rhetoric leading up to the war with Iran
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Israeli TV report shows air force gearing up for Iran attack, says moment of truth is near
A major Israel TV station on Sunday night broadcast a detailed report on how Israel will go about attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities in the event that diplomacy and sanctions fail and Israel decides to carry out a military strike. The report, screened on the main evening news of Channel 10, was remarkable both in terms of the access granted to the reporter, who said he had spent weeks with the pilots and other personnel he interviewed, and in the fact that his assessments on a strike were cleared by the military censor. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign up! No order to strike is likely to be given before the P5+1 talks with Iran resume in May, the reporter, Alon Ben-David, said. “But the coming summer will not only be hot but tense.”
In 2009, the deputy chief of mission of the U.S. embassy in Baku, Donald Lu, sent a cable to the State Department's headquarters in Foggy Bottom titled "Azerbaijan's discreet symbiosis with Israel." The memo, later released by WikiLeaks, quotes Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev as describing his country's relationship with the Jewish state as an iceberg: "nine-tenths of it is below the surface." Why does it matter?
Israel's Secret Staging Ground - By Mark Perry
Lebanese paper says Haniyeh discussed Hamas' role in case of Israeli strike on Iran with Tehran officials Elior Levy Lebanese newspaper al-Mustaqbal reported Tuesday that the purpose of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Mahmoud al-Zahar's recent visit to Iran was to define Gaza's role in the case Israel attacks Iran's nuclear facilities. Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza Haniyeh visited Tehran last February while al-Zahar arrived at the Iranian capital earlier this month. According to the report, the parties discussed the introduction of missiles into the Gaza Strip in preparation for a conflict with Israel, which would enable Hamas to retaliate with rocket fire. Hamas has previously declared it will not take part in a conflict between Israel and Iran.
Report: Hamas, Iran coordinate response to Israel strike
In 2005, Benjamin Netanyahu, who was then Israel ’s finance minister, made an official visit to Uganda . For Netanyahu, visits to Uganda are weighted with sadness. It was at the airport in Entebbe that his older brother, Yonatan Netanyahu, was shot dead by a Ugandan soldier. Yonatan was the leader of an Israeli commando team dispatched by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in July 1976 to rescue Jewish hostages held by pro-Palestinian terrorists. The terrorists had diverted an Air France flight to Uganda, where the then-dictator, the infamous Idi Amin , gave them refuge. The raid was a near-total success.
Israelis Grow Confident Strike on Iran’s Nukes Can Work
CIA, Mossad Agree That Iran is Not Pursuing Nuclear Weapons
Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service, agrees with the American intelligence assessments, even while Israeli political leaders have been pushing for quick, aggressive action to block Iran from becoming what they describe as an existential threat to the Jewish state. “Their people ask very hard questions, but Mossad does not disagree with the U.S. on the weapons program,” said one former senior American intelligence official, who, like others for this article, would speak only on the condition of anonymity about classified information. “There is not a lot of dispute between the U.S. and Israeli intelligence communities on the facts.” In trying to evaluate the potential perils of Iran’s nuclear program, the United States’ spy agencies have spent years trying to track its efforts to enrich uranium and develop missile technology, and watching for any move toward weaponization — designing and building a bomb. The United States and Israel share intelligence on Iran, American officials said.
WASHINGTON -- The US offered to give Israel advanced weaponry -- including bunker-busting bombs and refueling planes -- in exchange for Israel's agreement not to attack Iranian nuclear sites, Israeli newspaper Maariv reported Thursday. President Obama reportedly made the offer during Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington this week. Under the proposed deal, Israel would not attack Iran until 2013, after US elections in November this year. The newspaper cited unnamed Western diplomatic and intelligence sources. Netanyahu said Monday that sanctions against Iran had not worked, adding that "none of us can afford to wait much longer" in taking action against Iran's controversial nuclear program. However, Netanyahu told FOX News Channel on Wednesday that he did not think war with Iran was inevitable.
US offered Israel advanced weaponry in exchange for delaying Iran attack: report
Iran and Middle East-based extremist groups are stepping up their activities in South America, aiming to make friends and score cash, a senior U.S. military official says. Tehran intends to build military drones in Washington's backyard for the Venezuelan military led by Hugo Chavez, U.S. Southern Command chief Gen.
Southern Exposure: Iran, Terror Groups Setting Up Shop in South America - DOTMIL
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House on Monday. Photo: Israel PM Office. Channel 2 in Israel, sourcing a “senior American official”, says that the decision has already been made by the Israeli government to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Israel’s Channel 2: U.S. Officials Believe Netanyahu Has Already Decided to Strike Iran#
Netanyahu to Obama: Israel ‘reserves the right’ to strike
BY: Adam Kredo Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told President Obama that Israel would decide for itself whether to strike Iran. “My supreme responsibility as prime minister of Israel is to ensure that Israel remains the master of its fate,” Netanyahu told Obama. In a sit-down earlier today with the president in the Oval Office, Netanyahu pushed back against the administration’s repeated attempts to dissuade Israel from attacking Iran. “Israel must reserve the right to defend itself and after all, that’s the very purpose of the Jewish state to, restore to the Jewish people control of our destiny,” said Netanyahu, who is meeting with the president in advance of his speech later today before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual policy conference.Fmr. CIA head calls Stuxnet virus "good idea"
(CBS News) Could the Stuxnet virus that sabotaged the Iranian nuclear program be used against the U.S. infrastructure or other high profile targets? A retired American general who was the head of the Central Intelligence Agency when Stuxnet would have been created calls the cyber weapon a "good idea," but warns it is out there now for others to exploit. Steve Kroft reports on Stuxnet and the potential consequences of its use in a "60 Minutes" story to be broadcast Sunday, March 4 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
Western spy agencies for years have kept watch on a craggy peak in northwest Iran that houses one of the world’s most unusual nuclear sites. Known as Fordow, the facility is built into mountain bunkers designed to withstand an aerial attack. Iran’s civil defense chief has declared the site “impregnable.” But impregnable it is not, say U.S. military planners, who are increasingly confident about their ability to deliver a serious blow against Fordow should the president ever order an attack.
Iran’s underground nuclear sites not immune to U.S. bunker-busters, experts say
By Abraham Rabinovich - Special to The Washington Times Wednesday, February 29, 2012 JERUSALEM — Russia has upgraded a surveillance station it maintains in Syrian territory in order to provide Iran early warning of an Israeli attack, according to the Israeli security-related blog Debkafile. The surveillance station, located south of Damascus, had been able to monitor air traffic in Israel as far south as Tel Aviv, as well as northern Jordan and western Iraq . Since the upgrade, its range reportedly extends to all parts of Israel and Jordan and as far south as the northern part of Saudi Arabia . According to the report, Russia has introduced cutting-edge technology to the station and expanded its manpower.
Russia upgrades radar station in Syria to aid Iran
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Israel faces resistance over Iran strike
IRAN: US/Israeli False Flag Attack May Be Underway
<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-178505" src="http://www.veteranstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Vincennesentering-PearlHarbor.jpg" alt="" width="313" height="237" /> Several warnings of an imminent “false flag” attack by the Israeli-influenced United States on one of its own warships, which will be attributed to Iran, have been reported by several reliable sources. In recent years “false-flag” terrorism has been utilized multiple times by US and Israeli political actors to provide pretexts for otherwise unjustifiable, anti-Islamic military excursions.Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said the consequences of a military strike against Iran would be disastrous. If Iran cooperates, sanctions must be lifted, Putin says Western sanctions target Iran's financial and oil sectors Now the prime minister, Putin is running for president again This would be Putin's third term as president (CNN) -- The consequences of a military strike against Iran would be disastrous, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin wrote in a wide-ranging editorial Monday.
Putin: Iran nuclear issue must be settled peacefully
Iran uncooperative, International Atomic Energy Agency says
This M.O. is almost similar to the years leading up to the war in IRAQ. by Feb 24
Iran