. During this naval clash other Syrian missile boats launched missiles from within the port limits of Latakia (actually launched while the missile boats were moored between merchant ships in port). However, these missiles malfunctioned or lost guidance and two foreign (one Greek and one Japanese) merchant vessels anchored along the piers were hit. Both vessels were struck in the engine rooms. The Syrian Navy remained bottled up in its home ports for the rest of the war. While the Battle of Latakia was the first naval battle in history between missile boats, it was not the first incident in which a missile boat sank another ship using missiles. That had happened when two Egyptian Navy Komar-class missile boats sank the British-built Israeli destroyer Eilat on 21 October 1967, shortly after the Six-Day War, using four P-15 Termit surface-to-surface missiles.[3]

The Germans seem to have a weird system of sub-national security/intelligence organisations.

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/more-german-intel-confirms-iran-seeks-tech-for-weapons-of-mass-destruction-640243

The domestic intelligence agency for the German state of Saarland added new weight to intelligence reports from its sister states, which previously confirmed the Islamic Republic of Iran has sought technology for weapons of mass destruction and missile carrier systems.

The Jerusalem Post reviewed the 112-page intelligence report, which was released last week, titled “Overview of the situation,” addressing security threats faced last year by the small west-German state Saarland.

“Iran, Pakistan and to a lesser extent Syria, made efforts to procure goods and know-how for the further development of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems,” wrote the intelligence officials for the Saarland.

“Delivery system” is typically defined as the capability to launch missiles. Israel, the United States and many Gulf nations believe Iran’s regime seeks to develop nuclear weapons.

The Post contacted the Saarland domestic intelligence agency regarding the nature of the illicit proliferation material that Iran sought in 2019. Katrin Thomas, the spokeswoman for the domestic intelligence agency, wrote the Post by email on Friday that “the Protection of the Constitution in Saarland does not pass on any information on the activities of groups or individuals.”

The Protection of the Constitution is the formal name of the Saarland domestic security service.

The report said that “The intelligence services of these countries are present with varying staffing levels at the respective official and semi-official representations in Germany and maintain so-called legal residencies there. This refers to the operational bases of a foreign intelligence service, disguised in an official [e.g. embassy, consulate general] or semi-official [e.g. press agency, airline] representation in the host country as a starting point for intelligence activities.”

According to the Saarland intelligence document, “The intelligence staff there, supposedly working as diplomats or journalists, conduct open or covert information gathering themselves or provide support in intelligence operations that are carried out directly by the headquarters of the intelligence services in their home countries. In addition, intelligence services also carry out operations without their legal residences being involved. The focus of their respective procurement activities is based on current political requirements or economic priorities.”

The intelligence officials noted that China and Iran replicate Russia’s brutal tactics in targeting dissidents and opponents within the federal republic. “The Iranian and Chinese intelligence services are also active in this field.”

The report says that for Iran to achieve its goal, “selected people from the opposition movement are approached with the aim of a commitment to intelligence cooperation. In the event of rejection, the persons concerned or their relatives living in their home country are often threatened with reprisals.”

Iran’s regime has used German territory for surveillance and assassination operations targeting Iranian dissidents, pro-Israel advocates and Israeli and Jewish institutions.

Germany’s 16 federal states have their own local domestic intelligence service. Each state releases an annual report documenting threats to the democratic order of the state.

The Saarland noted the apparent illicit nuclear weapons activities of Pakistan in Germany and elsewhere abroad. “Pakistan also operates an extensive nuclear and carrier technology program and continues to endeavor to expand and modernize, in order to retain a serious deterrent potential against the ‘Arch enemy’ India.”

Arabs can be crazy.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/08/29/Al-Jazeera-host-promotes-conspiracy-that-Israel-US-tricked-Arabs-into-fearing-Iran

A prominent host of the Qatar-based Al Jazeera Media Network promoted a conspiracy theory that the US and Israel were involved in spreading the idea of exporting the 1979 Iranian Revolution to the Arab world to allegedly benefit Israel.

Al Jazeera presenter Faisal al-Qassim said on Twitter that the US and Israel had exported the idea that similar revolutions could occur in Arab states, which had led Arab leaders to partner with Israel against Iran.

In return for signing the peace agreement, Israel has agreed to cease its plans to annex a vast majority of the West Bank.

While many, including the US and Bahrain, have come out in support of the agreement, Doha-based Al Jazeera has been accused of bias in its coverage of the deal, and chosen not to contextualize Qatar’s own track record of ties with Israel.

Despite the channel’s slogan being “The Opinion and The Other’s Opinion,” Al Jazeera has recently covered peace talks and efforts with Israel in a negative light, ignoring its own history of hosting Israeli officials both on air and in Qatar.

When it first launched in 1996, Al Jazeera became one of the first Arab channels to open and maintain a bureau in Jerusalem and an office in Tel Aviv, and appoint its own correspondent in Israel.

Al Jazeera’s own correspondent subsequently defended the channel’s role in normalizing the appearance of Israelis on Arab television, writing in an Israeli newspaper when Israeli authorities threatened to ban it.

In more recent times, Al Jazeera caused widespread controversy in February 2018 when its popular program The Opposite Direction hosted by al-Qassim himself hosted Israel Defense Forces spokesperson for Arabic Media Avichay Adraee.

Shayetet 13 squadron is the Israeli Navy’s Navy SEALs. The unit’s permanent base is a Atlit base and is directly subject to the commander of the navy. The squadron commander is a colonel in the rank of colonel.