Hope, Levity and Wonder

from Debka
US Navy, Air Force, ground, intelligence and special forces units based at home, in Europe and the Middle East, took part this week in a special exercise ordered by President Barack Obama to simulate reactions to a potential US-Israel strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, debkafile’s exclusive military and Washington sources report.

Sunday, April 22, the US also transferred a number of advanced stealth F-22 fighter bombers, believed to be from the 302nd Fighter Squadron 302, from the joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska to the Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.
According to our sources, the F-22 jets will join the F-15s of the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing which were transferred to the Al Udeid base a month ago.

Their mission will be to destroy the Iranian air force and air defense batteries so as to clear the way for US and Israeli bombers to go into action against Iran’s nuclear sites and the strategic infrastructure of its army and Revolutionary Guards Corps.
This unprecedented US buildup of air might – supplementing the aircraft on the decks of the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Enterprise, to be joined by a third carrier as soon as the offensive gets underway – shows Tehran that the Obama administration is serious about using military means as extra pressure on Iran to give way in diplomatic negotiations – both with the six powers and with the US through clandestine channels.

Both moves took place as the United States and five other world powers prepares for the second round of talks with Iran scheduled for next month to rein in its nuclear program.
The comment Israel’s chief of staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz made to AP on April 26 about “other countries” having readied their armed forces for a potential strike “to keep Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons” referred to the deployment of the F-22 stealth jets. He did not name the other countries.

His comment was received in Washington as Israel’s strongest message till now that it will not be alone in attacking Iran but will have partners, presumably the US – and possibly also Britain, France, German, Holland or Italy.
At the end of the US exercise simulating Day One of this attack, debkafile reports that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey submitted to the White House three conclusions:
1.  Iran’s response to a military strike will be “measured,” both to limit the damage to the regime and to conserve military resources for a possible follow-up attack;

2.  The Iranians will go back to work on building a nuclear weapon within a short time;

3.  The destruction of core elements of its nuclear program is expected to change Iran’s attitude in negotiations, making it less cocky and more submissive to international demands.

2 cents:
Absolute foolishness. Nothing was learned from Iraq and Afghanistan. These people – Arab Muslims that are right extremist do not know or work from a position of true submissiveness to the Evil Satan and its allies. Conclusion 1 & 2 are correct but #3 is ignorance personified. To get a real #3 conclusion would require a complete change of Iranian leadership as well as its form of government. Bombing them will not achieve that end. It would require hunting them down and killing them (see Iraq & Afghanistan).

Also the exercise is fully under the mind set of chief empty suit. It is posturing, games, strategics etc. it is a COMPLETELY different thing to actually order the attack. I will go a step further – with confidence – the chief empty suit ordered the mission on Osama ONLY BECAUSE it would have definitely been leaked that he did not do it. He was bullied into it by the politics and the USA citizen’s desire to make the architect of 9/11 pay for it. It was not because the old limp noodle has a patriotic bone in his body. Nor was it because he is strong on the protection of American values and lives versus what has been labeled as an extremist version of Islam.  He will now wave this one bloody success of his horrific term to try and position himself as a successful president.

Israel knows and understands this pathetic man better than probably most the citizens in our own country. It is in our country that so called reality TV shows are the preference of the masses. In the sports world they are called professional wrestling. Our country is sick, wicked, willingly ignorant, immoral and ambivalent. We have a president that represents the majority of the voters in the country.

Now THAT should keep us up at night.

Debka article on crisis in US-Israeli relations over nuclear talks with Iran

The gist is that not only Israeli government but also a bipartisan group of US senators feel that a back channel exchanges held in privacy between O administration and Iran government leaders will result in:

1. communication while Iran continues its nuclear program instead of freezing
2. US pushing for some slack on sanctions as reciprocal action for Iran to freeze nuclear program
3. ending in the result that sanctions will slack but Iran will continue in secrecy (until caught) working with its nuclear program

In private conversations, Netanyahu has said he feels cheated. By its actions the Obama administration leaves Israel with no recourse other than to grapple with the Iranian menace on its own, he has said, and be less sensitive to Washington’s wishes.

The result of tension between the two countries? O decided to send his US National Security Adviser Tom Donilon to an urgent visit to Israel Saturday, Feb. 18, for three days of talks “on regional issues including Syria and Iran.”

2 cents:
For those who have followed US and Russia cold war history what is being replayed is the Nixon, Ford and Carter years of so called diplomacy with Soviet Union over nuclear weapons. What happened during those years was the US would sign treaties or pacts with SU to eliminate certain classes of nuclear weapons technology and then the US would fulfill its end while SU didn’t. This resulted with US strategically inferior in nuclear and military defense to SU by the time Carter was president. This period of time also resulted in the Peace thru Strength program of presidential candidate Ronald Reagan. He provided the data everywhere to anyone on the decline of the US military and bad faith build up of Russia. His solution was simple > military build up in the US until the US was significantly superior understanding that such a strategy would cripple the Russian economy because it could not spend what it did not have. Then from a position of strength negotiate systemic changes of the cold war mentality which led the government selection of Gorbachev and his understanding of the need for real peace and reform in the Soviet Union. Reagan’s cornerstone approach “trust but verify”.
What is done in secret is unable to be verified so one does not act until verification is real.
O will simply bungle through and repeat the actions of Nixon-Carter which will result in Iranian buildup and technology increases while playing around at diplomacy.