Posts tagged WAR
Tehran steps into US-Israel Iran row with threat of pre-emptive strike
Deputy Chief of Iran’s Armed Forces Gen. Mohammad Hejazi issued a new threat Tuesday, Feb. 21: “Our strategy now is that if we feel our enemies want to endanger Iran’s national interests… we will act without waiting for their actions.”
debkafile’s military sources report that an Iranian preemptive attack on Israel has been in the air for some weeks. It became realistic because the dragging out of the argument between Washington and Jerusalem over a military strike and the two government’s indecisiveness gave Tehran a golden opportunity to further its interests.
It bestowed on Iran the gift of entering into talks on its nuclear program with the six world powers (P5 plus 1) free of a military threat and therefore in a superior bargaining position. For openers, Tehran has already pocketed the Obama administration’s promise of permission to continue to enrich uranium up to 5 percent in any quantity and will be more than ready to lay down more demands.
Gen. Hejazi’s threat of a preemptive strike against Israel also serves the Islamic regime in its run-up to a general election on March 3. It aims to show the Iranian voter and Middle East public that Iran has successfully turned US and Israeli aggression against Iran against them and demonstrated they are no more than paper tigers incapable of carrying through on their rhetoric. The military initiative therefore stays in Iran’s hands.
In Tehran, the standard Israeli cliché of “We don’t’ advise anyone to test our resolve” has worn thin.
By letting two Iranian warships bearing arms for Assad pass Israel’s coast on its way to Tartus without interference, Israel encouraged Tehran to assume that, in the last reckoning, it will abstain from a unilateral strike to eradicate Iran’s nuclear facilities without Washington’s blessing.
The Netanyahu government’s resolve is expected to melt away under the bulldozer assault of one American emissary after another touching down at Ben-Gurion airport to corner them into backing down.
Once Israel lets its hands be tied, Tehran calculates, it will become progressively harder to break them loose, so that if Tehran does carry out a limited “preemptive” missile attack on the Jewish state, Jerusalem will again bow to Washington and let itself be coerced into not responding.
Thursday, Feb. 23, US National Director of Intelligence James Clapper arrives in Israel to tackle its military and intelligence chiefs on the question, after US National Defense Director Tom Donilon spent three days in fruitless discussions with government leaders Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the US Chiefs of Staff tried his hand at persuasion earlier this month. This cycle of pressure will peak with Netanyahu’s White House talks with President Obama on March 5.
The Iranians felt confident enough to safely deny requests from the team of IAEA inspectors who arrived in Tehran Monday for access suspect nuclear locations and meetings with scientists employed in their nuclear program.
Gen. Hejazi’s words were backed up by a four-day air defense exercise, dubbed Sarallah (God’s Revenge), in the south of the country. The Islamic Republic also took another initiative by cutting off oil exports to Britain and France and so turning the tables on the European Union’s oil embargo on Tehran.
(Source: debka.com)
UK to take major role in making new ‘eurodrones’
Plans to build a new generation of “fighter drones” that can wage war by remote control are set to be agreed today by Britain and France. David Cameron and President Nicolas Sarkozy are preparing to put their recent tensions behind them to launch proposals for the pilotless stealth aircraft at a summit in Paris. In a second agreement, they will promise closer co-operation on civil nuclear power.
Western nations increasingly regard the deployment of drones to launch surgical strikes on targets as a way of keeping military casualties to a minimum.
Several senior al-Qa’ida figures have been killed by unmanned American drones flying over Pakistan, while British drone missions could begin within months over Afghanistan. Critics claim the aircraft can cause “collateral damage” among civilians and that the low risk to service personnel from their use can encourage countries to turn to military force rather than diplomacy.
But the two leaders are preparing to put any qualms to one side as they sign a letter of intent of cross-Channel cooperation on the project.
Under the plan, Britain’s BAE and the French planemaker Dassault – rivals in the battle for sales of the present generation of fighter planes – will be asked to collaborate in the creation of a prototype of a Star Wars-type, ground-controlled “fighter drone” by 2020. Mr Cameron and Mr Sarkozy are expected to present the project as proof of continuing – or revived – Anglo-French friendship despite last year’s rift over tighter fiscal discipline in the eurozone.
The Paris summit, delayed from last November, will be the first lengthy one-on-one meeting between the two leaders since Mr Cameron vetoed an EU-wide fiscal pact in early December.
Mr Cameron will be accompanied by Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, and Ed Davey, the Energy Secretary. The two governments will sign a declaration signalling their commitment to nuclear power as a source of safe and affordable energy that will also help cut carbon emissions.
Under the agreement, British and French public and private sector bodies in the civil nuclear power industry will work more closely on education and training, research and development and security. The two sets of ministers will also discuss cooperation in transport. Mr Cameron last night stressed the “strength and depth of Britain’s ties with France”. He said: “Our commercial relationship is deep and growing with exports increasing and French investment sustaining almost 10,000 jobs in the UK. Our militaries are working together on cutting-edge military technology. This relationship is vital for the national security and the prosperity of both Britain and France.”
The Franco-British “fighter drone” would take aerial combat into a new age, replacing all the “conventional” piloted fighter-planes now on offer. The two governments are thought to be ready to put a modest amount of public cash into the project at this stage.
The possibility of French and British co-operation on a drone aircraft – or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) – was first mentioned in November 2010 when Mr Cameron and Mr Sarkozy signed a defence treaty committing the two countries to co-operate in military deployment and research. French sources said yesterday that German or Italian, or wider European, participation in the project would be welcomed. But the newspaper Les Echos reported yesterday the letter of intent to be signed by Mr Sarkozy and Mr Cameron was intended as a signal that the project would be under Anglo-French leadership.
American-made drones, sometimes controlled from thousands of miles away, are in service in Afghanistan for surveillance or to attack difficult ground targets. The proposed Anglo-French drones would take the concept a stage further – and into uncharted technological, strategic and moral territory.
The intention is to have a prototype flying by 2020 but it might take many more years before a computer-controlled fighter started service in the RAF or with the French air force.
Sources in Paris told Reuters that the summit would today announce the “next steps and intentions” for “a UAV design and development programme” and an “unmanned combat air system demonstrator programme”.
Unmanned aircraft: Britain’s fleet
Britain operates a fleet of six Reaper MQ-9 drones, and is spending £135m to expand it to 10 aircraft. They are operational over Afghanistan and last year fired their weapons for the 200th time. The drones are operated by 39 Squadron from a base in Nevada, but this year it is intended they will be controlled from RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire.
Reaper-MQ unmanned aircraft are US-made and can carry up to 14 Hellfire missiles, cruise at a speed of 170kts, and remain aloft for 14 hours.
A UK drone under development has the potential to stay in the air indefinitely. QinetiQ’s solar-powered Zephyr can reach altitudes of 70,000ft and in 2010 set a world flight record of more than 14 days.
(Source: independent.co.uk)
Israel ‘will make own decision’ on Iran, says military chief
ISRAEL will ultimately decide on its own whether to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, its military chief of staff says, as a senior US official arrived for talks on the Islamic Republic.
“Israel is the central guarantor of its own security; this is our role as army, the State of Israel should defend itself,” Lieutenant General Benny Gantz told state-owned Channel One TV.
“We must follow the developments in Iran and its nuclear project, but in a very broad manner, taking into account what the world is doing, what Iran decided, what we will do or not do,” he said.
In recent weeks, there has been feverish speculation that Israel was getting closer to mounting a pre-emptive strike on Iran’s nuclear program, though Israel has denied reaching such a decision.
Tensions between Iran and Israel have been simmering with Iranian warships entering the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal in a show of “might”, a move Israel said it would closely monitor.
On Wednesday, Iran said it had installed another 3000 centrifuges to increase its uranium enrichment abilities and was stepping up exploration and processing of uranium yellowcake.
And Israel blamed a recent wave of attacks targeting Israeli diplomats on agents of Tehran, allegations that Iran denies.
US National Security Advisor Tom Donilon will begin talks with Israeli officials on a range of issues including Iran, two weeks ahead of a Washington visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for White House talks with US President Barak Obama on the same topic.
A recent article in the Washington Post said that US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta thinks Israel may strike Iran’s nuclear installations in the coming months.
According to Gantz, whose interview was conducted prior to the developments, Iran was not only an “Israeli problem”, but also “a world and regional problem”.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak called on the world to tighten sanctions on Iran before the country enters a “zone of immunity” against a physical attack to stop its nuclear program.
Iran has been slapped with four sets of UN sanctions and a raft of unilateral US and European Union measures over its nuclear drive, which Tehran maintains is peaceful.
(Source: news.com.au)
Dream warriors? U.S. military to research ‘battlefield illusions’ to baffle enemies
The American military’s technology research division Darpa is to investigate hi tech ‘battlefield illusions’ designed to baffle enemy troops, according to budget figures announced this week.
The Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency is investing $4 million in the project, which includes research into causing ‘auditory and visual’ hallucinations in enemy troops.
The technologies could be similar to current measures designed to confuse radar systems, but applied to human beings.
The ‘illusions’ would likely use optical technology, and will be built to be mounted on vehicles.
‘The current operational art of human-sensory battlefield deception is largely an ad-hoc practice,’ says the agency.
The agency aims to investigate ‘how humans use their brains to process sensory inputs,’ to create technologies that will provide a tactical advantage on the battlefield.
Darpa says it aims to, ‘Demonstrate and assess the operational effectiveness of advanced human-deceptive technologies on military ground, sea, and airborne systems,’ according to the report in Wired.
Wired magazine’s Noah Schachtman says, ‘This is not the first time that military researchers have tried to confuse foes with sights or sounds that aren’t really there.’
‘The defense contractor BAE Systems recently developed an ‘invisibility cloak’ which it says can hide vehicles’ infrared signature,’ says Schachtman.
‘In the early years of the war on terror, many in the defense tech community floated the idea of a ‘Voice off God’ weapon. The idea was to use directed sound waves to convince would-be jihadis that Allah himself was speaking in their ears — and ordering them to put down their suicide belts.’
In the Fifties, the UK and U.S. governments both researched using ‘weaponised’ forms of LSD and another hallucinogen, BZ, for battlefield use.
(Source: Daily Mail)
Russia is squaring up for a fight with America over Syria
Confirmation that the U.S. and its allies are studying their military options for helping the anti-Assad rebels in Syria is a worrying development on a number of levels, not least of which is the prospect of the West becoming embroiled in a direct confrontation with the Russians.
As I have argued before, I think the West – and that includes Britain – needs to proceed with great caution before it gets too closely involved in the Syrian crisis. As with the Libya situation last year, we still have no clear idea who the rebels are in Syria, or what their ultimate objective might be.
Homs, the centre of the anti-Assad rebellion, is a known centre for Islamist extremists, and if all Western intervention achieves is the replacement of the Assad regime with an Iranian-style Islamist dictatorship, then we will have scored a monumental own goal.
Of deeper concern, though, is the possibility that the U.S. could find itself involved in a direct military confrontation with Russia over the future of Syria’s destiny. We have been here before, of course, during the 1980s when, at the height of the Cold War, Moscow and Washington fought a proxy war over the fate of neighbouring Lebanon.
Even though U.S. President Ronald Reagan deployed thousands of U.S. Marines to Beirut, the Americans were eventually sent packing. During that conflict Russia backed the Syrians, who in turn used the Iranian-backed Hizbollah militia to carry out a series of devastating terrorist attacks against the Americans, ultimately forcing them to withdraw their forces from Lebanon.
The Cold War might be consigned to the history books, but a similar confrontation could easily arise if Washington decides to become engaged militarily in Syria to protect anti-government rebels.
This week’s visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Damascus has highlighted Syria’s importance to Moscow. The Syrian port of Tartus is Russia’s only military base outside the old Soviet Union and, at a time when the West is strengthening its ties throughout the Arab world, the Russians regard Syria as a vital strategic asset. Consequently any attempt by the Western powers to meddle in Syria’s internal affairs is likely to prompt a robust response from Moscow.
One of the reasons the Lebanese civil war dragged on for fifteen years was that the conflict ended up being caught in a turf war between Washington and Moscow. I fear a similar fate could soon befall Syria
(Source: blogs.telegraph.co.uk)
U.S. admiral says forces prepared to confront Iran as officials step up threats to close Strait of Hormuz
The top US Navy official in the Gulf said Sunday he takes Iran’s military capabilities seriously but insists his forces are prepared to confront any Iranian aggression in the region.
Vice Adm Mark Fox, commander of the 5th Fleet, told reporters at the naval force’s Bahrain headquarters that the Navy has ‘built a wide range of potential options to give the president’ and is ‘ready today’ to confront any hostile action by Tehran.
He did not outline specifically how the Navy might answer an Iranian strike or an effort to shut the entrance to the Persian Gulf, though any response would likely involve the two US aircraft carriers and other warships cruising the waters off Iran.
‘We’ve developed very precise and lethal weapons that are very effective, and we’re prepared,’ Fox said. ‘We’re just ready for any contingency.’
Faced with tightening Western sanctions, Iranian officials have stepped up threats to close the Strait of Hormuz if the country’s oil exports are blocked. A fifth of the world’s oil supply passes through the narrow waterway, which is only about 30 miles (50 kilometers) across at its narrowest point.
Iran and Oman share control of the waterway, but it is considered an international strait, meaning free transit passage is guaranteed under international law.
Iran’s army chief, General Ataollah Salehi, early last month warned an American warship not to return to the Gulf shortly after the aircraft carrier USS John C Stennis and another vessel left. Another carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, entered the Gulf without incident on January 22.
Fox acknowledged that Iran’s military is ‘capable of striking a blow’ against American forces in the Gulf, particularly using unconventional means such as small attack boats or mines laid along shipping lanes.
‘We’re not bulletproof. There are people that can take a swipe at us,’ Fox said.
But he added that he has reminded officers under his command that they ‘have a right and an obligation of self defence’ if attacked.
The admiral’s comments echo those of other Western officials, who say they will respond swiftly to any Iranian attempt to shut the Strait of Hormuz.
Gen Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CBS’ ‘Face the Nation’ last month that Iranian forces could block shipping through the strait ‘for a period of time,’ but added, ‘We can defeat that.’
In his briefing in the Bahraini capital Manama, Fox voiced support for the tiny island nation that has hosted U.S. Navy vessels for decades.
‘They are a long-term partner and a very important piece of our ability to do our mission,’ he said of the country.
Bahrain has been rocked by protests led by the country’s majority Shiites against the country’s Sunni monarchy that erupted in force a year ago. Street battles between security forces and protesters still flare up almost daily in the predominantly Shiite villages around the capital.
Fox’s command encompasses the bulk of the Middle East, including the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf and a large swath of the Indian Ocean along the east African coast. There are about 25,000 sailors under his command.
US drone kills 10 in Pakistan
American drones have killed as many as 10 people in the first such missile strike since Barack Obama officially acknowledged the covert CIA programme.
The attack happened in North Waziristan, an area used by members of the Haqqani network to launch operations against international forces across the border in Afghanistan, according to local intelligence officials.
“Two missiles were fired on a compound killing at least 10 in a house believed to be in the use of militants,” said an intelligence official.
Foreign fighters may have been among the dead in the village of Tappi about 10 miles from the main town of Miranshah, he added.
The US had long declined to comment on the use of unmanned drones against militant targets in Pakistan.
The programme is hugely controversial and blamed by Pakistani politicians for turning tribesmen into Jihadis.
However, last month Mr Obama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize shortly after taking office, confirmed that the US was using unmanned aircraft in the skies over Pakistan.
“For the most part, they’ve been very precise precision strikes against al Qaeda and their affiliates, and we’re very careful in terms of how it’s been applied,” he said in a webchat.
Mr Obama’s administration has ramped up the use of drones as ground forces struggle to contain the militant threat in Afghanistan.
Tactics include targeting funeral gatherings and rescuers at the scene of recent attacks, according to research published by the Bureau of Investigative Reporting at the weekend.
The strikes were halted in November last year. Relations between the two allies nosedived in the aftermath of a Nato cross-border raid which killed 24 Pakistani troops.
However, the drones have since restarted their missions even though Pakistan has yet to re-open its roads to Nato supply convoys en route to Afghanistan.
(Source: telegraph.co.uk)
IAF chief: Iran is our top concern
Maj.-Gen. Amir Eshel said in rare speech last month that nuclear Iran would trigger arms race in Middle East, and should be addressed strategically before all other conflicts
The escalating public discourse over the possibility of a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities has put a magnifying glass on incoming IAF Chief Major-General Amir Eshel’s stance on the issue.
Eshel, whose IAF appointment was announced Monday, seldom expresses his opinion publically – all the more so since becoming the head of the IDF’s Plans and Policy Directorate in 2008.
But in a rare speech made last month at the Jerusalem Center for Public affairs, Eshel stressed that while the decision to launch an airstrike on the Islamic Republic is left up to the political echelon, Iran is Israel’s primary concern.
“Iran is above everything, and it must be taken into account, strategically, before the others,” he said. “A nuclear Iran would cause a mighty change in the region. It would trigger an arms race in the Middle East. I’m sure that other nations in the region will attempt to obtain such weapons as well.
“It could create a situation that leads to a global nuclear jungle,” he added. “This is not an official assessment, but the first lesson that leaders in the Middle East learned from the Arab Spring is that they should obtain nuclear weapons … Who would have dared to question (Gaddafi) or Saddam Hussein if they had atom weapons?”
Eshel raised the concern that a nuclear Iran could embolden terror groups that operate with the Islamic Republic’s backing, including Hamas and Hezbollah – a development that would restrict the IDF in Gaza and Lebanon.
Iran precedes Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
He argued that the Iranian issue even trumps Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians, saying that an agreement with the PA won’t bring peace to the region.
“Even if Israel and the Palestinians sign a peace accord tomorrow, it won’t solve the other problems or the Iranian issue,” he said. “An agreement with them won’t create a paradise in the Middle East. I don’t belittle the issue, but if (the agreement) isn’t based on solid security arrangements, it won’t last.”
Eshel noted that as per the government’s order, the IDF supports the Palestinian apparatuses in the West Bank.
“We take many risks in order to help the Palestinians build better lives with a better economy,” he said. “But if we make a mistake here, there won’t be a second chance. This is why we are so determined (to reach an accord), because we already tried in 1993 and in 2000.”
In his speech, Eshel accused the regime in Tehran of running a terrorist state.
“Everyday Iran is fighting everyone, not only through terror but also through economic means,” he said.
Eshel voiced pessimism regarding the outcomes of the turmoil in the surrounding countries, noting that “our estimation that the revolutions would be taken over by other movements have come true.”
“If the economic issues aren’t addressed, a downturn is inevitable,” he said. “The Muslim Brotherhood’s influence in Egypt could spread to the region, including Jordan, Syria and the Palestinian Authority.”
He warned that Syria’s chemical and biological weapons could fall into the hands of terror groups, noting that the country’s air force armament poses a challenge to the IAF.
“Syria has invested over $2 billion in its air force over the past two years,” he said. “We haven’t seen anything like it in the past two decades. They invested great funds in order to undermine our aerial superiority.”
(Source: ynetnews.com)
China tells US to stop groundless accusations
BEIJING - China on Monday asked the United States to abandon its “Cold War mentality” and cease making groundless accusations against China, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
Spokesman Liu Weimin made the remark at a daily press briefing when commenting on an annual national security threat assessment report delivered by the U.S. government.
The report stated that China has invaded American computer networks on a large scale, stolen intellectual property and conducted economic espionage. The report also named Chinese intelligence agencies as the biggest threat to the U.S. in relevant fields for the next few years.
Liu said the accusations are “totally fictitious” and were made with an ulterior motive in mind.
Cyberattacks are transnational and anonymous, Liu said, adding that it is “unprofessional and irresponsible” to deduce the source of an attack without a thorough investigation.
The spokesman said China has repeatedly declared its stance on issues regarding Internet security. China is willing to continue cooperation with the international community on safeguarding Internet security, he added.
(Source: chinadaily.com.cn)
UN chief calls for urgent action on Syria
UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon wants the Security Council to be united when it deliberates a draft resolution calling on Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to quit.
The Arab League, backed by the United States, France and Britain will ask the council to adopt the resolution at UN talks in New York.
“I sincerely hope the Security Council will be united and speak in a coherent manner reflecting the wishes of the international community,” Mr Ban told reporters in the Jordanian capital.
“This is crucially important.”
Russia, one of Syria’s few allies, has objected to the resolution on the grounds it could pave the way for military intervention in Syria.
It is more urgent than ever to put an end to this bloodshed and violence, to start a credible political solution that addresses the legitimate aspiration of the Syrian people and to protect their fundamental freedoms.
Ban Ki-moon
China, which like Russia has a veto in the council, also has reservations about the draft. Russia and China vetoed a European-drafted resolution in October that condemned Syria and threatened it with sanctions.
“It is more urgent than ever to put an end to this bloodshed and violence, to start a credible political solution that addresses the legitimate aspiration of the Syrian people and to protect their fundamental freedoms,” Mr Ban said.
“I don’t think we can go on like this.”
French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero says France is still hopeful a breakthrough is possible.
“We hope with this dramatic violence on the ground, and the commitment of the Arab League, some members of the UN Security Council will finally change their mind, will realise that the time has come to take its responsibility and will allow the Security Council to move on this issue,” he said.
Russian veto
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov says Russia will not support anything which is imposed on Syrians.
“It is up to the Syrians themselves to decide how to run the country, how to introduce the reforms, what kind reforms, without any outside interference,” he told the ABC’s Lateline in an exclusive interview with Emma Alberici.
“Yes, we condemn strongly the use of force by government forces against civilians, but we can condemn in the same strong way the activities of the armed extremist groups who attack government positions.”
Mr Lavrov denied that Russia is a friend of Assad’s, but he says a “second Libya” would be a disaster.
“We’re not a friend, we’re not an ally of president Assad. We never said that president Assad remaining in power is the solution to the crisis,” he said.
I’m afraid that if this vigour to change regimes persists we are going to witness a very bad situation - much, much, much broader than just Syria, Libya, Egypt or any other single country.
“But if there is no dialogue, then the question means only one thing, that you want a second Libya, and this will be a disaster for the Arab world and for world politics.
“The people who are obsessed with removing regimes in the region, they should be really thinking about the broader picture.
“I’m afraid that if this vigour to change regimes persists, we are going to witness a very bad situation - much, much, much broader than just Syria, Libya, Egypt or any other single country.
“We don’t want to make this easy. We’re going to prevent this type of development.”
On the ground in Syria, opposition forces have called for a “day of mourning and anger” after almost 100 people, including 55 civilians, died in the latest violence in Homs.
The government says it has eliminated resistance by rebels on the edge of Damascus after three days of fighting.
The opposition says it has pulled back from the capital for strategic reasons and will launch guerrilla attacks.
One activist says government troops have been moving through several Damascus suburbs, making hundreds of arrests and looting houses.
ABC/wires
(Source: abc.net.au)
