Netanyahoo Responds To Nasrallah Speech With Big Escalation
Update (Jan 19 2:00pm)
It turned out today that the highest rank killed and main target of the attack was not the Hizbullah special force commander in Syria and the other Hizbullah fighters but Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps commander in Syria General Mohammad Ali Allahdadi. The general was new to the job and will certainly soon be replaced.
While some Jabhat al-Nusra media claim that Jabhat was responsible for the attack the UN observer mission on the Golan height says it observed drones from Israel above the area of the attack. It added:
"This incident is a violation of the 1974 Agreement on Disengagement between Israeli and Syrian forces."
Original post follows
Three days ago the leader of the Lebanese Hizbullah, Hassan Nasrallah, warned Israel against "stupid moves":
A key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Nasrallah said that Israeli strikes on Syria "target the whole of the resistance axis,” which includes Hezbollah, Damascus and Tehran.Nasrallah said Hezbollah fighters in Syria are battling extremist groups in an attempt to thwart threats for Syria, Lebanon and the entire region.
Describing the fight in Syria as “existential,” he said the plot against the neighboring country targets the resistance and their intervention into Syria was in order to preserve the country as well as Lebanon.
"The repeated bombings that struck several targets in Syria are a major violation, and we consider that any strike against Syria is a strike against the whole of the resistance axis, not just against Syria," he told the Beirut-based Arab news television.
"The axis is capable of responding. This can happen any time," he warned.
Israel disregarded the warning. It today attacked a Hizbullah convoy on the Syrian side of the Golan heights and killed the Hizbullah commander in Syria as well as six other Hizbullah fighters. One of those killed today was Jihad Imad Mughniyeh the son of Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniyeh killed by Israeli agents a few years ago. The attack was carried out by missiles released from a helicopter within Israeli borders.
Two points about the attack:
Israel is supporting Al-Qaeda in Syria, aka Jabhat al-Nusra, in the Syrian part of the Golan height. The attack on Hizbullah today must (also) be understood as direct Israeli support for Al-Qaeda.
How did Israel know where to hit? Either Hizbullah's communication security was lousy, or there is a(nother) spy in Hizbullah's ranks or this was pure luck. I do not believe that such a "success" is just pure luck. The missile attack points to exact knowledge of the position of the target which lets me believe that some opf those killed might have carried a known cell phone or some other electronic beacon.
Hizbullah reacted so far by immediately putting its forces at the Lebanese Israeli border on alarm while Israeli intensified its (illegal) overflights of Lebanese territory.
I do not doubt that Hizbullah will retaliate harshly for this attack. But it will do so on a timetable that fits its needs and capabilities. I therefore find an immediate response, though justified, not very likely. But I do expect an answer within the next two month before the general election in Israel.
Nasrallah's speech three days ago was relatively aggressive. Netanyahoo now challenged that by escalating the situation. He calculates that Hizbullah can not response effectively or not within a time frame that would endanger his election chances. That may well turn out to have been a huge mistake.
Posted by b on January 18, 2015 at 19:18 UTC | Permalink
Netanyahu is one sick man, spending the sunday murdering some people.
Posted by: Anonymous | Jan 18 2015 21:08 utc | 3
Gen. Qassem Soleimani, commander-in-chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ elite Al Qods Brigades, and senior officer of Iranian forces in Iraq, was seriously injured in a targeted attack by an ISIS suicide squad
ISIS had managed to wipe out the forward command group of an Al Qods Brigades commando force early Monday, Jan. 12, killing its commander, Gen. Mehdi Norouzi. His chief is now in bad shape after a jihadist attack using the same modus operandi.
Last week, an ISIS sniper took down Brig. Gen. Hamid Taghavi at his command post in Samarra, central Iraq
The new ISIS tactic was last week demonstrated on another front, when on Jan. 5, a jihadi force conducted a raid across the Iraqi border into northern Saudi Arabia near Suwayf in the Arar region. Among the three Saudi guardsmen killed was Gen. Odah al-Balawi, commander of the Saudi border guard in that sector.
According to our military and intelligence sources, ISIS forces have been able to wipe out 555 Iranian officers in the four months since last October, most of them by means of jihadist hit squads.
Posted by: mcohen | Jan 18 2015 21:22 utc | 5
While the west is caught in this anti terrorist, anti Islam fervour, Israel has a free hand to do what it wants knowing a retaliation will not be forthcoming. Just say Israel was for stalling a "Jihadist" attack! This act will be avenged. So will Iran avenge the death of their commanders, but first it must get rid of it's fifth column, get rid of that grinning Javad Zarif.
Posted by: papa | Jan 18 2015 21:55 utc | 6
Israel will not pay much of a price in the short term. Their relative military strength is wide enough that they can strike with impunity. Note this is analysis not advocacy.
Posted by: Jack | Jan 18 2015 22:41 utc | 7
Whatever high tech military hardware Hezbollah require [if they don't already have it] should be given to both Hezbollah and Hamas so that their legitimate resistance [as authorized by the UN] can be more effective.
Israeli intelligence reckon there are 150,000 rockets aimed at Israels cities by Hezbollah alone http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=190749&cid=23&fromval=1&frid=23&seccatid=18&s1=1 and that in the next war, Hezbollah will occupy parts of Israel,that's not counting Iran's missile capabilities.
Posted by: harry law | Jan 18 2015 23:19 utc | 9
Israel, Al Qaeda's Air Force in Syria. http://goo.gl/NbCBqs @moonofA http://goo.gl/rDJNT6 If any of you have twitter accounts, let's spread this 'meme'.
Israel calls Hezbollah's bluff
It’s hard to see why the Israelis would let Hezbollah off the hook. Striking effectively against Hezbollah will strengthen the tacit Israel-Sunni alliance that is the most dramatic development in Middle Eastern politics these days. If Hezbollah retaliates, Netanyahu is likely to punch back hard. If it doesn’t retaliate, he may well look for more opportunities to hit Hezbollah where it hurts. With fighters roaming across southern Syria, and with Israeli intelligence apparently in good shape, this may not be the last chance the Israelis will have for high profile strikes. Then Hezbollah will have to choose again: retaliate and launch a wider war, or grit its teeth and carry on.Israeli elections are scheduled for March 17; Netanyahu has a strong hand. Expect him to play it for all it is worth.
I think it is a miscalculation. But that is me.
Posted by: somebody | Jan 18 2015 23:51 utc | 12
B's abductive reasoning about the Israeli strike against Hezbollah proving that Israel is working with al Nusra or the IS is about as valid as saying that the Islamic State's Special Forces attack on Iranians including Soleimani in Iraq proves that they are working for Israel.
Having the same enemies does not necessarily make groups allies.
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jan 18 2015 23:52 utc | 13
Whatever the 'real' positions of ISIS and Israel on each other they are acting in concert and are at war with the Lebanese-Syrian-Iraqi-Iranian axis, separately or together.
The US is training 5000 more terrorists for ISIS.
I wonder who's funding ISIS now that 'its' supposed control of oil production in the region has been devalued, along with everyone else's ?
Posted by: jfl | Jan 19 2015 0:07 utc | 14
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jan 18, 2015 6:52:03 PM | 13
There is lots of documentation on it. For example here.
Israel is more or less allied to Saudi Arabia. Nasrallah sounds in this latest interview very convinced the "resistance axis" has won in Syria.
So Israel might be the last Saudi ally standing.
All depends on what Hezbollah has prepared on the Golan and how fatal the strike was for those preparations. But they must have known all along that they would face Israel in the end.
Point is, US/Obama are keen on an Iran deal. Israel definitively isn't. Iranian hardliners neither. Iranian hardliners would be the military?
Posted by: somebody | Jan 19 2015 0:16 utc | 15
Funny how b's post on the Middle East coincides with the Ukrainian fascist's latest attempt at total war against the Eastern Ukraine, this time - according to Saker - including the perennial US tactic of an air war - high-altitude bombers and ballistic missiles - against civilian targets.
Posted by: jfl | Jan 19 2015 0:20 utc | 17
Posted by: jfl | Jan 18, 2015 7:07:46 PM | 14
French Senate hearing on the prolongation of operation Chammal in Iraq
Général de division (r) Vincent Desportes, professeur associé à Sciences Po Paris
Quel est le docteur Frankenstein qui a créé ce monstre ? Affirmons-le clairement, parce que cela a des conséquences : ce sont les Etats-Unis.
Who is the Doctor Frankenstein that has created this monster? Let's state it clearly because this has consequences, the United States.
Quant à la question de rompre les flux qui en assurent le soutien, je pense, sans connaître le détail opérationnel en cause, qu’une part de la difficulté tient au fait que l’on frapperait là en territoire ami.
The difficulty to interrupt financial flows is partly due to the fact that you fight in the territory of friends there.
Posted by: somebody | Jan 19 2015 0:38 utc | 18
@17 I'm certain that b used his Martian-Mind-Control ray gun to compel Netanyahu to launch that missile strike today, precisely to distract attention from what is happening in eastern Europe.
Yeah, there can be no other explanation.....
Posted by: Johnboy | Jan 19 2015 0:48 utc | 19
JFL@14
The Islamic Stare is selling their oil for between $20-$40 a barrel, from what I have read so they still have a price advantage over other suppliers and oil is only one of their revenue sources. They are and have been mostly self-funded for some time.
The US may be dreaming of training thousands of fighters to fight against the IS but that goal will probably never be realized and 5000 fighters would make little difference in the outcome now anyway.
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jan 19 2015 0:59 utc | 20
S@15
Qasim The Unverifiable is hardly a documented source but he appears to me to be a probable Iranian propagandist.
Nasrallah is speaking boldly but I bet he dreams of seeing his own head on a pike often.
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jan 19 2015 1:09 utc | 21
#17
not far wrong. ...it was actually a low flying turd otherwise known as a "mooser"....yellow markings on it
Posted by: mcohen 555 666 wes jub fred | Jan 19 2015 1:16 utc | 22
#3
for him it is the beginning of the workweek; this is what he does for a living
Posted by: Cu Chulainn | Jan 19 2015 1:32 utc | 23
@23 / 3 .. that is how i basically see it.. nutjob needs to be re-elected by the same fanatical nutjobs he represents. nasrullah on the other hand seems to demonstrate a screwd, cunning and calculating mind that will not suffer fools lightlt, political or otherwise.
Posted by: ..james | Jan 19 2015 1:45 utc | 24
@21 "Nasrallah is speaking boldly but I bet he dreams of seeing his own head on a pike often."
He wouldn't be human if he didn't consider what happened to his predecessor, and he wouldn't be leadership material if he didn't understand how utterly ruthless the Israelis are.
So, sure, I don't much doubt that he knows perfectly well that he is just one security slip away from being incinerated.
But how often does he have nightmares about it? Probably not as often as Netanyahu has been having technicolour dreams that involve Handcuffs, The Hague, and sharing a prison cell with Boogie Ya'Alon.
Still, nothing like ordering a few more assassinations to cheer yourself up and work off some of that sense of frustration, heh, Bibi?
Posted by: Johnboy | Jan 19 2015 2:17 utc | 25
Hezbollah isn't "Israel" or "Obama" and never blusters.
When did Hezbollah last make an idle threat?
(You asked for it, Bibi. Cry like a baby when it arrives. Please!)
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jan 19 2015 3:04 utc | 26
Serious question...
Are there any 'civilians' in Israel?
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jan 19 2015 3:31 utc | 27
What do you call a mass-movement FROM the Promised Land?
Exodus Mk II, or something pithier?
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jan 19 2015 3:41 utc | 28
@20
' The US may be dreaming of training thousands of fighters to fight against the IS ... '
That may be what you dreamt I said ...
' The US is training 5000 more terrorists for ISIS. '
The US maintains it is training only 'moderate' terrorists ... whatever that's supposed to mean ('good' terrorists, i.e. who kill the same people we want to kill) ... but it is training terrorists for ISIS. Like the boys who killed Charlie ... and the innocents at the Boston Marathon.
Posted by: jfl | Jan 19 2015 4:56 utc | 29
JB@25
It's interesting that Israel hasn't recently tried to remove Nasrallah possibly because they had a high level mole in Hezbollah who kept them informed. I think Israel needs Hezbollah to exist to amplify the external threat and keep their population supporting militarism even though Hezbollah poses no real threat to Israel proper.
My crude reference to Nasrallah's head on a pike was referring to the real threat he faces from the Islamic State.
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jan 19 2015 5:39 utc | 30
wow.. i can't shake my impression of you as some type of apologist for the usa's state sponsored terrorism which also involves funding isis, or at minimum, turning a blind eye to there mid east buddies funding them. as for your general comments on the invincibility of israel, it also seems part of your packages that strikes me much like how the msm likes to portrary reality too. i just ca't get down with your general viewpoint here and generally.
Posted by: ..james | Jan 19 2015 6:19 utc | 31
mcohen at #5 cuts and pastes an article from Debkafile without links or attribution. What was the point?
Posted by: ToivoS | Jan 19 2015 7:08 utc | 32
Wayoutwest, mcohen (alias 555) .... Takfiri/zionist much???
This Wayoutwest character always popsup here to whitewash takfiri crimes and portray them as some sort of libertarian groups... He mocks the victories of their opponents while at the same time exaggerates the "success" of his nusra/isil/fsa buddies...
If there's anything to go by, these terrorist organizations have been on the back-foot since mid-2012, fighting among themselves and their control on whatever territory they hold is very weak with people living under their rule are simply starving....The Syrian army just evacuated over 1000 civilians from one such territory in Ghouta.Mind you, these civilians once cheered on these retards when they entered their towns but after years of misery under their rule, they're simply fed-up and just want to live like they did before... Tak -Beeeeear!!!!
Posted by: Zico | Jan 19 2015 7:13 utc | 33
Oh, I forgot to finish my post.. Hezbollah will retaliate...Seems Israelis enjoy living in bunkers...
Posted by: Zico | Jan 19 2015 7:14 utc | 34
Israel has one weak (financial) spot. Its Current Account Deficit (CAD) is VERY large (the size is comparable to the turkish CAD).
Posted by: Willy2 | Jan 19 2015 7:49 utc | 35
It is obvious, that the end result will be Syria/Hezbollah/Iran on the Golan.
The Israeli hit coincides with the Syrian army seemingly getting the upper hand in Eastern Ghouta
Posted by: somebody | Jan 19 2015 8:00 utc | 36
Al Akhbar: EU shifting strategy on Syria
Interesting read all of it - especially on the positions of Turkey and France
Iran has become a central player in both the Syrian and Iraqi crises. It is necessary to deal with this reality regardless of the reservations that some might have. There is nothing to prevent engaging with Iran in a serious dialogue about Syria, even before signing a nuclear agreement. This is useful because it could lead to political concessions from the Syrian regime and it could strengthen the presence of European companies in Iran. Perhaps this has become a European need despite French reservations, which are understandable, given French-Saudi relations and France’s concern not to upset Israel.It is impossible to think of a serious solution or temporary solutions in Syria without Saudi Arabia, which has extensive relations with a number of Anti-Assad parties. It is important to reassure Riyadh that the European efforts do not intend to buoy up the regime. De Mistura said that Saudi Arabia implicitly welcomes his initiative. The Spanish foreign affairs minister was clearer, saying that Riyadh accepts the plan and it is in France’s interest to tone down its critique otherwise it will appear more extremist than Saudi Arabia, which is not an understandable position. The Spanish minister went as far as suggesting that an international conference for Syria be held in his country given that the idea might accepted by everybody.
Posted by: somebody | Jan 19 2015 9:02 utc | 37
@37
Diplomats talk such shit :
1. neo-cons dictating Obama's policy and his clicking his high-heels and slaying 100,000 Syrians = ' the “uncalculated mistake” of suggesting early on that Assad step down '
2. "Fuck the EU" = ' Washington, as usual, places its interests ahead of all its alliances, often putting the Europeans in an awkward position '
3. training 5000 more troops for ISIS = 'expanding the scope of the opposition to include forces that were previously not accepted '
It seems clear that the most rabid and bloodthirsty of this lot are the French.
The US/EU will keep killing, dispossessing, and devastating - the French waving their childishly insulting pictures of the Prophet all the while - until they must swallow their hatred and bile and admit that ...
The only solution left is to cooperate with Syrian security forces, the Syrian army and Iran in the context of fighting terrorism.
... or until hell freezes over - if the French have their way.
Posted by: jfl | Jan 19 2015 10:39 utc | 38
God, EU are pathetic.
EU to appeal court's removal of Hamas from terror blacklist
http://rt.com/news/line/2015-01-19/#79223
Posted by: Anonymous | Jan 19 2015 10:58 utc | 39
German Chancellor Merkel backs police state measures and militarism
Merkel praised the adoption last Wednesday by the government of a reform of the passport law, which makes possible the withdrawal of personal identity cards as well as passports. The introduction of a replacement personal ID card not valid for travel outside of Germany is to “prevent German citizens from travelling to conflict regions and terrorist camps,” Merkel said in justifying the measure.In reality, the reform of the law permits the state to assume arbitrary powers. Solely on the basis of suspicion, a German citizen can be called upon to relinquish their personal ID card. The replacement ID card that will not only mark that individual as a suspected terrorist, but also rob them of fundamental democratic rights.
Such measures recall the darkest period of German history. Based on the Nuremberg laws of 1935, the National Socialists condemned Jewish citizens to second class citizens, and subjected them to intensifying arbitrary legal regulations.
While the organisers of the Pegida demonstrations are calling for a struggle against the “Islamisation” of the Christian west, Merkel called on Christians in Germany to “strengthen their identity.” They should “speak even more and with self-confidence about their Christian values, and deepen their own knowledge about their religion.”
Merkel and Germany, too, remain onboard for the devastation of the Middle East ...
In a further move, Merkel announced the expansion of Germany’s militarist policy in the Middle East. Germany would “continue as part of the international community to participate undiminished in the struggle against the terrorist militia IS in Iraq or Syria politically, with humanitarian and military equipment and training,” she stated. Just last weekend, Defence Minister Ursula Von der Leyen promised further weapons shipments to the Kurds during a visit to Iraq.
Posted by: jfl | Jan 19 2015 11:10 utc | 40
@40: "In a further move, Merkel announced the expansion of Germany’s militarist policy in the Middle East. Germany would “continue as part of the international community to participate undiminished in the struggle against the terrorist militia IS in Iraq or Syria politically..."
Too bad we don't have a simple system to track the $$$s from the ISIS oil exports [cough] and identify the buyers and sellers and traders etc. Seems it's only good for tracking bin Laden emails back to the 1980s and your and my credit card transactions and phone calls etc.
Posted by: x | Jan 19 2015 11:41 utc | 41
toivos @32
outstanding analysis of a cut and paste......what,s your point....glad you got mine....
Posted by: wes | Jan 19 2015 12:43 utc | 42
Zico - 2006 part 2 will be interesting to see. How much has Hezbollah's missile capacity improved since then? Will their tactics frustrate Israel to the point where Hymie and Co. are bombing hospitals and high-rises again in Beirut, while AmeriKan MSM tells everyone it is justified (like 99.99999999%) of everything else Israel does?
It would be good to see the smug look wiped off the bastard viper Netanyahu's face.
Posted by: farflungstar | Jan 19 2015 14:43 utc | 43
@42 you cheapen the thread with your disingenuous bs, rip off with no acredit given. makes sense given you whole approach actually.
Posted by: ..james | Jan 19 2015 14:58 utc | 44
Israeli military had info on a group of individuals they just couldn't resist striking. Timing of very limited military strikes is just pure opportunism sometimes.
This attack was not by fixed wing high speed and high altitude aircraft with longer range missiles as is typical of most of the past attacks (which were often conducted in pairs or groups). As in all past attacks the aircraft fired their missiles from outside of Syria. Although in this case apparently quite close to the line.
Israel knows payback will come sooner than later and it will lose a number of men as a result, but hey when someone else is bankrolling your criminal adventurism - who can resist playing a hot hand!
Posted by: spinworthy | Jan 19 2015 15:28 utc | 45
Maj.-Gen.(res.) Yoav Galant, hinted that the timing of an IAF attack on Hezbollah fighters was motivated by the Israeli elections. See previous events …
@ Jack 7
Israel WILL pay a price where they least expect it. Hezbollah does not fight like the West does, so no matter how strong their army or how well equipped they are, Israel will lose, just like they did during the last Lebanon invasion.
Israel would do well to listen very carefully to whatever Nasrallah says. He doesn't speak often but when he does and he warns Israel, something is coming. The man does precisely what he says. He is not a hothead or an irrational fanatic. He gives a warning and then when Israel least expects it he will strike.
Posted by: Gerry1211 | Jan 19 2015 15:53 utc | 47
he is a psycho lesbian from mars
Posted by: mcohen | Jan 18, 2015 4:16:47 PM | 4
no, but he is a capo from the shtetl. "What me? I'm just ʼa bysl mwyz."
Posted by: ruralito | Jan 19 2015 16:05 utc | 48
J@31
I don't think I have ever stated that Israel is invincible but they are certainly stronger than Hezbollah and they seem to have completely infiltrated that group as this latest strike seems to indicate. The ease with which they have infiltrated Hezbollah says more about Hezbollah's defects and policies than anything else.
It will be interesting how and if Hezbollah retaliates for this attack but so far the response has only been pointed words. I supported Hezbollah when they repulsed the Israelis from southern Lebanon but they have hardly been a positive force in Lebanon since that time.
I have never been an apologist for anyone especially not the deviants ruling the Homeland or the Israelis.
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jan 19 2015 17:02 utc | 49
A desperate Israeli PM who wants to cling to power, his boorish behavior in Paris at the unity march …
○ Jewish Jihad, Netanyahu Calls for Assault on Islam
○ Israeli Ambassador to Sweden’s Islamophobic Facebook Post
Violence of BLUE in the States, police participating in Homeland Security Training Centers in Israel run by an Islamophobic former cop and unit commander Israeli forces by the name of Marc Kahlberg. Wondering where your local tax money was spend?
The Islamophobic rant of Amb. Isaac Bachman originated with Kahlberg on a website called IsraelAmerica. Yeah, terror is good for business, so a little incitement always helps.
they seem to have completely infiltrated that group as this latest strike seems to indicate.Propagandising Israeli supremacy again,eh? Israel wants you to believe they're everywhere, so you do their thing for them. Actually we don't even know if all the deaths in that incident are true, rather than Israeli propaganda.
Posted by: Laguerre | Jan 19 2015 17:22 utc | 52
L@52
Propaganda? How do you explain Israel's infiltrating the highest level of Hezbollah's leadership? This is not supremacy just exploiting the opponents weaknesses.
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jan 19 2015 17:33 utc | 53
and escalation in Ukraine too
http://rt.com/news/224119-eastern-ukraine-arms-pullout/
Posted by: Mina | Jan 19 2015 17:36 utc | 54
@53
How do you explain Israel's infiltrating the highest level of Hezbollah's leadership?
How do you know it's penetrated? You're presuming a lot.
Posted by: Laguerre | Jan 19 2015 17:59 utc | 55
L@55
I didn't realize that you were so uninformed, this story was covered by all major media recently. A simple search of 'Hezbollah Israeli Agent' will cure your ignorance.
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jan 19 2015 18:08 utc | 56
Didn't the police in Ferguson take "training" courses in Israel?
Posted by: Harold | Jan 19 2015 18:20 utc | 57
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jan 19, 2015 1:08:55 PM | 56
Or he fed disinformation to Israel. How would they know?
Posted by: somebody | Jan 19 2015 18:34 utc | 58
@42 james
cheapen the thread.....on moon ? impossible
i list all the generals killed and now add the general killed in this attack.....just the facts,no bs
now you have learnt that there is a pattern...... the whine about "accredit".......g
Posted by: mcohen | Jan 19 2015 18:51 utc | 59
Didn't the police in Ferguson take "training" courses in Israel?
Maybe that's why they were all wearing yamakas under their helmets and smelled of gefilte fish.
Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Jan 19 2015 19:01 utc | 60
I like your name for BB, b. Netanyahoo. Perfect irreverence.
Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Jan 19 2015 19:04 utc | 61
Netanyahu is one sick man, spending the sunday murdering some people.
Would Monday, Tuesday or any other day have been a better day to kill (not murder) some "fighters?" They are aptly characterized as "fighters." Fighters are fighters, to be tautologist. They fight and kill and they fight and die. It's all part of the game. They know it, you know it, Bob Dole knows it and the American people know it. Don't act as though they are innocent victims. Fighters know the risk and they inflict the very same casualties that their so-called enemies inflict, and Sunday's as good as any other day to do it.
Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Jan 19 2015 19:09 utc | 62
.......ood enough for frank ood enough for me although i must say i ood to bring it on home ....on the site mondoweiss they not only block a post if it does not fit with their world view,they have been known to edit your post......hows that for cheapening the thread...cheap cheap
Posted by: mcohen | Jan 19 2015 19:10 utc | 63
S@58
It's time to stop digging, Somebody the hole you are in is deep enough.
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jan 19 2015 19:27 utc | 64
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jan 19, 2015 2:27:49 PM | 64
:-)) Don't you agree it would be highly unprofessional of Mossad if you could check up on what they do in the news? Or, would it be likely that Mossad would use the news for disinformation?
Posted by: somebody | Jan 19 2015 19:46 utc | 65
The killing of an iranian commander comfirms what the intentions of Iran are.
One could also argue that Israel is actually on the side of Saudi Arabia. Well, war makes of enemies into strange "bedfellows".
Posted by: Willy2 | Jan 19 2015 20:12 utc | 66
S@65
Before the fact, yes but after the fact it only enhances the opinions of their prowess.
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jan 19 2015 20:15 utc | 67
@Cold - Yr ignorance in yr comments is … astounding.
And it’s no coincidence.
At least two of the four law enforcement agencies that were deployed in Ferguson — the St. Louis County Police Department (Timothy Fitch) and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department — received training from Israeli security forces in recent years.
○ Anti-Defamation League Counter Terrorism Course in Israel - 2011
○ ADL sponsors visit by senior police commanders from American northeast
The week-long Anti-Defamation League program from October 6-13 [2013] is in its fifth year. As part of the program, members of the delegation, most of them employed in sheriffs’ offices, meet with security experts, intelligence analysts and commanders in the Israel National Police and Israel Defense Forces.
Pentagon provides the armory for police work …
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jan 19, 2015 3:15:32 PM | 67
or without the fact ...
Posted by: somebody | Jan 19 2015 21:04 utc | 69
Posted by: Oui | Jan 19, 2015 3:38:50 PM | 68
Goes a long way toward explaining the predicament of blacks in the USA.
If MLK were still alive, Black Solidarity's catch-cry might well be
"We're all Palestinians now."
Updated for 2015 "Je suis Palestinian."
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jan 19 2015 21:24 utc | 70
@Cold - Yr ignorance in yr comments is … astounding.
No, your ignorance and inability to understand my satirical comments is astounding — but it's to be expected from literalists and zealous ideologues. I don't deny they received their training from Israelis. Slothrop's probably one of the few who gets it. One's enough. Hell, I'd even take zero — and often do.
Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Jan 19 2015 21:26 utc | 71
@62 "Fighters are fighters, to be tautologist. They fight and kill and they fight and die. It's all part of the game."
Cold, there is no "armed conflict" between Iran and Israel, and never has been.
Cold, there is a "ceasefire" between Syria and Israel, and has been since 1974.
Cold, there is a "ceasefire" between Hezbollah and Israel, and has been since 2006.
Simply because Israel spies someone wearing a military uniform does not give them the "right" to fire a missile at them.
That isn't part of any "game" that is recognized by anyone else except those who wear an IDF uniform, and Israel would be the first to go all Monkey-Shit on anyone who decided to kill a senior IDF officer merely because the opportunity presented itself.
Posted by: Johnboy | Jan 19 2015 22:09 utc | 72
Pontificating on the veracity or implications of some bolus floating along on the Zeitgeist is a bit of harmless distraction for the bloggerati. We don't get paid in beads like the part time provocateurs and snap dragons of leviathon. Its real hell for all the poor sods trying their best in the kinetic maelstrom in me at space.
Posted by: bridger | Jan 19 2015 22:38 utc | 73
Posted by: Johnboy | Jan 19, 2015 5:09:29 PM | 72
All valid points, but what does Sunday have to do with it?
Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Jan 19 2015 23:02 utc | 75
JB@72
Ceasefires are not peace treaties and both sides have and continue to break this one. You are correct that there is no 'direct' armed conflict between Iran and Israel but there certainly is a proxy conflict with Iran using Hezbollah and to a lesser degree Hamas. Israel also uses groups in and outside of Iran to harass them.
Israel may not have a "right" to attack Hezbollah but who is going to stop them?
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jan 19 2015 23:58 utc | 76
As nobody will bring the Israelis to justice for cowardly killing soldiers who are fighting ISIS, it is time that Hezbollah takes justice in its hands and eliminates some of the perpetrators of this crime.
Israelis officials traveling anywhere outside their ghetto-country will be targets.
Posted by: Virgile | Jan 20 2015 0:19 utc | 78
V@78
Hezbollah has much bigger problems that losing a few field commanders. Their internal security system has been shown to be incompetent and now internal trust is destroyed. They can't make plans for attacks against Israel without real fear that someone other than the revealed spy is not ready to inform the Israelis.
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jan 20 2015 0:53 utc | 79
Chossudovsky has a good, hour long interview about the Paris attacks on KPFA's Guns and Butter. He makes some interesting points on Israel's attempts to insert themselves as part of the French Security apparatus.
http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/110324
Posted by: guest77 | Jan 20 2015 1:31 utc | 80
"Mr. Clancy, who anchored the global news show “The Brief,” had worked at CNN for more than 30 years, covering the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Rwandan genocide and the Iraq wars, according to a biography that has since has been deleted from CNN’s website."
*poof* - Down the memory hole he goes.
Posted by: guest77 | Jan 20 2015 1:53 utc | 81
@49 wow. thanks. israel expresses a clear abuse of power.. any country that does that is not destined to last. in that regard israel and the usa have much in common.. as a consequence they are not going to last, although predicting the time of there demise is not possible.. it will happen. we can be sure of that..
Posted by: ..james | Jan 20 2015 2:11 utc | 82
Posted by: celestion | Jan 19, 2015 7:06:02 PM | 77
Two's better than one, jon. As 2 +1 canine in la noche tells us, one is the loneliest number that you'll ever do.
Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Jan 20 2015 3:36 utc | 83
@75 "All valid points, but what does Sunday have to do with it?"
Indeed, what does Sunday have to do with anything....
After all, I was taking exception to this part:
"Fighters know the risk and they inflict the very same casualties that their so-called enemies inflict,"....
I was not taking exception to this part:
..."and Sunday's as good as any other day to do it."
The first part is simply untrue, because the those "fighters" that Israel assassinated were not and have not been seeking to "inflict the very same casualties" on the Israelis.
The second part is simply irrelevant.
Posted by: Johnboy | Jan 20 2015 6:39 utc | 84
@76 "Ceasefires are not peace treaties and both sides have and continue to break this one."
Syria still has not broken the 1974 ceasefire.
Hezbollah still has not broken the 2006 ceasefire.
But in both cases Israel has. Many, many times.
"You are correct that there is no 'direct' armed conflict between Iran and Israel" .....
Then Israel has no justification for breaking a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah.
... "but there certainly is a proxy conflict with Iran using Hezbollah and to a lesser degree Hamas."
That claim it utterly nonsensical. You admit that Hezbollah is not engaged in an conflict with Israel, and then you immediately claim that Iran is using Hezbollah to conduct a conflict with Israel.
Both claims can not be true, precisely because they are mutually-exclusive.
"Israel also uses groups in and outside of Iran to harass them."
Firing missiles is not "harassment", dude. It is an Armed Attack inside Syrian territory.
An Armed Attack directed into the territory of a country with whom you have a Ceasefire Agreement is a serious, serious violation of that ceasefire.
Or does "a ceasefire agreement" mean something different to "I agree not to open fire" in your language?
Apparently it does.
And the justification for why Israel is allowed to say "I agree not to open fire" and then going BANG! appears to be this:
"Israel may not have a "right" to attack Hezbollah but who is going to stop them?"
Charming, in that oh-so-Zionist way. You agree that this works both ways, I take it?
That if Hezbollah thinks that it can take a shot and get away with it then, heck, it is perfectly entitled to take that shot?
Posted by: Johnboy | Jan 20 2015 6:52 utc | 85
wayoutwest
Israel may not have a "right" to attack Hezbollah but who is going to stop them?
You seems to justify whatever Israel is doing, now what legal right does Israel have to attack another state like this as you claim?
Posted by: Anonymous | Jan 20 2015 8:32 utc | 86
there,is a house in new orleans that has a poster of bo derek completely naked.anyone remember bo derek ? oh man that famous shot of her coming out the water in the movie 10
www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/30/bo-derek-stunning-photos_n_3676006.html
what made me think about her.....her name appears in hezbollah
get it ....hez bo llah v leeeeeeeee
4 crows await,a bridge,a river,a clock that speaks.
Posted by: mcohen | Jan 20 2015 11:05 utc | 87
Posted by: Johnboy | Jan 20, 2015 1:39:23 AM | 84
Sorry, Johnboy, but there are rules of engagement, and then there are rules of engagement. Until all sides uphold the idealism you espouse, then the other rules of engagement apply — the rules that apply 99.9% of the time simply because there are no idealists when it comes to fighters and fighting. Is it a foul by the official rules of engagement? Sure it is, but as someone (not somebody) said, what are you or they going to do about it despite cry foul? Israel has broken the ceasefire as it has many times since the terms were agreed upon. What's Hezbollah, Syria and the United Nations going to do about it? Perhaps that paragon of virtue, Putin's Russia, can intervene and set Israel straight, or would that be too imperialistic? We know you hate Israel and consider its existence an unlawful obamanation, but it's here to stay, like it or not. The Lebanese and the Palestinians have allowed themselves to become the dupes of cowardly Arabs and Persians throughout the greater Middle East in their unofficial, off-the-books proxy war with Israel. Those Arabs and Persians are too cowardly to confront Israel directly because they know they would get their asses handed to them as they have so many times before.
Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Jan 20 2015 11:27 utc | 88
A good answer to the latest Israeli provocations?
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/120811/World/Region/BREAKING-Shiite-militiamen-storm-Yemen-presidentia.aspx
Posted by: Mina | Jan 20 2015 14:32 utc | 89
@76
Israel may not have a "right" to attack Hezbollah but who is going to stop them?
Hezbollah, insha'Allah. Haven't we seen this movie before?
Posted by: Martin Finnucane | Jan 20 2015 15:51 utc | 90
To the two peas in a pod of fallacy:
Israel may habitually act as psychopaths (their only act besides perpetual victims since this shit started in '48). Globally, they are regarded as established fakers, it's in their security manifesto, so passive aggressive behaviour comes naturally. We can even see this in the dynamic duos literary skills.
Ultimately it's clear for all to see that they are inherent cowards (Israel that is) who only strike when they know there can be no serious consequences.
It's been their overt modus ever since they highjacked the US and can hide behind mommy's very large and generous skirt.
It's only a matter of statistical probability - someone's going to slap these bitches sooner than later, and the world will laugh as one. How's that for lyrical irony?
Posted by: spinworthy | Jan 20 2015 15:56 utc | 91
Anon@86
Understanding what a state does does not mean justifying their actions. Hezbollah is not a state, in fact Lebanon has suffered greatly because of the existence of this proxy militia especially because of the July War.
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jan 20 2015 16:21 utc | 92
Lovely people, really
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-30904382
Posted by: Mina | Jan 20 2015 17:09 utc | 93
It is always possible as some stories said the IDF thought it was a small group about to setup a rocket attack. And that is all they thought.
Posted by: Bill Smith | Jan 20 2015 17:20 utc | 94
For the W public, the conflicts are dressed up in terms of islamo-fascism, terrorists (add in crazed dictators, and whatever is to hand), largely, as due to ethnic-racial-religious oppositions, à la clash of civilizations, with now, a new anti-Russia-as-a-nation, which can only be spun using the meme of the rabid controlling potentate who despises all and wants land, blood, souls. A kind of vampire.
At some point justifying or escaping the contradictions become tortuous thus suspect (e.g. Syria, continuing support of KSA), but they are kinda *oppsie* washed over by the pols, PTB, MSM.
- More and more ppl are starting to notice, and the face of the agenda is cracking gradually. Hopefully! -
What is missing is a key, as the confusion and racist angle serves to veil the real state of affairs, which is a war by elites and corporations, Gvmts., military interests, underground circuits (drugs, slavery ..) on ordinary ppl, in support of an economic neo-hyper-liberal agenda, to be imposed wherever possible.
The religious, ‘tribal’ lens is both a cover-up and an encouragement to local strife, hate, war, the creation of tiny statelets where ppl fight to the death (Ukraine ..) and have no power. The military attacks on countries (Iraq, Syria, Lybia ..) and the economic wars fought (Cuba, Venezuela, now Russia ..), the attempts at color revolutions (Moldova ..) are all against those who were, or are, in different ways ‘nationalist’ and ‘socialist’ to make it extremely short.
Thru NATO, and confusion up top, European countries (Sweden ..) are for now exempt, as vassals or supporters, provided they obey hat-in-hand and bowing low down. Simultaneously, the EU can be encouraged or forced to destroy within (Greece..), or branch without and create new enemies who are close (Donbass..) Meanwhile, US progressives love Europe and pay lip service to some EU characteristics, such as Nordic health care.
What is under attack is the Westphalian Nation State. Say.
When Nasrallah talks of a ‘resistance axis’ EU leftists are either ignorant or dismiss because ‘turban’. Yeah.
Posted by: Noirette | Jan 20 2015 17:39 utc | 95
BBC does not mention thisb brilliant case
http://rt.com/uk/224383-british-islamist-pen-attack/
We soon get pics of all the guys with the deep British accent in the first "Syrian revo" videos
Posted by: Mina | Jan 20 2015 18:06 utc | 96
@88 "Sorry, Johnboy, but there are rules of engagement, and then there are rules of engagement. Until all sides uphold the idealism you espouse, then the other rules of engagement apply"....
.... I'm going to stop you riiiiiight there and ask for some evidence that:
a) Syria has violated the ceasefire that was established in 1974
b) Hezbollah has violated the ceasefire that was established in 2006
Because UNTIL you can provide that evidence then I'm calling bullshit on your "Until all sides" nonsense.
Posted by: Johnboy | Jan 20 2015 23:12 utc | 97
It's only more proof that Israel keeps a very close eye on what's happening in Syria & Lebanon.
In last one or two years Israel also attacked a convoy inside Syria that supposedly transported Russian made rockets (BUK rockets ??).
Posted by: Willy2 | Jan 22 2015 14:17 utc | 99
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yeah, you nailed it
Posted by: annie | Jan 18 2015 20:44 utc | 1