The Briefing Room
General Category => World News => Topic started by: mystery-ak on September 03, 2013, 01:27:40 pm
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http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/ML-Israel-Missile-Launch/2013/09/03/id/523467 (http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/ML-Israel-Missile-Launch/2013/09/03/id/523467)
Israel Says it Holds Joint Missile Test with US
Tuesday, 03 Sep 2013 07:12 AM
Israel says it has carried out a joint missile test with the U.S. in the Mediterranean Sea amid heightened tensions as Washington weighs sea-launched strikes against Syria.
The Defense Ministry said Tuesday that it, together with the U.S. Defense Department, had carried out a "successful test" in the Mediterranean and on an air force base in central Israel.
Russian state-owned news agencies earlier said Russian radar systems had detected two "ballistic objects" fired from the central Mediterranean toward the eastern part of the sea.
The United States, which has warships in the Mediterranean, is considering strikes against Syria for an Aug. 21 alleged chemical weapons attack in a Damascus suburb.
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Curious. The effect of this revelation on the delicate balance in the Mediterranean is going to be very interesting. The question is: why did Israel reveal the fact of this test, and why was it at pains to emphasize that it was in conjunction with the US? There has been a lot of obvious tension between the US and Israel during this (failed) Presidency, and it should simply add fuel to the fire if the US is now perceived as, nonetheless, looking to Israel's interests in the region first, and before the commencement of hostilities (i.e., the US isn't rushing to the defense of an Israel that has already been attacked and hasn't been able to defeat the attack on its own), which should only further isolate the US from the Middle East.
In other words, one consequence of this revelation may be that the US may be perceived in some quarters as using the chemical weapons attack as a fig leaf for a preemptive attack on Israel's enemies.
Now comes one of the interesting parts: further isolating the US from the Middle East, and creating the perception that the US is in fact using the chemical weapons attack as a fig leaf to attack Israel's enemies may, in fact, make Israel more secure, at the expense of the US reputation, because a US that is even more isolated from the Middle East - and from parts of the rest of the world that will be even more disinclined to cooperate with the US if they think the US is secretly, and really, acting on Israeli interests - is a US that is less likely to actually attack Syria. That would matter to Israel because the real danger to Israel right now comes from the firestorm of violence the attack will engender, a firestorm that is sure to engulf Israel.
So, an igorant outsider wonders: is Israel now gaming Obama for its own protection with the revelation of this test?
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So, an igorant outsider wonders: is Israel now gaming Obama for its own protection with the revelation of this test?
I'm starting to think no one knows what the hell is going on or what to do.
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I'm starting to think no one knows what the hell is going on or what to do.
I think the same thing. It's possible Obama is sucking Israel in, and then, Israel, along with the rest of us will be in danger. I don't trust Obama one iota.