[lbo-talk] the raid on Syria

Robert Wrubel bobwrubel at yahoo.com
Sun Sep 16 17:10:49 PDT 2007


Xymphora has a recent post on the "raid" which argues that the purpose of it was to test the newly acquired Russian Pantsyr S-1E air defense missiles, specifically, to see whether Israel's sophisticated jamming systems worked against them. They did. Since the same missiles have presumably been installed in Iran, this gives the green light to potential air attacks on either country. Xymphora also notes:

"Of course, missile defense is always bullshit – it never really works, but is just intended to provide civilian reassurance long enough to get the war started, when the usual jingoism can kick in."

BobW --- Andy F <andy274 at gmail.com> wrote:


>
<http://observer.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,330752083-119093,00.html>
>
> Was Israeli raid a dry run for attack on Iran?
>
> Mystery surrounds last week's air foray into Syrian
> territory. The
> Observer's Foreign Affairs Editor attempts to
> unravel the truth behind
> Operation Orchard and allegations of nuclear
> subterfuge
> Peter Beaumont
> Sunday September 16, 2007
>
> Observer
> The head of Israel's airforce, Major-General Eliezer
> Shkedi, was
> visiting a base in the coastal city of Herziliya
> last week. For the
> 50-year-old general, also the head of Israel's Iran
> Command, which
> would fight a war with Tehran if ordered, it was a
> morale-boosting
> affair, a meet-and-greet with pilots and navigators
> who had flown
> during last summer's month-long war against Lebanon.
> The journalists
> who had turned out in large numbers were there for
> another reason: to
> question Shkedi about a mysterious air raid that
> happened this month,
> codenamed 'Orchard', carried out deep in Syrian
> territory by his
> pilots.
>
> Shkedi ignored all questions. It set a pattern for
> the days to follow
> as he and Israel's politicians and officials
> maintained a steely
> silence, even when the questions came from the
> visiting French Foreign
> Minister, Bernard Kouchner. Those journalists who
> thought of reporting
> the story were discouraged by the threat of Israel's
> military censor.
>
> But the rumours were in circulation, not just in
> Israel but in
> Washington and elsewhere. In the days that followed,
> the sketchy
> details of the raid were accompanied by
> contradictory claims even as
> US and British officials admitted knowledge of the
> raid. The New York
> Times described the target of the raid as a nuclear
> site being run in
> collaboration with North Korean technicians. Others
> reported that the
> jets had hit either a Hizbollah convoy, a missile
> facility or a
> terrorist camp.
>
> Amid the confusion there were troubling details that
> chimed
> uncomfortably with the known facts. Two detachable
> tanks from an
> Israeli fighter were found just over the Turkish
> border. According to
> Turkish military sources, they belonged to a Raam
> F15I - the newest
> generation of Israeli long-range bomber, which has a
> combat range of
> over 2,000km when equipped with the drop tanks. This
> would enable them
> to reach targets in Iran, leading to speculation
> that it was an
> 'operation rehearsal' for a raid on Tehran's nuclear
> facilities.
>
> Finally, however, at the week's end, the first few
> tangible details
> were beginning to emerge about Operation Orchard
> from a source
> involved in the Israeli operation.
>
> They were sketchy, but one thing was absolutely
> clear. Far from being
> a minor incursion, the Israeli overflight of Syrian
> airspace through
> its ally, Turkey, was a far more major affair
> involving as many as
> eight aircraft, including Israel's most ultra-modern
> F-15s and F-16s
> equipped with Maverick missiles and 500lb bombs.
> Flying among the
> Israeli fighters at great height, The Observer can
> reveal, was an
> ELINT - an electronic intelligence gathering
> aircraft.
>
> [...]
>
> --
> Andy
> ___________________________________
>
http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
>



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