Israeli Air Force practices for Iranian strike
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Israeli Air Force practices for Iranian strike
Might be interesting ....
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/wa...20iran.html?hp
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/wa...20iran.html?hp
June 20, 2008
U.S. Says Exercise by Israel Seemed Directed at Iran
By MICHAEL R. GORDON and ERIC SCHMITT
WASHINGTON — Israel carried out a major military exercise earlier this month that American officials say appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Several American officials said the Israeli exercise appeared to be an effort to develop the military’s capacity to carry out long-range strikes and to demonstrate the seriousness with which Israel views Iran’s nuclear program.
More than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighters participated in the maneuvers, which were carried out over the eastern Mediterranean and over Greece during the first week of June, American officials said.
The exercise also included Israeli helicopters that could be used to rescue downed pilots. The helicopters and refueling tankers flew more than 900 miles, which is about the same distance between Israel and Iran’s uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, American officials said.
Israeli officials declined to discuss the details of the exercise. A spokesman for the Israeli military would say only that the country’s air force “regularly trains for various missions in order to confront and meet the challenges posed by the threats facing Israel.”
But the scope of the Israeli exercise virtually guaranteed that it would be noticed by American and other foreign intelligence agencies. A senior Pentagon official who has been briefed on the exercise, and who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the political delicacy of the matter, said the exercise appeared to serve multiple purposes.
One Israeli goal, the Pentagon official said, was to practice flight tactics, aerial refueling and all other details of a possible strike against Iran’s nuclear installations and its long-range conventional missiles.
A second, the official said, was to send a clear message to the United States and other countries that Israel was prepared to act militarily if diplomatic efforts to stop Iran from producing bomb-grade uranium continued to falter.
“They wanted us to know, they wanted the Europeans to know, and they wanted the Iranians to know,” the Pentagon official said. “There’s a lot of signaling going on at different levels.”
Several American officials said they did not believe that the Israeli government had concluded that it must attack Iran and did not think that such a strike was imminent.
Shaul Mofaz, a former Israeli defense minister who is now a deputy prime minister, warned in a recent interview with the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot that Israel might have no choice but to attack. “If Iran continues with its program for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack,” Mr. Mofaz said in the interview published on June 6, the day after the unpublicized exercise ended. “Attacking Iran, in order to stop its nuclear plans, will be unavoidable.”
But Mr. Mofaz was criticized by other Israeli politicians as seeking to enhance his own standing as questions mount about whether the embattled Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, can hang on to power.
Israeli officials have told their American counterparts that Mr. Mofaz’s statement does not represent official policy. But American officials were also told that Israel had prepared plans for striking nuclear targets in Iran and could carry them out if needed.
Iran has shown signs that it is taking the Israeli warnings seriously, by beefing up its air defenses in recent weeks, including increasing air patrols. In one instance, Iran scrambled F-4 jets to double-check an Iraqi civilian flight from Baghdad to Tehran.
“They are clearly nervous about this and have their air defense on guard,” a Bush administration official said of the Iranians.
Any Israeli attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities would confront a number of challenges. Many American experts say they believe that such an attack could delay but not eliminate Iran’s nuclear program. Much of the program’s infrastructure is buried under earth and concrete and installed in long tunnels or hallways, making precise targeting difficult. There is also concern that not all of the facilities have been detected. To inflict maximum damage, multiple attacks might be necessary, which many analysts say is beyond Israel’s ability at this time.
But waiting also entails risks for the Israelis. Israeli officials have repeatedly expressed fears that Iran will soon master the technology it needs to produce substantial quantities of highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons.
Iran is also taking steps to better defend its nuclear facilities. Two sets of advance Russian-made radar systems were recently delivered to Iran. The radar will enhance Iran’s ability to detect planes flying at low altitude.
Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, said in February that Iran was close to acquiring Russian-produced SA-20 surface-to-air missiles. American military officials said that the deployment of such systems would hamper Israel’s attack planning, putting pressure on Israel to act before the missiles are fielded.
For both the United States and Israel, Iran’s nuclear program has been a persistent worry. A National Intelligence Estimate that was issued in December by American intelligence agencies asserted that Iran had suspended work on weapons design in late 2003. The report stated that it was unclear if that work had resumed. It also noted that Iran’s work on uranium enrichment and on missiles, two steps that Iran would need to take to field a nuclear weapon, had continued.
In late May, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran’s suspected work on nuclear matters was a “matter of serious concern” and that the Iranians owed the agency “substantial explanations.”
Over the past three decades, Israel has carried out two unilateral attacks against suspected nuclear sites in the Middle East. In 1981, Israeli jets conducted a raid against Iraq’s nuclear plant at Osirak after concluding that it was part of Saddam Hussein’s program to develop nuclear weapons. In September, Israeli aircraft bombed a structure in Syria that American officials said housed a nuclear reactor built with the aid of North Korea.
The United States protested the Israeli strike against Iraq in 1981, but its comments in recent months have amounted to an implicit endorsement of the Israeli strike in Syria.
Pentagon officials said that Israel’s air forces usually conducted a major early summer training exercise, often flying over the Mediterranean or training ranges in Turkey where they practice bombing runs and aerial refueling. But the exercise this month involved a larger number of aircraft than had been previously observed, and included a lengthy combat rescue mission.
Much of the planning appears to reflect a commitment by Israel’s military leaders to ensure that its armed forces are adequately equipped and trained, an imperative driven home by the difficulties the Israeli military encountered in its Lebanon operation against Hezbollah.
“They rehearse it, rehearse it and rehearse it, so if they actually have to do it, they’re ready,” the Pentagon official said. “They’re not taking any options off the table.”
Ethan Bronner contributed reporting from Jerusalem.
U.S. Says Exercise by Israel Seemed Directed at Iran
By MICHAEL R. GORDON and ERIC SCHMITT
WASHINGTON — Israel carried out a major military exercise earlier this month that American officials say appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Several American officials said the Israeli exercise appeared to be an effort to develop the military’s capacity to carry out long-range strikes and to demonstrate the seriousness with which Israel views Iran’s nuclear program.
More than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighters participated in the maneuvers, which were carried out over the eastern Mediterranean and over Greece during the first week of June, American officials said.
The exercise also included Israeli helicopters that could be used to rescue downed pilots. The helicopters and refueling tankers flew more than 900 miles, which is about the same distance between Israel and Iran’s uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, American officials said.
Israeli officials declined to discuss the details of the exercise. A spokesman for the Israeli military would say only that the country’s air force “regularly trains for various missions in order to confront and meet the challenges posed by the threats facing Israel.”
But the scope of the Israeli exercise virtually guaranteed that it would be noticed by American and other foreign intelligence agencies. A senior Pentagon official who has been briefed on the exercise, and who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the political delicacy of the matter, said the exercise appeared to serve multiple purposes.
One Israeli goal, the Pentagon official said, was to practice flight tactics, aerial refueling and all other details of a possible strike against Iran’s nuclear installations and its long-range conventional missiles.
A second, the official said, was to send a clear message to the United States and other countries that Israel was prepared to act militarily if diplomatic efforts to stop Iran from producing bomb-grade uranium continued to falter.
“They wanted us to know, they wanted the Europeans to know, and they wanted the Iranians to know,” the Pentagon official said. “There’s a lot of signaling going on at different levels.”
Several American officials said they did not believe that the Israeli government had concluded that it must attack Iran and did not think that such a strike was imminent.
Shaul Mofaz, a former Israeli defense minister who is now a deputy prime minister, warned in a recent interview with the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot that Israel might have no choice but to attack. “If Iran continues with its program for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack,” Mr. Mofaz said in the interview published on June 6, the day after the unpublicized exercise ended. “Attacking Iran, in order to stop its nuclear plans, will be unavoidable.”
But Mr. Mofaz was criticized by other Israeli politicians as seeking to enhance his own standing as questions mount about whether the embattled Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, can hang on to power.
Israeli officials have told their American counterparts that Mr. Mofaz’s statement does not represent official policy. But American officials were also told that Israel had prepared plans for striking nuclear targets in Iran and could carry them out if needed.
Iran has shown signs that it is taking the Israeli warnings seriously, by beefing up its air defenses in recent weeks, including increasing air patrols. In one instance, Iran scrambled F-4 jets to double-check an Iraqi civilian flight from Baghdad to Tehran.
“They are clearly nervous about this and have their air defense on guard,” a Bush administration official said of the Iranians.
Any Israeli attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities would confront a number of challenges. Many American experts say they believe that such an attack could delay but not eliminate Iran’s nuclear program. Much of the program’s infrastructure is buried under earth and concrete and installed in long tunnels or hallways, making precise targeting difficult. There is also concern that not all of the facilities have been detected. To inflict maximum damage, multiple attacks might be necessary, which many analysts say is beyond Israel’s ability at this time.
But waiting also entails risks for the Israelis. Israeli officials have repeatedly expressed fears that Iran will soon master the technology it needs to produce substantial quantities of highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons.
Iran is also taking steps to better defend its nuclear facilities. Two sets of advance Russian-made radar systems were recently delivered to Iran. The radar will enhance Iran’s ability to detect planes flying at low altitude.
Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, said in February that Iran was close to acquiring Russian-produced SA-20 surface-to-air missiles. American military officials said that the deployment of such systems would hamper Israel’s attack planning, putting pressure on Israel to act before the missiles are fielded.
For both the United States and Israel, Iran’s nuclear program has been a persistent worry. A National Intelligence Estimate that was issued in December by American intelligence agencies asserted that Iran had suspended work on weapons design in late 2003. The report stated that it was unclear if that work had resumed. It also noted that Iran’s work on uranium enrichment and on missiles, two steps that Iran would need to take to field a nuclear weapon, had continued.
In late May, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran’s suspected work on nuclear matters was a “matter of serious concern” and that the Iranians owed the agency “substantial explanations.”
Over the past three decades, Israel has carried out two unilateral attacks against suspected nuclear sites in the Middle East. In 1981, Israeli jets conducted a raid against Iraq’s nuclear plant at Osirak after concluding that it was part of Saddam Hussein’s program to develop nuclear weapons. In September, Israeli aircraft bombed a structure in Syria that American officials said housed a nuclear reactor built with the aid of North Korea.
The United States protested the Israeli strike against Iraq in 1981, but its comments in recent months have amounted to an implicit endorsement of the Israeli strike in Syria.
Pentagon officials said that Israel’s air forces usually conducted a major early summer training exercise, often flying over the Mediterranean or training ranges in Turkey where they practice bombing runs and aerial refueling. But the exercise this month involved a larger number of aircraft than had been previously observed, and included a lengthy combat rescue mission.
Much of the planning appears to reflect a commitment by Israel’s military leaders to ensure that its armed forces are adequately equipped and trained, an imperative driven home by the difficulties the Israeli military encountered in its Lebanon operation against Hezbollah.
“They rehearse it, rehearse it and rehearse it, so if they actually have to do it, they’re ready,” the Pentagon official said. “They’re not taking any options off the table.”
Ethan Bronner contributed reporting from Jerusalem.
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Apparently an unnamed Israeli official has said as much, too.
Notice that this broke on a Friday to really get up the noses of the Iranians, and so the Iranian establishment did what it's very good at, delivered some firebrand rhetoric at Friday prayers, thereby playing straight into the stereotype!!
See, a well planned operation!
Notice that this broke on a Friday to really get up the noses of the Iranians, and so the Iranian establishment did what it's very good at, delivered some firebrand rhetoric at Friday prayers, thereby playing straight into the stereotype!!
See, a well planned operation!
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Dan D'air - Beatriz and glad rag
Are you all on drugs or are you posting without your supervisor and forgetting to take your medication?
Sounds like your well into each other
Are you all on drugs or are you posting without your supervisor and forgetting to take your medication?
Sounds like your well into each other
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I'm not a twisted r*ghead full of hatred, who prays 6 times a day and reads the Koran,
So what do you read then?? (nice bit of racism from yourself there, you might want to edit that out BTW it kind of gives your game away).
If you would stop and THINK the only way Israel is going to survive is by not playing into the hands of those who control the masses, something that requires a deft touch and restraint......yeah sorry I forgot
Are you so out of touch with the realities of warfare and escalation that you cannot see the trap that is being laid??
Some of us can distance ourselves and see it can you?
rgds
glad rag.
So what do you read then?? (nice bit of racism from yourself there, you might want to edit that out BTW it kind of gives your game away).
If you would stop and THINK the only way Israel is going to survive is by not playing into the hands of those who control the masses, something that requires a deft touch and restraint......yeah sorry I forgot
Are you so out of touch with the realities of warfare and escalation that you cannot see the trap that is being laid??
Some of us can distance ourselves and see it can you?
rgds
glad rag.
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"Restraint' is not sending retaliating jets after catching a few SCUDs with HE warheads and thus breaking up a shaky Western-Muslim coalition.
Stupidity is waiting for another to fill his hand with the means to fulfill the publicly stated the desire to eliminate one's own country from the map.
With any luck or common sense, Iran will take Israel's point with the demonstration.
Stupidity is waiting for another to fill his hand with the means to fulfill the publicly stated the desire to eliminate one's own country from the map.
With any luck or common sense, Iran will take Israel's point with the demonstration.
Per Ardua ad Astraeus
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Hopefully Iran will take the hint as BH says.
Now - can we get Israel to enter Zimbabwe and put an end to all this mealy-mouthed ineffective hand-wringing?
Now - can we get Israel to enter Zimbabwe and put an end to all this mealy-mouthed ineffective hand-wringing?
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If someone has access to the Torah, I'm sure between that, the Bible and the Qu'ran we can all find reasons for wiping someone off the map.
That's the problem. This stand-off will have religious overtones and that's going to be a VERY bad thing. Gesturing and posturing like this has got nations in to deep trouble in the past and anyone who steps back and takes a strategic look at what's going on will see the bad omens gathering.
Do you still need planning permission to build a bunker in the back garden?
That's the problem. This stand-off will have religious overtones and that's going to be a VERY bad thing. Gesturing and posturing like this has got nations in to deep trouble in the past and anyone who steps back and takes a strategic look at what's going on will see the bad omens gathering.
Do you still need planning permission to build a bunker in the back garden?
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Israel has nukes must be the worst kept secert in the world and sooner or later they will use them if they feel defeat is staring them in the face. Lets hope if that day ever comes everyone else keeps there cool.
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Personally, I'd give the whole Middle East and Maghreb a miss right now
Sp. Should that be miss or miss(ile)?
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taxydual,
I wonder what Clausewitz would have to say about taking on an enemy that is actually willing, nay, wants to die? Surely someone on the Higher Staff course would / should have written a paper on that!!
I wonder what Clausewitz would have to say about taking on an enemy that is actually willing, nay, wants to die? Surely someone on the Higher Staff course would / should have written a paper on that!!
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I cannot see how Israel could be so stupid even thinking about attacking the (some) 1000 Iranian sites related to their nuclear enterprise - for a start Israel simply does not have the resources. If they were so stupid, the outcome would be unthinkable and one which the USA certainly could not afford to happen.
As relatiliation, Iran would attack tanker traffic in the Straits of Hormuz with silkworm missiles (supplied by their ally, China), thus stopping the shipment of oil from Saudi Araabia, Kuwait, Iraq and UAE. Oil would not just go over US$ 140/barrel, it would probably rocket to at least $500/barrel !!!!! Pprune would go out of business due to there being no aircraft to fly in the World, therefore no pilots, Trolly Dollies, Engineers and the like - no fuel.
Shiite and Sunnies would join forces and kick the US out of Iraq and the rest of the Middle East - the USA has never and could never win a guerrilla war and certainly not one occurring in several theatres at the same time.
Syria, Hezbolla in Lebanon and in Gazza would join in against Israel. It is also highly likely that the Saudi Government would be deposed and their military would join in the "free for all".
Investment in the USA would suddenly dry up sending the US Dollar into a spiral until it reached parity with the Zimbabwe Dollar thus causing major problems at home.
Iran would continue to export its oil to China by tanker until they were attacked by the US from their base in Diego Garci - that would bring China into the conflict with its million stong military machine and nucear weapons.
Simply what one would call World War 3 !!!!!
No need to go through any flight training - we would all have wings!
Is that what you really want???
As relatiliation, Iran would attack tanker traffic in the Straits of Hormuz with silkworm missiles (supplied by their ally, China), thus stopping the shipment of oil from Saudi Araabia, Kuwait, Iraq and UAE. Oil would not just go over US$ 140/barrel, it would probably rocket to at least $500/barrel !!!!! Pprune would go out of business due to there being no aircraft to fly in the World, therefore no pilots, Trolly Dollies, Engineers and the like - no fuel.
Shiite and Sunnies would join forces and kick the US out of Iraq and the rest of the Middle East - the USA has never and could never win a guerrilla war and certainly not one occurring in several theatres at the same time.
Syria, Hezbolla in Lebanon and in Gazza would join in against Israel. It is also highly likely that the Saudi Government would be deposed and their military would join in the "free for all".
Investment in the USA would suddenly dry up sending the US Dollar into a spiral until it reached parity with the Zimbabwe Dollar thus causing major problems at home.
Iran would continue to export its oil to China by tanker until they were attacked by the US from their base in Diego Garci - that would bring China into the conflict with its million stong military machine and nucear weapons.
Simply what one would call World War 3 !!!!!
No need to go through any flight training - we would all have wings!
Is that what you really want???