Monday, July 24, 2006

U.S. OFFICIALS SHOWN POWER POINT OF PLANNED ISRAELI ATTACK OVER A YEAR AGO

JUAN COLE, INDYBAY - Matthew Kalman reveals that Israel's wide ranging assault on Lebanon has been planned in a general way for years, and a specific plan has been in the works for over a year. The "Three Week War" was shown to Washington think tanks and officials last year on power point by a senior Israeli army officer: "More than a year ago, a senior Israeli army officer began giving Power Point presentations, on an off-the-record basis, to U.S. and other diplomats, journalists and think tanks, setting out the plan for the current operation in revealing detail." The Israelis tend to launch their wars of choice in the summer, in part because they know that European and American universities will be the primary nodes of popular opposition, and the universities are out in the summer. This war has nothing to do with captured Israeli soldiers. It is a long-planned war to increase Israel's ascendancy over Hizbullah and its patrons. . .

Israel is a regional superpower, the only nuclear power in the Middle East proper, and possessing the most technologically advanced military capability and the most professional military. Since Egypt opted out of the military struggle for economic reasons and since the US invasion broke Iraq's legs, there is no conventional military threat to Israel. Israel seeks complete military superiority, for several reasons. One impetus is defensive, on the theory that it has to win every contest and can never afford to lose even one, given its lack of strategic depth (it is a geographically small country with a small population, caught between the Mediterranean and potentially hostile neighboring populations). But the defensive reasons are only one dimension.

There are also offensive considerations. The right in Israel is determined to permanently subjugate the Palestinians and forestall the emergence of a Palestinian state. This course of action requires the constant exercise of main force against the Palestinians, who resist it, as well as threats against Arab or Muslim neighbors who might be tempted to help the Palestinians. Thus, Iraq and Iran both had to be punished and weakened. Likewise, the Israeli right has never given up an expansionist ideology. For instance, the Israelis have a big interest in the Litani River in south Lebanon. If and when the Israeli military and political elite felt they needed to add territory by taking it from neighbors, they wished to retain that capability. . .

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/07/23/18290729.php

MATTHEW KALMAN, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE - More than a year ago, a senior Israeli army officer began giving PowerPoint presentations, on an off-the-record basis, to U.S. and other diplomats, journalists and think tanks, setting out the plan for the current operation in revealing detail. Under the ground rules of the briefings, the officer could not be identified.

In his talks, the officer described a three-week campaign: The first week concentrated on destroying Hezbollah's heavier long-range missiles, bombing its command-and-control centers, and disrupting transportation and communication arteries. In the second week, the focus shifted to attacks on individual sites of rocket launchers or weapons stores. In the third week, ground forces in large numbers would be introduced, but only in order to knock out targets discovered during reconnaissance missions as the campaign unfolded. There was no plan, according to this scenario, to reoccupy southern Lebanon on a long-term basis.

SFGate Article

2 comments:

  1. Yes, this makes perfect sense to me. If Mexico kept sending suicide bombers into Texas to destroy American civilians, I would expect that my government would have AT LEAST a power point presentation referencing what we might do if this persists. And NO I do not have to tell the world about it ahead of time.

    At a glance, the question is this; If the Lebonese people kept to them selves and the Israelis did the same, could they co-exist? Well, sure, why not?

    But that is not what is really going on is it. Syria and Iran are "voicing" their opinions through the Lebonese actions to simply pick a fight. I believe that if Isreal needed access to the whatever river to conduct business, they would work out a business agreement, even with a government they did not agree with, rather than take the country by force. The pictures which accompanied this article were not of religous warriors who fought to the death, they were of victims of their own ancestors who continue to purpotrate violence with no end in sight.

    It is a completely different issue when you factor in the "no end in sight" aspect. I hope Isreal has decided to show this war for what it truly is, and do what it can to change things for the better in the future.

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  2. Um, what about the homicide bombers Israel sends into the occupied territories (and now Lebanon, again) on a regular basis? While I agree that Hezbollah and Hamas actions are to be condemned, so too should the actions of the occupying power in the region.

    If Mexico were sending suicide bombers into Texas in retribution for Texan land grabs by force and mass murder (remember the Alamo!), through the virtue of possessing vast armaments bestowed upon them by, say, Canada, the story looks more realistic. Then Canada could gain corporate media time beseeching the poor, beleaguered Texans to show "restraint" in their response, all while expediting shipments of rockets to them.

    Shoot me, please...

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