Israel

Israel - Iran - Syria - Hezbollah - Saudi Cleric - Russia

Israeli surgeons are trying to save a 12-year-old Iranian boy’s life after failed brain surgery in Tehran, and a referral from a Turkish hospital.. “When a child’s life is at stake, religion and origin play no part,” said Israel Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit. “If we can help, we are more than willing to do so.” (Ynet News)

Sheikh Muhammad al-Habadan, a Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia, has called on women to wear a full veil that reveals only one eye. He told the Muslim satellite channel al-Majd that showing both eyes encouraged women to use eye make-up to look seductive.

A series of private-sector strikes has forced the Iranian government to suspend the implementation of a new sales tax, marking a setback for President Ahmadinejad. Angry shopkeepers in the central bazaar in the city of Esfahan refused Wednesday for the second straight day to open stores, and the strike spread to Tehran, Mashad and Tabriz. Inflation rose in September to 29.4%, according to Iran’s Central Bank. (Washington Post)

Hezbollah’s arch-terrorist Imad Mughniyeh, who was blown to smithereens in a car bombing in Damascus 8-months ago, has been succeeded by a senior Iranian intelligence official, an Italian newspaper reported Thursday, indicating an Iranian determination to consolidate its control over the Lebanese group. A report in Italy’s Corriere della Sera, Hezoullah’s new chief military commander is Muhammad Riza Zahdi, aka Hassan Mahdawi, who in the late 1980s served in the Iranian Embassy in Beirut.

Zahdi will be in charge of coordinating weapons smuggling to Hizbullah from Syria as well as the construction of military positions in southern Lebanon, and will likely have a lot of trouble getting life insurance.

The 1983 bombings of the U.S. embassy and the Marine barracks in Beirut were the first time Islamic suicide bombers had attacked significant American targets. 241 American servicemen: 220 Marines, 18 Navy personnel and three Army soldiers were killed when 12,000 pounds of explosives were packed into a Mercedes Benz trusk and detonated. Sixty more Americans were injured.

Our timid response created an aura of impunity that the Islamic extremists sensed and pursued all the way to the 9/11 attacks, which finally awakened America.

The U.S. intelligence community compiled an all-sources damage assessment after the Marine barracks bombing. They studied signals, overhead, and human intelligence and concluded the evidence was overpowering that Iran had been behind it. In August 2005, Mustafa Mohammad-Najjar was named the new defense minister of Iran. Najjar’s previous assignment as senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps earned him a reputation of ruthlessness and ideological loyalty. In 1983, he commanded the 1,500-man expeditionary force sent to Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. This Iranian unit provided security, planning, training, and operational support for the truck bombings on 23 October 1983.

Asked if Russia had promised Israel prime minister Ehud Olmert not to deliver S-300 systems to Iran, the foreign ministry spokesman in Moscow said Thursday, Oct. 9: “We have already repeatedly stated at the very highest political levels that we do not intend to deliver those types of arms to countries which are located in troubled regions.” He carefully avoided mentioning Iran or Syria.

There is increasing speculation that delivery of the S-300 anti-aircraft, anti-cruise missile radar system could provoke an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities before Russia’s system becomes fully effective.

Russia believes America is about to be propelled into an extraordinary shift toward socialism-isolationism ideas it can exploit.

Russia has intensified its spying on Israel and transferring that intelligence on Israel’s strategic capabilities to Iran and Syria. “(I)f the Russians help the Syrians get information, and the Syrians constantly pass it on to Hezbollah, it is a reasonable supposition that the information gathered by the Russians also reaches Hezbollah’s hands,” Col. Ram Dor, chief of information security in the Israeli military, said.

Russia has been monitoring Israel’s military and vital facilities via land, air and sea assets Russian warships are now routinely basing and staging out of Syrian’s Mediterranean naval base at Tartus that has now been converted to a permanent Russian naval base.

Officials said Russia has increased espionage operations inside Israel. They said Russian agents have been directed to identify and target young officers in the Israeli military and intelligence community. That is particularly insidious because there are more than 1 million Russian speakers linked to the former Soviet Union in Israel. Officials said Russian intelligence tracks emigrants who work in the Israeli military and defense industry and traces family inside Russia the purpose is to bludgeon their support by threatening family members still inside Russia.

The Russian intelligence on Israel is being relayed to the Lebanese-based Hezbollah militia via Damascus. The Syrians share the intelligence that they gather with Hezbollah, and the other way around,” Dor said. “This we know, because we know how to build a mirror-image that shows us what enemy intelligence knows about us.”

At the same time it was disclosed that Syrian President Bashar Assad has ordered the formation of an Iranian-trained praetorian guard to protect him from assassination which would unravel the Syria-Iranian-Russian triumvirate.

Russia’s expansionist agenda is driven by Putin’s Czarist-like personal ambitions funded by surging oil and natural gas income enabling a 23% increase in military spending, and accelerated by his view that America is about to be propelled into an extraordinary shift toward socialist-isolationist ideas that Russia can exploit.

Tehran could reach weapons capacity in as little as six months

Mohamed El-Baradei, head of the Vienna, Austria-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was quoted in the Friday edition of the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily as saying that that Iran is one of several countries on the “path” to possessing the ingredients for making a nuclear weapon.

He also said there is “a whole list of countries that posses the ingredients to assemble an atomic weapon in a matter of a few months, that possess fissile material or the technical means to create it.”

Israel says the Islamic Republic could have enough nuclear material to make its first bomb within a year. The U.S. estimates Tehran is at least two years away from that stage.

But David Albright, whose Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security closely tracks suspect secret proliferators has said Tehran could reach weapons capacity in as little as six months through uranium enrichment.

Albright thinks Iran has produced nearly 1,000 pounds of low-enriched uranium, said the report _ close to what Albright says is the 1,500-pound minimum needed to produce the 45-60 pounds needed for a simple nuclear bomb under optimal conditions.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been clamoring for a war option should Israel and the United States continue planning

Iran’s top leadership is at odds about whether or not to attack Israel between late 2008 and 2009. Western intelligence sources say Iran has been preparing militarily while debating the feasibility of an offensive against Israel and Gulf Cooperation Council states.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been clamoring for a war option should Israel and the United States continue preparations for a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“Ahmadinejad has been arguing that Iran has never enjoyed such favorable conditions for an attack,” a senior intelligence source said according to a report from London. “The Iranian assessment is that the European Union is dependent on foreign energy notably Russia’s natural gas, the Arabs have retreated into submission, Iraq could be annexed, Turkey is paralyzed and Israel is weak. The only threat is [U.S. President George] Bush.”

Ahmadinejad is said to be opposed by a group led by former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani. The sources said Rafsanjani has warned that Iran must consider a suspension of its uranium enrichment program to prevent a massive Israeli and U.S. air strike.

“Rafsanjani has not argued for surrender,” another intelligence source said. “His argument is that Iran should conduct a tactical withdrawal until the United States pulls out from Iraq. Then, Iran could resume its nuclear weapons program and threaten the region.”

The sources said the Iranian leadership could resolve the debate in late 2008. They said Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei has been monitoring the nation’s combat readiness, tested in a series of massive military exercises.

“Over the next few weeks, the Iranian leadership could reach a determination whether Teheran would be ready for a total war,” the source said.

Yesterday Ahmadinejad said the U. S. is ruled by Zionist murderers, and again threatened Israel’s existence. The U. N. called his vile rhetoric as not helpful.

Is Democrat VP nominee Joe Biden’s comment that Israel will have to accept a nuclear armed Iran indicative of coming U. S. policy

Russia, China and Germany refuse to countenance tougher sanctions against Iran notwithstanding the International Atomic Energy Agency’s report from Vienna that its inspections of suspect activities and covert projects were stalled by Tehran’s non-cooperation.

They rejected US intelligence data backing up the IAEA report and tell the international community that the US and Israel were furnished with more intelligence confirming Iran’s covert nuclear projects and the clandestine partnership between Tehran, Damascus and Pyongyang. Last week the IAEA gave a closed door briefing to its 35 members nations that Iran was retrofitting it Shehab missiles to carry nuclear warheads. The Shehab-3, a medium-range, liquid-propellant, road-mobile ballistic missile, was generally believed to have a range of around 1300km or 808 miles. allowing northern Israel to be hit from a southern Iran launch point.

The action raises the likelihood that Israel will have to act to destroy Iran’s nuclear weapons production capabilities.

Israel is still rumbling, and others have taken note of Democrat VP nominee Joe Biden’s comment that Israel will have to accept a nuclear armed Iran as indicative of coming U. S. policy were Obama elected.

At the same time Israeli military and naval commanders were taken by surprise by Rear Adm. Andrei Baranov’s disclosure that 10 Russian warships are already anchored at the Syrian port of Tartus,

In a “Depends” moment for Iran the U. S. has sold 1,000 bunker-busting smart bombs to Israel.

The sale is reported to include: 1,000 GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs (SDB1), 150 BRU-61/A SDB1 Mounting Carriages, 30 Guided Test Vehicles, 2 BRU-61/A SDB Instrumented Carriages, 7 Jettison Test Vehicles, 1 Separation Test Vehicle, 2 Reliability and Assessment Vehicles, 12 Common Munitions BIT and Reprogramming Equipment with Test Equipment and Adapters, 3 SDB1 Weapons Simulators, and 2 Load Crew Trainers. He sale also includes containers, flight test integration, spare and repair parts, support equipment, personnel training and equipment, publications and technical data, U.S. Government and contractor engineering and logistics personnel services, and other related elements of logistics support.

The GBU-28, is a laser-guided weapon whose warhead can burrow through more than 20 feet of reinforced concrete and up to 100 feet of dirt and rock striking within a few feet of its aim point. The Guided Bomb Unit-28 (GBU-28) is a special weapon developed for penetrating hardened site located deep underground.

The GBU-28

is a 5,000-pound laser-guided conventional munition that uses a 4,400-pound penetrating warhead. The bombs are modified Army artillery tubes, weigh 4,637 pounds, and contain 630 pounds of high explosives. Once the gadget has penetrated the target does it detonate with devastating effect.

• Each device consists of an approximately 16-foot (5-meter) section of artillery barrel that is 14.5 inches (37 cm) in diameter. Artillery barrels are made of extremely strong hardened steel so that they can withstand the repeated blasts of artillery shells when they are fired.
• Inside this steel casing is nearly 650 pounds (295 kg) of tritonal explosive. Tritonal is a mixture of TNT (80 percent) and aluminum powder (20 percent). The aluminum improves the brisance of the TNT — the speed at which the explosive develops its maximum pressure. The addition of aluminum makes tritonal about 18 percent more powerful than TNT alone.
• Attached to the front of the barrel is a laser-guidance assembly. Either a spotter on the ground or in the bomber illuminates the target with a laser, and the bomb homes in on the illuminated spot. The guidance assembly steers the bomb with fins that are part of the assembly.
• Attached to the end of the barrel are stationary fins that provide stability during flight.
• The finished bomb, known as the GBU-28 or the BLU-113, is 19 feet (5.8 meters) long, 14.5 inches (36.8 cm) in diameter and weighs 4,400 pounds (1,996 kg).

One of the likely differences likely to emanate from the election results this year would be if and how the US would help Israel defend herself in the event she believes Iran is serious about an attack on Israel.   Seems the US has pulled back a bit and likely McCain and Obama would handle in different manners.  Obama less likely to allow Israel airspace or air refueling capacity in favor or more diplomacy and McCain to allow either or both.

(Anybody hear the drums of war beginning to beat?)

Last update - 14:34 11/09/2008

Israel asks U.S. for arms, air corridor to attack Iran

By Amos Harel and Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondents

The security aid package the United States has refused to give Israel for
the past few months out of concern that Israel would use it to attack
nuclear facilities in Iran included a large number of “bunker-buster” bombs,
permission to use an air corridor to Iran, an advanced technological system
and refueling planes.

Officials from both countries have been discussing the Israeli requests over
the past few months. Their rejection would make it very difficult for Israel
to attack Iran, if such a decision is made.

About a month ago, Haaretz reported that the Bush administration had turned
down an Israeli request for certain security items that could upgrade
Israel’s capability to attack Iran. The U.S. administration reportedly saw
the request as a sign preparations were moving ahead for an Israeli attack
on Iran.

Diplomatic and security sources indicated to Haaretz that the list of
components Israel included:

Bunker-buster GBU-28 bombs: In 2005, the U.S. said it was supplying these
bombs to Israel. In August 2006, The New York Times reported that the U.S.
had expedited the dispatch of additional bombs at the height of the Second
Lebanon War. The bombs, which weigh 2.2 tons each, can penetrate six meters
of reinforced concrete. Israel appears to have asked for a relatively large
number of additional bunker-busters, and was turned down.

Air-space authorization: An attack on Iran would apparently require passage
through Iraqi air space. For this to occur, an air corridor would be needed
that Israeli fighter jets could cross without being targeted by American
planes or anti-aircraft missiles. The Americans also turned down this
request. According to one account, to avoid the issue, the Americans told
the Israelis to ask Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki for permission,
along the lines of “If you want, coordinate with him.”

Refueling planes. An air attack on Iran would require refueling of fighter
jets on the way back. According to a report on Channel 10 a few weeks ago,
the U.S. rejected an Israeli request for more advanced refueling tankers, of
the Boeing 767 model.

The refueling craft the Israel Air Force now uses are very outmoded,
something that make it difficult to operate at long distances from Israel.
Even if the Americans were to respond favorably to such a request, the
process could take a few years.

The IDF recently reported that it is overhauling a Boeing 707 that
previously served as the prime minister’s plane to serve as a refueling
aircraft.

Advanced technological systems. The Israeli sources declined to give any
details on this point.

The Israeli requests were discussed during President George W. Bush’s visit
to Israel in May, as well as during Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s visit to
Washington in July. In a series of meetings at a very senior level,
following Bush’s visit, the Americans made clear to the Israelis that for
now they are sticking to the diplomatic option to halt the Iranian nuclear
project and that Jerusalem does not have a green light from Washington for
an attack on Iran.

However, it appears that in compensation for turning down Israel’s
“offensive” requests, the U.S. has agreed to strengthen its defensive
systems.

During the Barak visit, it was agreed that an advanced U.S. radar system
would be stationed in the Negev, and the order to send it was made at that
time. The system would double to 2,000 kilometers the range of
identification of missiles launched from the direction of Iran, and would be
connected to an American early warning system.

The system is to be operated by American civilians as well as two American
soldiers. This would be the first permanent U.S. force on Israeli soil.

A senior security official said the Americans were preparing “with the
greatest speed” to make good on their promise, and the systems could be
installed within a month.

The Israeli security source said he believed Washington was moving ahead
quickly on the request because it considered it very important to restrain
Israel at this time.

At the beginning of the year, the Israeli leadership still considered it a
reasonable possibility that Bush would decide to attack Iran before the end
of his term.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, in private discussions, even raised the
possibility that the U.S. was considering an attack in the transition period
between the election in November and the inauguration of the new president
in January 2009.

However, Jerusalem now assumes that likelihood of this possibility is close
to nil, and that Bush will use the rest of his time in office to strengthen
what he defines as the Iraqi achievement, following the relative success of
American efforts there over the past year and a half.

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1019989.html

Israel Assembles Top Leaders About Iran

Israel prime minister Ehud Olmert summoned defense minister Ehud Barack and foreign minister Tzipi Livni for an urgent consultation on Iran Wed. Sept. 10, as the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier headed out to the Mediterranean.

America will then have four aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean, Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea to four, compared with two Russian warships.

Monday, Iran launched a three-day naval-air-missile exercise to practice defense tactics for its nuclear sites.

Roosevelt will be followed by the guided missile cruiser Monterey; guided missile destroyers Mason and Nitze and nuclear powered attack submarine Springfield with a total of 7,300 sailors and marines aboard.

The U. S. S. Ronald Reagan and its task force engaged in operations in Afghanistan on August 28.