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.
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.”
11 comments:
The blood-lust of the U.S. and Israel is insatiable. I wonder who they've got scheduled after Iran?
Richard Perle conducted a study in 1996 for Benjamin Netanyahu, then PM of Israel. This report, A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm, is thought to be the basis of Right Wing Zionism, and repudiates the the peace-oriented tactics of Yitzhak Rabin. Rabin was assassinated by a member of a right-wing Israeli group.
The report was a repudiation of the concept of "Land for Peace," which was the basis for the Oslo Accords. It emphasized armed incursions into Palestinian areas under the rubric of the "right of hot pursuit"; and armed incursions into Lebanon, and possible strikes against Syria and Iran. It is also a repudiation of the tenets of Labor Zionism, and a change to Economic liberalism. And it emphasized removal of Suddam Hussein from power in Iraq.
In my opinion, Israel needs to make a clean break from the United States, and these right-wing policies. This is NOT what Israel was intended to be; nor is it what the United States was intended to be. These Neo-Conservatives have hijacked both my countries, and have eaten the heart of both nations.
As for blood-lust: this is not the will of the people. This is the will of a handful of very powerful, and very evil, heads of state. The citizenry want peace.
Diva--
I agree with you whole-heartedly on most of this. Israel and the U.S. need to put some space between them. The U.S. attitude, that Israel can do no wrong, is a major factor in the elusion of peace in the region.
The U.S./Israel relationship is a one-way street. Alliances such as that are self-destructive.
I also believe the people of Israel and the U.S. want peace, as do 95% of the planet's population; however, the remaining 5% are the ones who control the world's governments, and they are motivated by greed, which is what births the blood-lust.
As for Right-Wing Zionism, it was alive and well before Israel became the State it now is, and before Richard Pearle was wearing diapers.;)
Israel is a puppet of their Sugar Daddy. Why people see them as separate baffles me. Israel needs to be Bitch Slapped back into the 15th century so they can try again to get it right!
Wow!, those "Iranian" fighter jets look JUST LIKE American F-18 Hornets in Blue Angels colors...
Voltron,
maybe Iran bought them from the US through Israeli middlemen?!
urm ... like it did during Reagan, you know? ;)
Voltron--
Odd you should say that. I live in Pensacola, Fl, home of the Blue Angels. I thought the same thing myself when I saw that picture.
They practise every Tuesday morning. They swoop down and fly about 40' above Bayou Chico, where my shop is located. They are so close, sometimes the pilots wave at you.
In the interest of honesty, I did some further research and found the planes are indeed Iranian.
They're modified F-5's and Iran has been painting them in Blue Angels colors since the shah.
While Iran is touting them as their best, the F-5 is not the best performing aircraft available and F-22 Raptors would dispatch them rather quickly. Hell, F-15's or even F-16's would have them dropping like flies...
Oh and Brother Tim, regarding your first post, Syria would be good.
Brother Tim - do you remember when Iranian president said "Israel should be wiped off the map"?
It seems Israel took these comments seriously and is trying to defend itself.
Excellent blog. I liked it.
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