Brainstorming Monday - more preperation for WW3

1. The war noise is rising at both ends and both seem to prepare for it as well. The timing is still very likely right after the mid term elections but a incident needs to be created in order for USA-Israel to strike since they never get a UN resolution with China and Russia veto any such attempt. That incident might occur before the elections to gain public support for such an attack.


excerpt 1

Outside threats from Iran, Syria prompt snap choice of new Israeli army chief
DEBKAfile Special Report August 22, 2010, 6:20 PM (GMT+02:00)

Tags: Gen. Yoav Galant Israels Chief of Staff Iranian UAV

Ahmadinejad unveils long-range bomber-drone Karrar

Defense minister Ehud Barak's snap nomination of OC Southern Command Maj. Gen, Yoav Galant as Israel's 20th chief of staff was necessary - not just to dispel the climate of intrigue among competing generals, but to pull the high command together in view of the preparations to attack Israel gathering momentum in Tehran, Damascus, Beirut and Ramallah - and even in al Qaeda in Yemen.
(debkafile gave early warning of these preparations on Aug. 20. Click here for article.)

The general expectation of a US-Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear sites has therefore faded into the background of the threatening stance currently adopted by Tehran's allies, Syria, Hizballah and the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
According to debkafile's military sources, Israel intelligence does not have evidence of concrete plans to make good on these threats, but Jerusalem is extremely concerned by the placing of four hostile military forces on the highest level of war preparedness in the last few days and are asking why.
For example, Syrian prime minister Naji al-Otari and Abbas Zaki, one of Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas' closest aides, have spoken of a "very imminent" Middle East war; Al Qaeda's No. 2. commander in Yemen, Saeed al-Shehri, released a videotape last week stating that a war between Iran and Israel is about to erupt. He called on all Arab aviators to contribute to the holy cause by crashing their planes on Israeli city centers as did the Al Qaeda martyrs who attacked New York and Washington on Sept. 11 2001.
The situation being too incendiary to ignore, Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister decided the malicious documents traded among the top brass in the last ten days were an indulgence Israel could not afford. They therefore ended the uncertainty over the choice of next chief of staff after Lt. Gen. Gaby Ashkenazi steps down in February 2011. Ehud Barak delivered a surprise notice to the regular cabinet meeting Sunday, Aug. 22 that he had cut short the selection process and named Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant as his candidate for the next chief of staff.
debkafile's military sources see five elements with the potential for exploding into a major Middle East flare-up:

1. Iran has taken US and Israeli passivity over the start-up of its Russian built nuclear reactor at Bushehr on Aug. 21 to mean that it can get away with more muscle-flexing and has already factored the reactor which Washington characterized as not immediately dangerous into its military build-up.
Sunday, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled an armed unmanned aerial vehicle called Karrar, claiming its range to be 1,000 kilometers - as far as Israel - and able to deliver four cruise missiles. These claims have yet to be independently verified.
More locally-made advanced weaponry is promised for this week to demonstrate Iran's independence of outside sources. Its leaders are bragging that Iran will soon take its place among the world's top 50 exporters of advanced arms.
2. The forthcoming Israel-Palestinian peace talks beginning in Washington on Sept. 2 - while generally rated as going nowhere - are nonetheless anathema for Tehran and its radical allies. They are perfectly capable of starting trouble on Israel's borders with Lebanon, Gaza or even Syria to sabotage even the dimmest prospect of a diplomatic breakthrough.
There is no telling in the Middle East when an isolated incident may not deteriorate rapidly into a major conflict when the climate is as tense as it is at present. It came dangerously close on Aug. 3, when a Lebanese army sniper shot dead an Israeli colonel precipitating a heavy exchange of fire.
3. Lebanon is on tenterhooks over the nine Hizballah leaders the international court inquiring into the 2005 Hariri assassination plans to summon as suspected perpetrators of the crime. Hizballah's leader Hassan Nasrallah has given the Beirut government due notice that if his top people are surrendered to the tribunal, he will plunge the country in a civil conflict.
Hizballah, backed by Damascus, recently began accusing Israel of engineering the murder, so providing themselves with a neat pretext for going to war and avoiding facing the music.
Thursday, Aug. 19, all Syrian homeland defenses and emergency services were placed on the highest war readiness for an outbreak of hostilities without further notice.

4. The situation on the Israel's southern borders is as tense as its Lebanese and Syrian frontiers.
5. Iran is expected to take advantage of the withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraq to make a grab for the oil-rich south and send its allies to carry out operations against Israel as a diversionary tactic.

All these reasons have led military sources to indicate to debkafile that the outgoing Lt. Gen. Gaby Ashkenazy may not stay on until February but hand over to Maj. Gen. Galant as soon as the beginning of the Jewish New Year in the second week of September, 2010.

excerpt 2

Israel Knesset Member Declares "We Are Preparing For War"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/22/2010 20:55 -0500

In an interview by Likud Knesset Member Danny Danon, speaking with WND senior reporter Aaron Klein, who hosts an investigative program on New York's WABC 770 AM Radio, the Israeli said that "Israel is preparing for a time of war...We are ready for all scenarios, and we are able to defend our civilian population. I cannot tell you how long we can wait more. But we prefer to wait and see if the international bodies are acting, or [whether] it will be only the burden of Israel, like it was in the early '80s, when the great leader, Menachem Begin, [made] the great decision to bomb the nuclear reactor in Iraq." He concluded: "We don't want this to be a war of Jews against Muslims. It should be a war of Western civilization [against] Iran." Good luck explaining that to 1.5 billion Muslims around the world.

From 77WABC Radio, specifically WND's Jerusalem Bureau:

While Israel is hoping for a peaceful resolution to Iran's nuclear ambitions, the Jewish state is also preparing for "a time of war," declared a Knesset member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling Likud party.

"We are prepared for all risks," said Likud Knesset Member Danny Danon. "And I think our enemies should know that even though we are speaking of peace, we are getting ready for a time of war, as well."

Danon, the deputy speaker of Israel's parliament, was speaking in a radio interview with WND senior reporter Aaron Klein, who hosts an investigative program on New York's WABC 770 AM Radio.

Danon hinted that Israel may take action if the world does not stop the Iranian nuclear threat, recalling Israel's lone strike on Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981.

Stated Danon: "We are ready for all scenarios, and we are able to defend our civilian population. I cannot tell you how long we can wait more. But we prefer to wait and see if the international bodies are acting, or [whether] it will be only the burden of Israel, like it was in the early '80s, when the great leader, Menachem Begin, [made] the great decision to bomb the nuclear reactor in Iraq."

Despite his assertion that Jerusalem is preparing to act alone, Danon stressed that Iran is an international concern. He called on the Western world to "take action" against Iran's suspected illicit nuclear program.

"I think we have to take action," he said. "It's about time to take action. It should be the international world and not only Israel. And I expect the administration in the White House to wake up as soon as possible."

Danon said he is concerned the international community has not been forceful enough in its policies toward Iran.

"What we see today is that the Russians, the Americans, the Europeans all say they are worried about Iran becoming nuclear, but in fact Iran is working full ahead, and it's only a matter of months or a year before they will be reaching the point of no return," he said.

Danon stated that any future military confrontation against Iran "should be an international effort."

"We don't want this to be a war of Jews against Muslims. It should be a war of Western civilization [against] Iran," he said.

"The threat of Iran becoming nuclear is a threat for the people who live in the U.S., Europe and Israel." he said. "No one can guarantee that Iran will use its power only against Israel."

And with that, we look forward to another stock meltup tomorrow.

The full interview can be heard after the jump.