Saudi Arabia is expanding its military arsenal to counter what it sees as Iran's growing influence in a region convulsed by violence.
Analysts and diplomats say Israel's bombardment of Lebanon after Syrian and Iranian-backed Hizbollah guerrillas kidnapped two soldiers has added to predominantly Sunni Saudi Arabia's alarm at Shi'ite powerhouse Iran's policies in the Middle East.
"There is now an understanding that Iran has to be countered," a Saudi adviser told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. "There is going to be a huge strategic spending on defence, based on a new defence doctrine."
Over the past year Saudi officials have spoken publicly against Iranian influence in Shi'ite governed Iraq and the possibility of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.
After Israel bombarded Lebanon, U.S. ally Saudi Arabia blamed Shi'ite Hizbollah was for the blitz that has so far killed more than 300 people and ravaged the infrastructure.
"Iran has been a lot more aggressive (over last year) ... it was made the Saudis sit up in a way they haven't for a good 10 years," said a Western diplomat in Riyadh. "Who in the long term is their main strategic threat? They see it as Iran."
Saudi Arabia wields global political clout partly because it is the world's top oil exporter, and over the past week it has spent billions of dollars on military equipment.
Washington said on Thursday it had approved the sale of 24 UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters, radios, armoured vehicles and other military equipment worth more than $6 billion.
France and Saudi Arabia also signed a defence cooperation agreement on Friday, with a French government source saying a deal was close on helicopters and tanker aircraft.
And Riyadh is set to buy up to 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jets in a deal with Britain that could cost more than $10 billion.
According to Jane's Information Group, tight public finances held up military expansion plans in the 1990s. But a spectacular rise in world oil prices has since turned Saudi fortunes around.
"The relatively small Royal Saudi Land Forces are thinly spread to cope with potential threats on a number of fronts. Saudi Arabia has far smaller ground forces than those of Iran," Jane's said in a report last month, estimating the army at 70,000 men and elite National Guard at 77,000.
The government wants to raise total troop numbers by some 25 percent, and the National Guard is to acquire its own air force, the adviser said. No conscription is planned.
Saudi Arabia relied on U.S. military protection from the 1990-1 Gulf crisis until 2003, when the troops left because American backing was seen as no longer politically acceptable.
Analysts say the U.S. presence near sites in Mecca and Medina was a key element in spawning an al Qaeda campaign in the same year to topple the monarchy.
Iran has emerged as a major Saudi concern since nationalist President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office last year.
"Iran is invading the Arab world and burning everything in its path," columnist Mshari Al-Zaydi wrote in Saudi daily Asharq al-Awsat this week. "With the Arabs standing idly by, Iran seeks to impose its control over the region."
In Lebanon, Riyadh is seeing its own money going up in smoke. Saudi Arabia has been a major political and economic sponsor of Lebanon's post-civil war order, which was laid down by an 1989 agreement made in the Saudi city of Taif.
"The viable, stable structure that took us two decades to build they have managed to bring down in the space of a week," the Saudi adviser said of Hizbollah, rueing Iran's huge influence for what he said was limited spending on the group.
But the Saudi stance has been controversial in the Arab world, where popular support for Hizbollah is strong. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan have been depicted by many as cheering Israel's attempt to destroy the guerrillas from the sidelines.
"It is difficult for them because public opinion is so supportive of Hizbollah," the diplomat said.
Most Arabs see Israel, which does not want to return all of the Arab territories it seized in a 1967 Middle East war, as more of a threat than Iran, whose help is welcomed. The Saudi official said Israel has no imperial ambitions, Iran does.
U.S.-allied Arab governments have been worrying about Iran since 2003 when Iraqi Shi'ites began to rise to power. Jordan's King Abdallah talked of a "Shi'ite crescent" reaching Lebanon.
A U.S.-based Saudi analyst said the fears were overplayed. "It seems that the Saudis will likely continue to spend on the most modern weaponry, regardless of whether this Iranian-led Shi'ite crescent is real or not," he said, requesting anonymity.
LONDON - Peace for Lebanon! rang the chant of thousands of rustics protestors who took to the streets of London Saturday in one of several rallies across Britain against Israels offensive in the Middle East.
Waving Lebanese and Palestinian flags and banging drums the rubes demonstrators demanded an immediate end to the Jewish states bombardment of Lebanon and Gaza. They also called on British Prime Minister Tony Blair to end what they described as his support of the Israeli attacks and demanded that he join international calls for an immediate ceasefire.
End Israel attacks on Lebanon and Palestine! read one of the many banners and posters brandished by the peaceful fifth columnists protestors. Stop the killing, stop to the bombs. Israel out of Lebanon, some of them shouted as the march got under way at 1.00 pm (1200 GMT) from near to the government ministry quarter of Whitehall, through central London, watched closely by police.
Others yelled: Hezbollah is here to stay. Zionism goes away,
Some were less subtle than that.
Andrew Burgin of Stop the War Coalition, one of the groups behind the march, said he hoped to see 10,000 protestors. It was impossible to put an exact figure on the impressive turnout straight away.
100? 200?
Betty Hunter, general secretary of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, another of the groups that organised the event said it was vital to protest about the two-pronged military campaign by Israel against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2006 00:00 ||
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There is also a Pro-Israeli rally today in London. If anyone at RB is from Britain, here is the location and shhhedule.
Jon Benjamin
Board of Deputies of British Jews
Solidarity Rally, 5-6pm, Sunday, 23rd July, at:
JFS, The Mall, Kenton, HA3 9TE.
For more information: contact 0207 543 0105.
Email: solidarity@bod.org.uk
#4
"Waving Lebanese and Palestinian flags and banging drums", sez it all really.
And your right moose. That islamic thinkers society is quite frankly hillarious also note the freudian slip as they use the word "dominate" when referring to the rest of the world. "Intellectual and political struggle" ptui.
(Interfax) - Chechen parliamentary deputy Magomed Khambiyev and two Chechen refugees who have returned to Russia from Azerbaijan have left the Derbent police department and proceeded to Chechnya. Following the intervention by commanders of the regional operations headquarters and of the combined force in the North Caucasus, and by Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov, the two refugees, who were returning with me to Russia from Azerbaijan were cleared," Khambiyev told Interfax by phone on Sunday. Khambiyev said he had been entrusted "to hold talks with representatives of the Chechen communities in Azerbaijan, Turkey and other countries, and to persuade them to come back to Russia. The Chechen authorities' swift moves will facilitate the mission."
Khambiyev earlier told Interfax that when he was returning from Azerbaijan, he and his two companions - a man and a woman, were detained on the Russian side of the border and were moved to the Derbent police department. Khambiyev said he had had "a series of meetings with forced migrants in Azerbaijan, who proposed repatriating [Khambiyev's] relatives first, and said they would decide, judging from their example, whether to return to Chechnya or whether to stay in Azerbaijan."
Speaker of the lower house of the Chechen parliament Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov told Interfax that "the incident was immediately reported to the command of the combined forces and of the regional operations headquarters, and to Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov, who got in touch with law enforcement services in Dagestan and settled the incident," Abdurakhmanov said. "Khambiyev's mission is very important and no one will be allowed to hamper it," he said. "Khambiyev was instructed to meet with people who, for political, military or other reasons, left Chechnya and Russia during the counter- terror operation, and who call themselves representatives of "non- existent Ichkeria," Abdurakhmanov told Interfax on Sunday.
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Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2006 10:06 ||
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TOKYO - Japan plans to deploy two more Aegis warships armed with advanced missiles, including one that can intercept ballistic missiles, a news report said on Saturday, as the country tries to bolster its defenses in the wake of North Koreas missiles launches.
The progressive Left keeps saying that missile defense doesn't and can't work, but I guess the Japanese never read the memo blog.
Japan currently has four Aegis destroyers operating with SM-2 missiles - designed mainly to intercept aircraft - including two at Sasebo base near the East China Sea, one at Maizuru base near Kyoto, along the Sea of Japan, and another at Yokosuka on the countrys east coast.
A fifth Aegis vessel, to be commissioned next spring, will be deployed also at Maizuru, Kyodo News Agency said, citing unnamed defense officials. The report did not say which type of missiles the fifth warship would have. Japans navy is expected to deploy a sixth warship at Sasebo base in the southern prefecture (state) of Nagasaki in the spring of 2008, the report said. The warship will be equipped with SM-3 missiles, capable of intercepting ballistic missiles, it said.
A spokeswoman for the Maritime Self-Defense Force confirmed that the government plans to upgrade at least three of its existing destroyers with SM-3 missiles. She also confirmed that two more destroyers will be deployed by the spring of 2008, but denied that a decision had been made on where they will be located. She spoke on condition of anonymity, citing agency policy.
That's a whole of interceptor capability, and it's going to make it more difficult for the NKors to threaten with just a single missile or two.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2006 00:00 ||
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I am glad to see them evolve away from a total passive society, they have a right to defent themselves. Their also slowly realizing that we would have a measured capability to defend them if the Norks attacked both South Korea and Japan. I expect to see lots more of Japan building first a defensive military and then moving into force projection as a deterant.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/23/2006 10:01 Comments ||
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I wonder if the Japanese are going to deploy land based versions of the Aegis to protect their cities. Either that or the mobile THAAD. The missiles have similar performance, though I suspect Aegis radar is better.
Posted by: ed ||
07/23/2006 10:28 Comments ||
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CRAWFORD, Texas - US President George W. Bush told Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday that the United States will help Turkey in the face of attacks by Kurdish rebels, the White House said.
The two leaders also discussed US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rices upcoming trip to the Middle East and ways to address the humanitarian needs of the Lebanese people amid Israeli strikes, said spokeswoman Dana Perino. They also discussed the continuing PKK terrorist attacks against Turkey. The president told the prime minister that the United States will work with Turkey to deal with this terrorist threat, said Perino.
So Erdogan whined enough and Bush makes a statement to give him some cover.
The two leaders had also spoken on the telephone Thursday, after Ankara threatened a cross-border operation if Washington and Baghdad fail to crack down on the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2006 00:00 ||
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"Ergy, this is the Prez. I'm ropin' some cows here on the ranch. Sure, we're goin' to hep you out, just like you hepped us when we needed it a coupla years ago. Remember that ? I called you three times on that one. Gotta go, this calf is fightin' me"
#2
The only thing Erdoğan is good at is whining. Funny how he never whines about the 40,000 Kurds his regime murdered between 1984 and 1999.
Nor about the 40,000 Kurds his regime murdered at Dersim in a year or so back in 1937-38.
It's always better to die on your feet than on your knees.
Posted by: Azad ||
07/23/2006 0:49 Comments ||
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The fifth horseman of the apocalypse denial. Till the Turks can acknowledge their own history they can feck off, we dont need them since the end of the cold war anyway.Ýpne.
#4
I hope we got something for it or it is an empty promise. But knowing Bush, I doubt it. This is where his get along with everyone, don't fire anyone attitude costs. It is his biggest weakness.
#5
Bush shouldn't do anything for these two faced punks. If Turkey would've allowed our boys to enter from their country, there wouldn't even be such a thing as "Sunni Triangle Insurgency."
LUCKNOW: Now-shamed and suspended Mumbai encounter specialist, Daya Nayak, appears to have been recruited along with two other "tainted" Mumbai Police sharp-shooters. He visited Lucknow on a secret mission to collect information about the serial blasts in Mumbai last week, police sources said. Though officials in Mumbai denied having any information, Special Task Force officers in Lucknow said Daya Nayak was in town. They said Nayak returned to Mumbai on Saturday, "satisfied" with his Lucknow visit.
Two of Nayak's "encounter-specialist" colleagues, Pradeep Sharma and Vijay Salaskar, who shot into fame in the late 1990s with him but are still a part of the force, are also playing an active role in helping investigators into Terror Tuesday. Nayak, if Uttar Pradesh Police are to be believed, stayed at a hotel near Shahnajaf Imambara in Hazratganj and gathered information about those rounded up after the Varanasi blasts of March 7 this year. Two of these suspects belong to the Huji, Bangladesh-based terror offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and the other two allegedly owe allegiance to the Jaish-e--Mohammad. The four are presently lodged in Lucknow district jail.
Nayak also met a few senior police and STF officials, two of whom vouched for his visit. But Maharashtra director-general of police P S Pasricha said he had no information about Nayak's Lucknow trip. "I know nothing about this but will ask about," he said.
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07/23/2006 10:19 ||
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President Pervez Musharraf has said that Pakistan wants to continue the dialogue process with India to settle all contentious issues including the Kashmir dispute. Talking to Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan, Musharraf said that Pakistan wanted to continue the peace talks and India's decision to stall the dialogue process would encourage extremists to continue with their agenda. The president said that he regretted India's decision to turn down Pakistan's offer to assist in the investigation into the Mumbai blast.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2006 00:00 ||
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If there is another attack in the country, India "will act with the hard option," top intelligence and security officials have said at a meeting convened by the Indian prime minister. "If terror continues we will be forced to change our strategy towards a more punitive response. The general consensus was that we have yet to cross the threshold," a security official told a Delhi-based weekly magazine.
He said that security agencies were asked to weigh the options for responding to a possible terrorist attack in the future. One option discussed related to striking at the roots of terror in Pakistan and Bangladesh. The intention is to target 'religious' bodies promoting jihad against India, he said. The meeting decided that India would not launch an operation on the scale of the Israeli offensive against Lebanon. "We know who they (terrorists) are and what they do. If necessary, they can be neutralised. It all depends on whether we are pushed to a point that necessitates such action," sources said. India has been tracking Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, who was released from house arrest by Pakistan on February 20. Saeed is one of the seven signatories, along with Al Qaedas Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al Zawahiri, to a 1999 pact that resolved to spread terror in India and the West.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2006 00:00 ||
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Seems India is waving the red flag in front of the bull
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/23/2006 0:29 Comments ||
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Translation= We've had enough from you Paki shitbags. Next time we squash you like a bug.
#9
'India will not tolerate another terror attack'
Yawn...
Meant to placate domestic public opinion. The next attack will see a similar non-response.
Posted by: john ||
07/23/2006 10:32 Comments ||
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And Manmohan Singh is viewed as weak against terror according to polls
About 56 per cent of respondents expressed their dissatisfaction over the UPA government's performance, while only 22 per cent were satisfied over its handling of crucial issues of terrorism and farmers' suicides.
The survey results also indicated that people liked Manmohan's honesty and wisdom, but they were not sure on how strong a leader he is. Only eight per cent believed that the PM took important decisions on his own.
About 22 per cent said that Sonia was taking all the big decisions, while 22 per cent said that no matter how big or small a decision, it was taken by Sonia.
About 47 per cent were not even sure of who was taking the major decisions in the government.
Analysis of survey results revealed that 52 per cent respondents wanted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to be replaced by Sonia, while as 56 per cent of the respondents were satisfied with PM's performance.
According to survey's results, Sonia was the most popular leader in the country as 29 per cent preferred her as PM over veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader Atal Behari Vajpayee, who was voted as favourite by 21 per cent.
Posted by: john ||
07/23/2006 12:55 Comments ||
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IRAQ'S ousted president Saddam Hussein was admitted to hospital suffering from the effects of his hunger-strike, chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Musawi said.
The detained leader, who stopped eating 16 days ago, is too ill to attend the next session of his trial. "Saddam Hussein has just been admitted to hospital because of his hunger strike. A medical report has established that he cannot appear tomorrow, because his condition needs medical attention," Mr al-Musawi said.
Saddam's chief defence lawyer accused US military authorities of force-feeding the toppled leader to make him end his 16-day strike. "The US military are force feeding the president to break his will and end his hunger strike to protest against the trial and its illegality," Khalil Dulaimi said.
Damned straight. We want him nice and plump for the hanging.
He and three of his co-defendants have been refusing food since July 7, and last week the defence warned that their health was deteriorating.
A spokesman for his US jailers, Lieutenant Colonel Keir Kevin Curry, said on July 13 the men had been refusing some meals but later said they were all in good health while getting extra medical attention. The three aides striking with Saddam are his former secret police chief and half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti, ex-vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan and head of the former revolutionary court Awad al-Bandar. It was Bandar's court which condemned the 148 villagers to death for the failed attack against Saddam.
Let's strike a deal: al-Bandar can starve himself to death and we won't intervene. The rest get feeding tubes. Everybody plays, everybody wins.
The hunger-strikers are protesting at the murders of three defence lawyers since the start of the trial in October last year, the first prosecution of the former Iraqi leader since he was ousted by a US-led invasion in April 2003. They are also protesting at the way the trial is being carried out by the Iraqi court and demanding what they call a fair tribunal.
Iraqi former leader Saddam Hussein has been hospitalized due to a days-long hunger-strike, a prosecutor said on Sunday. Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi told reporters that Saddam had been taken to hospital on Sunday due to his hunger-strike and that he was currently fed by a tube. Moussawi also said that the former Iraqi president, who is on trial for charges against humanity, might not be able to attend the court session scheduled for Monday. No further details were revealed.
Saddam, along with three of his seven co-accused including his half brother and once Iraqi intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim, vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan and head of Saddam's former revolutionary court Awad al-Bandar, has started a hunger strike since July 7.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2006 09:56 ||
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That Atkins diet..
Posted by: john ||
07/23/2006 10:48 Comments ||
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My suggestion: use a foie gras force feeder to fill him up with junk food and Coca Cola until he weighs about 700 pounds and needs a forklift to get him into court.
First in series of WaPo articles under the heading of 'Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq.' While it's a red-meat headline for us, take a look at the article.
The real war in Iraq -- the one to determine the future of the country -- began on Aug. 7, 2003, when a car bomb exploded outside the Jordanian Embassy, killing 11 and wounding more than 50. That bombing came almost exactly four months after the U.S. military thought it had prevailed in Iraq, and it launched the insurgency, the bloody and protracted struggle with guerrilla fighters that has tied down the United States to this day.
There is some evidence that Saddam Hussein's government knew it couldn't win a conventional war, and some captured documents indicate that it may have intended some sort of rear-guard campaign of subversion against occupation. The stockpiling of weapons, distribution of arms caches, the revolutionary roots of the Baathist Party, and the movement of money and people to Syria either before or during the war all indicate some planning for an insurgency.
But there is also strong evidence, based on a review of thousands of military documents and hundreds of interviews with military personnel, that the U.S. approach to pacifying Iraq in the months after the collapse of Hussein helped spur the insurgency and made it bigger and stronger than it might have been.
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Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2006 00:00 ||
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Same ole warmed up spit.
BTW T. Ricks has a book coming out soon.
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/23/2006 0:31 Comments ||
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That's a long article. Is there anything in there worth reading? Quagmire! Blame Bush! Do anything and it will make things worse! You've lost the war, go home!
Did I miss anything? Or is it just more WaPo sucking up to their Saudi paymasters at the expense of their grandchildren?
#3
I'm not a military expert, nor am I a vet. As I read the article with non-mil eyes, it does seem that they lay out a case for our military not being prepared for counter-insurgency ops, particularly in the first year of reconstruction. If so, that's a major blunder on our part, as it's something we should have reasonably anticipated.
Again, I'm not the expert, but we have people here on the Burg who are. Perhaps a Sunday class at Rantburg U.?
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2006 1:06 Comments ||
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Although I do not buy the article "lock stock and barrel", much of it sounds very reasonable.
Remember many of the quotes are coming from military experts themselves like Army Col. Robert Killebrew, a veteran of Special Forces in the Vietnam War.
I hate to say it, there are some bright spots, but the whole thing overall seems to be geting more and more like a big mess. Many Iraqis hate Americans, many hate other Iraqis who are starting to hate them back. The U.S. Army is not very good at being a "baby sitter".
#5
I'm not a military expert, nor am I a vet. As I read the article with non-mil eyes, it does seem that they lay out a case for our military not being prepared for counter-insurgency ops, particularly in the first year of reconstruction. If so, that's a major blunder on our part, as it's something we should have reasonably anticipated.
You can't plan for everything. You must plan for the next step in each program. Miss a step and start all over again. Focus what is in front of you. It's ok to conjecture, but if you worry too much about everything, you do nothing. The Clauswitzian dictate is that in war there is friction. You have to deal with it. The ground pounding snuffy would say 'no plan survives the first 10 minutes of contact'. Adapt, improvise, overcome. Thats a trait of the American soldier since day one and an advantage few have matched.
As it has been posted many times here at the Rant, the US has the capacity to have turned Iraq into one big parking lot. A lot of civilian dead, like Germany and Japan. However, the political and military leadership choose not to [I don't recall a single senior officer promoting a LeMay approach to Iraq before the start gun sounded]. So, they went in with what they had. Considering that with less than 3,000 casualties they've accomplished as much as they have, from a military history and operations perspective, its been one hell of good showing. Remember the critics never talk about the long history of military failures the cover the record since Pharaoh Ramses got his ass kicked by the Hittites [although his public proclamations seem to say different. Wonder why?]. Relative to other military campaigns would only highlight the level of success which the MSM is totally unwilling to do [cause they share a common goal with the enemy]. Just remember - there is no perfect. Never has been.
#7
One thing to keep in mind; the US military has a very strong tendency to self criticism. This is a strength, not a weakness. An external observer could take this as a negative trait (and could provide fodder for ignorant or malicious reporting) but the military considers it extremely positive. It is at the core of the drive to strengthen and refine the forces, to learn from mistakes, to improve performance.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
07/23/2006 10:02 Comments ||
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"If so, that's a major blunder on our part, as it's something we should have reasonably anticipated."
Did we here on Rantburg anticipate it? I certainly don't recall much "watch out for an insurgency" talk here during the run-up to OIF-- in fact, I don't recall any. And if we didn't anticipate it, why would you think our military people should have? They can't plan for everything, you know. They're not omniscient, any more than we are.
What this article very carefully-- and dishonestly-- avoids any mention of, is the fundamental reason for the sheer, dogged persistence of the insurgency: the relentlessly negative press coverage of the war in the U.S., along with the cynically calculated anti-war rhetoric of the Democratic Party, have convinced the Baathists and jihadis they will ultimately win because we are on the verge of giving up and "responsibly redeploying" (i.e., running home) with our tails between our legs.
This war is not a contest of arms; it is a contest of wills. And from Day One, America's liberal establishment has been on a no-holds-barred, all-out campaign of doing everything humanly possible to undermine the will of the American public to win this struggle, and everything humanly possible to bolster the enemy's confidence.
And this horseshit "look how we fucked up!" article is part of that campaign.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
07/23/2006 10:11 Comments ||
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I have no doubt that there are lessons to be learned from Iraq. I also have no doubt that had we not de-Baathed the Iraqi military and police, we would be reading articles bemoaning how we were in the middle of an insurgency in which we could not trust our Iraqi "allies" who were running the insurgency on their off-duty hours. It is exactly this kind of lose-lose analysis that leaves me with a funny feeling when I read an article like this. How much of this represents bureaucratic combat for the next promotion? Just a little too inside the E-Ring without a scorecard.
And where is the word Marines? Didn't they play a part over there? Did they do things differently? How did that work out?
The reference to Vietnam is apt, because that is the lens through which the media sees this war. But I'll bet most of the folks fighting it don't. I'm eagerly awaiting their second draft of history.
Great thread, every comment is enlightening. Funny how the level of discourse seems proportional to the current level of operations.
#10
Seems that much of the article is based on the premise that "some things went wrong in vietnam and we eventually lost, and now some things are going wrong in Iraq so we must have forgotten the lessons and we'll lose".
Fact is the facts on the ground are different and what worked then may not work now, what didn't work then may work now. I trust the military to get this right more often than not and I trust their success record will be looked on positively when the history books are written (as oppossed to the fast to print score political points crap we're seeing now).
#11
Top 10 lessons of Vietnam (by the US military):
1) The media is the your enemy.
2) The left despises you and wants you dead.
3) Never let a "think tank" run a war.
4) Academics live in a fantasy world.
5) Congressmen have no idea.
6) Unconventional ops like "Phoenix Program" work.
7) AT NO TIME do pictures of dead bodies help your cause.
8) The history of war is written during the war. Write it or your enemies will.
9) Combat soldiers know what they are talking about. Give them what they want.
10) You will be punished later for what was reasonable at the time.
A lesson unlearned with every war. Google General Sherman's comments about the press. The problem is that DoD is still fighting WWII when it comes to the media. WWII was an anomaly. The general officers don't want to mess with things that are not immediately effecting the operational battlefield. As a consequence they 'outsource' the message to the MSM which, as noted, shares the same goal as the enemy. It means that DoD has to invest its over stretched resources and build an alternative means of communicating directly with the people. The troops are doing this when they're home, that's why enlistments are being met during time of war, even with the massive negative coverage of the MSM. However, the peer communications are not enough. They need to exploit cable, satellite, and the internet to bring the info to the public. The dead tree media is going the way of its older generation. Time to jump the generations with the technology. Until they do this, they'll win the battlefield but face losing the war at home in the end.
#15
Nothing coherent... just some passing thoughts.
We did think that there would be insurgency in Bosnia and attempts to suck our troops into it. We were pleasantly suprised that it didn't happen.
I am very skeptical of comments made by counter-insurgency and SF types. Few understand that the reason we sent the Marines and Army into Viet Nam was because the SF base camps kept getting overrun and weren't stopping the influx of supplies and NVA main force units into the south. Afghanistan was their big success, but that was an entirely different beast. The two sides were arrayed in what was essentially a linear standoff, i.e. fighting conventionally. The Northern Alliance forces plus US airpower won that campaign. No credible voice is asking that the Afghan theater be turned over to SF right now to fight an ISI-backed Taliban.
I admire Petreaus and I don't mean to take anything away from him, but remember that the 101st was in Northern Iraq during OIF 1 and overall had a much friendlier environment than units in the Sunni triangle.
I guess you can say that we hosed the de-Baathification and dismissing the Iraqi Army thing, but why are the Israelis facing the same problems in the occupied territories? The Lebanese Sunnis, Christians and Druze in southern Lebanon? Maybe we just need to admit that the thing that we are fighting in this war is Islam and tribalism -- that the enemy is a highly networked group of independent operators linked together by the Sunnah and Qutbism. Maybe then, everything makes sense. Maybe then we can develop the strategy, operational plans, and tactics to win this war.
#16
The main lesson is: before you invade, try doing some research on the internet. Then, if you come across a website run by the leading mainstream cleric of the country in question, and it equates non-believers with feces and urine, you might think twice about the hearts-and-minds approach, and break out the B52s instead.
#17
I agree that the militery has made mistakes and that';s why this is taking so long.
My way: When taking a town, go door to door and round up all of the weapons. Then, if a gun or explosion goes off in that town, kill every other male above the age of 9.
Soon you win the war and control the country. Have a parade and a big party, and let the survivors build a democracy. Make sure they do it right. If you find anyone crossing the border, kill them.
Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Sunday that Israel would accept a temporary international force, preferably headed by NATO, deployed along the Lebanese border to keep Hizbullah guerrillas away from Israel, according to officials in Peretz's office. "Israel's goal is to see the Lebanese army deployed along the border with Israel, but we understand that we are taking about a weak army and that in the midterm period Israel will have to accept a multinational force," he said according to his office. Peretz made the comments during a closed meeting with visiting German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2006 10:50 ||
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#1
So we are working our way down the list of defunct organizations...UN, NATO...
GAZA CITY - Lines formed at bank cash machines in Gaza City on Saturday as Palestinian government employees began to receive some of the back pay held up by an aid boycott of the ruling Hamas government. Payments of up to 1,500 shekels (around 300 dollars) have begun to be distributed this afternoon to all Palestinian Authority employees via the presidency, a Palestinian Authority official requesting anonymity told AFP.
The money was for April salaries, and followed several part payments of back wages to 160,000 Palestinian civil servants in June.
I wonder if the Euros have been able to slip a few more trucks of cash to Gaza while we've been watching Lebanon. Three trucks for the head cheeses, one truck for the paisans...
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2006 00:00 ||
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Hizbullah agreed to allow the Lebanese government to begin negotiations regarding kidnapped IDF soldiers, according to speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri on Sunday afternoon. Earlier Sunday, Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh told a French news agency that the soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, were in "good physical condition." This was the first time the Lebanese government released any statements about the two soldiers, who were captured by the Hizbullah 12 days ago. He also called on the UN - or any other third party - to mediate a prisoner exchange between the Hizbullah and Israel.
No word had been heard from Goldwasser, 31, and fellow reservist Regev, 26, since they were captured July 12 by Hizbullah guerrillas who attacked their patrol on the Israeli side of the Lebanese border. Goldwasser's father, Shlomo, 59, said last week that he was desperate for word on his son's condition. "I'm not a politician. I can speak only as a father," he said. "I'm hoping the kidnappers will make demands to prove that my son is OK." The family has previously asked for the guerrillas to let international humanitarian organizations visit Ehud Goldwasser so they can find out their condition.
Israeli officials appealed last Wednesday to a gathering of about 100 diplomats to ask their respective governments to help get information on the captives, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev. "It would be very valuable and very welcome to the families. It would be valuable humanitarian information," he said. "Everything has a price. I don't think there will be some sort of move to free Gilad without a price. That's not the way it works in the Middle East," said Noam Shalit. "There is no reason not to consider this after this incident in order to free someone who was sent by the state to the front lines," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2006 10:44 ||
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#1
A little late there buddy. I'd rather wait and see if "Little Man" the child 12th iman shows up on August 22nd. Pass the popcorm, please.
#2
Hizb is a terrrorist organization and must be destroyed. They have shown by their actions that their main goal is to destroy Israel. Hizb needs to be crushed and ground to powder. Anything else is delusional and suicidal.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/23/2006 14:44 Comments ||
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#3
Jizzballah (splooge of gawd) would not be talking if they were:
1) in a position of strength, or
2) confident of Iranian support
Then again, this could just be grist for the media mill.
TEHRAN, July 22 (MNA) The Mehr News Agency spoke to some analysts on Saturday to learn their views on the reasons behind the Zionist regimes attacks on Lebanon. Strategic affairs expert Hossein Alai said that Israel seeks to occupy south Lebanon again to deploy NATO forces there. They want to give the authority of the south Lebanon to forces compromised of NATO and Lebanons army to keep Hezbollah forces up to twenty kilometers away from northern borders of Israel, he said. Israel is now implementing the pre-planned project of eradicating Hezbollah, he added.
Representative of the Al-Jazeera television network in Tehran, Mohammad Hassan al-Bahrani, said that Israels goal is to create division between Hezbollah and the Lebanese people and between the Shias and Sunnis. They are also seeking to prepare the ground to enforce the Security Council resolution 1559 to disarm Hezbollah, he stated. He criticized the silence of certain Arab countries over the assaults, saying, Their silence will eventually be to their own detriment.
International affairs analyst Mehdi Motahharnia said Israel is being used in the hands of the United States to form the New World Order. In order to change from a superpower into a sole power, the United States needs to get rid of the resistance movements in the region by using violence, he noted. We can see United States using violence to reach this goal in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said. Commenting on the efforts by the European countries to bring an end to the crisis, he said, In this war the Europeans investments in Lebanon are being destroyed, therefore the war is actually a competition between the U.S. and the Europeans to secure their interests in the Middle East region.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2006 10:41 ||
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#1
It will be fun to have NATO in Lebanon.A nice can of worms that will expose Europe hypocrisy when they'll soldiers start to die.
TEHRAN, July 22 (MNA) -- The Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) issued a statement on Thursday announcing Iran would respond to the 5+1 groups nuclear package by August 22. The five permanent members of the UN Security Council Britain, France, Russia, China, and the U.S. plus Germany presented the package to Iran on June 6 in a bid to end the row over the countrys nuclear program. The Mehr News Agency spoke to an MP and two political analysts on Saturday to learn their views on the issue.
Hamid-Reza Taraqqi of the Islamic Coalition Party said that Iran is seeking to resolve its nuclear standoff with the West through dialogue. But if some countries start to impose their illegal demands on the international community and deprive Iran of its rights, the Majlis will oblige the government to withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), he warned.
Majlis Education and Research Committee Chairman Ali Abbasspur Tehrani said that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should protect its credibility and reputation by defending Irans nuclear rights. If the agency is not able to defend its members rights, there will be no reason for Iran to continue its cooperation with it, he added.
International affairs analyst Mehdi Fathi said that the most important message of the SNSCs statement is that Iran is insisting on a need to settle the nuclear row through negotiation. The statement shows that Iran will never bow to unlawful pressures, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2006 10:39 ||
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#1
First you've got to have something to protect. Zero is still zero.
TEHRAN, July 23 (MNA) Australian ambassador to Tehran, Gregory Laurence Moriarty, in a visit to the Tehran Times and the Mehr News Agency headquarters last week discussed various cultural, political and economic issues with the Tehran Times and MNA Managing Director Parviz Esmaeili.
During the meeting, Esmaeili stressed the need for the revival and expansion of ties between the two countries. He noted that Iran has never had any particular political problem with Australia, But unfortunately some foreign elements have cast a shadow over efforts to develop bilateral ties. For instance, for several years economic cooperation between the two countries has come to a halt. Cooperation in the fields of agriculture, industry and environmental issues has remained suspended. These obstacles should be removed so as to strengthen ties between the two nations.
Esmaeili noted that bilateral ties should develop based on national interests, adding that these interests should not be influenced by the interests of other powers. Australias relations with Iran are influenced by two issues, he observed. One is Western accusations against the situation of human rights in Iran and two is (Australias) absolute adherence to U.S. policies against the Iranian nuclear issue. However, our people are concerned over the violation of the rights of Australian aboriginals and Australias interference in the East Timur Muslim region.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2006 10:31 ||
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TEHRAN, July 23 (MNA) — "All international organizations, including the United Nations and the Security Council, are dead and are being exploited," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said here on Sunday, in reference to world bodies' failure to properly respond to the Zionists' atrocities in Lebanon. Over 30 anti-Israel resolutions of the Security Council have been vetoed by the United States so far, and this is actually a green light from the U.S. and international organizations to the Zionist regime to commit more crimes, he told reporters at his weekly press briefing.
On Iran's nuclear dossier, Asefi said that if the 5 1 group changes its attitude, Iran will also make some changes in its policies. Of course, any unwise action by the 5 1 group will be followed by a proportionate response by the Islamic Republic of Iran, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2006 10:29 ||
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#1
"All international organizations, including the United Nations and the Security Council, are dead and are being exploited,"
#5
Of course, that won't stop Iran from inviting IAEA inspectors in the upcoming weeks when it's convenient for them, i.e. as their prime stalling tactic, now will it?
#7
Of course, any unwise action by the 5 1 group will be followed by a proportionate response by the Islamic Republic of Iran, he added.
Does anybody know what Iranian action is about to be made the rest of the planet's fault? Heaven forbid that the Iranian "government" should do anything unethical of their own volition.
Since 1984 Iran has created branches of Hezbollah in more than 20 countries. None has equalled the success of the Lebanese branch, which until recently enjoyed something akin to cult status among Arabs, including non-Muslims, because of the way it stood up to Israel.
It has not even cost Iran very much. Hezbollah was launched with just £13m. After that, according to best estimates, Iran spent £32m to £54m a year on its Lebanese assets. Even if we add the cost of training Hezbollah fighters and equipping them with hardware, Hezbollah (the strongest fighting force in the Middle East after Iran and Israel) has not cost Iran more than £1.3 billion over two decades.
According to Naim Kassem, Hezbollahs number two, the party has an annual budget of £279m, much of which comes from businesses set up by the movement. These include a bank, a mortgage co-operative, an insurance company, a travel agency specialising in pilgrimages to Muslim holy places, several hotels, a chain of supermarkets and a number of urban bus and taxi companies.
Continued on Page 49
#1
businesses set up by the movement. These include a bank, a mortgage co-operative, an insurance company, a travel agency specialising in pilgrimages to Muslim holy places, several hotels, a chain of supermarkets and a number of urban bus and taxi companies.
Thanks for the target list.
Posted by: ed ||
07/23/2006 10:42 Comments ||
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BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - The mass departure of U.S. citizens from Lebanon wound down Saturday, but the pain was just beginning for those with family ties to Lebanon. Many younger Lebanese-Americans were fleeing to safety, while the older generation who experienced the 1975-90 civil war, stayed behind despite the Israeli air assault. The State Department said 10,000 Americans had been evacuated from Lebanon by Saturday. Ten U.S. Navy vessels were in the area for the operation. Some 25,000 Americans were estimated to be in Lebanon when the Israeli offensive began, but less than half were expected to flee. The U.S. State Department said Saturday it was waiving a requirement that departing Americans reimburse the government for travel costs.
"You may fire when ready."
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2006 00:00 ||
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LONDON - Syria is ready to open a dialogue with the United States to resolve the crisis in Lebanon, deputy foreign minister Faisal Mukdad told a British all-news television channel on Saturday.
With the conflict in the Middle East escalating, Mukdad told Sky News that Damascus was ready to talk on the condition that Washington engages on the question of Israeli occupation of neighbouring lands. It has been Syrias ongoing position that we are ready to have a dialogue with the United States, he said.
"We're worried the evil Zionists are about to hit us hard."
The United States is not only not conducting dialogue with Syria, but it is preventing others from having a conversation and dialogue with Syria, he added.
"We're really worried the evil Zionists are about to hit us hard."
We want a dialogue based on respect (and) mutual interest, without giving instructions -- and we are ready to help if the United States has the readiness to help in resolving not only this problem (the current crisis) but in resolving the overall problems.
"We want you to think of us as your equals, even though we aren't."
If we solve this problem, then what about the other problems: the ongoing Israeli occupation of Arab territoires, of Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian territories?"
"We've been keeping these problems from being solved all these years, so believe us when we say we know more about this than you."
Mukdad continued: We think there will be no solution to the Middle East crisis without dealing comprehensively with all these lingering problems in the region.
I can think of a solution, but your boss ain't gonna like it ...
Mukdad appeared on Sky News on the same day that US President George W. Bush denounced Syria and Iran for the role in the conflict in Lebanon, accusing the two nations -- both accused of supporting the militant armed Lebanese faction Hezbollah -- of posing a threat to the entire Middle East.
#7
No Danking, there have been too many 'last chances'. It's time for serious action.
I have a feeling that between now and the end of the year, the whole Middle East may look very different, what with the 'Little Man' rabbiting on about his secret he'll reveal on the 22nd of August and all...
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/23/2006 15:43 Comments ||
Top||
The United States, Israel, the United Nations and the European Union have reluctantly concluded that despite punishing military attacks, Hezbollah is likely to survive as a political player in Lebanon, and Israel now says it is willing to accept the organization if it sheds its military wing and abandons extremism, according to several key officials. "To the extent that it remains a political group, it will be acceptable to Israel," Israeli Ambassador Daniel Ayalon said yesterday in the strongest sign to date that the Israelis are rethinking the scope and ultimate goals of the campaign. "A political group means a party that is engaged in the political system in Lebanon, but without terrorism capabilities and fighting capabilities. That will be acceptable to Israel."
In a bid to contain Hezbollah, the United States is hoping to persuade Arab allies over the next week -- Saudi Arabia in talks today and Egypt and Jordan at an emergency meeting Wednesday in Rome -- to get Syria to stop arming, funding and facilitating Hezbollah's military operations, U.S. officials said. Because Syria is also the physical conduit for all Iranian arms and personnel bound for Lebanon, the regime of President Bashar al-Assad could be pivotal to helping end the current hostilities and ensuring that Hezbollah's options are limited afterward.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Beware this article.
The only direct quotes are with the Israeli ambassador, probably quoted out of context and a pro-Hezbollah professor.
#2
Also a "disarmed" Hezbollah will be just like the "disarmed" PLO, the "disarmed" PA and the "disarmed" Hamas. The terrorists will claim to be disarmed, but they won't. We'll know it, the Israelis'll know it,the EU know'll it and the UN'll know it.
The only known way of disarming terrorists to save civilian lines is to kill terrorists.
#5
Dunno. At any time, Syria could push Tel Aviv reaching missiles into north Lebanon. Then what would Israel do? The time for decisive action is now. Screw diplomacy. Do our leaders want Iranian ICBMs pointed our way?
#6
What peace Israel then kill off all hizzys, then take out Syria and after that blow up Iran real nice. Then after a year or two start looking at SA.
#7
As per badanov's warning, anyone seen this story repeated (with named sources) elsewhere?
It's a fine turn of events when you feel you can't trust a story from a paper like the Washington Post isn't it? Well no matter, they made their bed...
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/23/2006 8:35 Comments ||
Top||
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
LONDON - Peace for Lebanon! rang the chant of thousands of 
TOKYO - Japan plans to deploy two more Aegis warships armed with advanced missiles, including one that can intercept ballistic missiles, a news report said on Saturday, as the country tries to bolster its defenses in the wake of North Koreas missiles launches.
CRAWFORD, Texas - US President George W. Bush told Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday that the United States will help Turkey in the face of attacks by Kurdish rebels, the White House said.
LUCKNOW: Now-shamed and suspended Mumbai encounter specialist, 
President Pervez Musharraf has said that Pakistan wants to continue the dialogue process with India to settle all contentious issues including the Kashmir dispute. Talking to Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan, Musharraf said that Pakistan wanted to continue the peace talks and India's decision to stall the dialogue process would encourage extremists to continue with their agenda. The president said that he regretted India's decision to turn down Pakistan's offer to assist in the investigation into the Mumbai blast.
If there is another attack in the country, India "will act with the hard option," top intelligence and security officials have said at a meeting convened by the Indian prime minister. "If terror continues we will be forced to change our strategy towards a more punitive response. The general consensus was that we have yet to cross the threshold," a security official told a Delhi-based weekly magazine.
IRAQ'S ousted president Saddam Hussein was admitted to hospital suffering from the effects of his hunger-strike, chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Musawi said.
Iraqi former leader Saddam Hussein has been hospitalized due to a days-long hunger-strike, a prosecutor said on Sunday. Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi told reporters that Saddam had been taken to hospital on Sunday due to his hunger-strike and that he was currently fed by a tube. Moussawi also said that the former Iraqi president, who is on trial for charges against humanity, might not be able to attend the court session scheduled for Monday. No further details were revealed. 
GAZA CITY - Lines formed at bank cash machines in Gaza City on Saturday as Palestinian government employees began to receive some of the back pay held up by an aid boycott of the ruling Hamas government. Payments of up to 1,500 shekels (around 300 dollars) have begun to be distributed this afternoon to all Palestinian Authority employees via the presidency, a Palestinian Authority official requesting anonymity told AFP.
TEHRAN, July 22 (MNA) The Mehr News Agency spoke to some analysts on Saturday to learn their views on the reasons behind the Zionist regimes attacks on Lebanon. Strategic affairs expert Hossein Alai said that Israel seeks to occupy south Lebanon again to deploy NATO forces there. They want to give the authority of the south Lebanon to forces compromised of NATO and Lebanons army to keep Hezbollah forces up to twenty kilometers away from northern borders of Israel, he said. Israel is now implementing the pre-planned project of eradicating Hezbollah, he added.
TEHRAN, July 23 (MNA) — "All international organizations, including the United Nations and the Security Council, are dead and are being exploited," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said here on Sunday, in reference to world bodies' failure to properly respond to the Zionists' atrocities in Lebanon. Over 30 anti-Israel resolutions of the Security Council have been vetoed by the United States so far, and this is actually a green light from the U.S. and international organizations to the Zionist regime to commit more crimes, he told reporters at his weekly press briefing. 
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - The mass departure of U.S. citizens from Lebanon wound down Saturday, but the pain was just beginning for those with family ties to Lebanon. Many younger Lebanese-Americans were fleeing to safety, while the older generation who experienced the 1975-90 civil war, stayed behind despite the Israeli air assault. The State Department said 10,000 Americans had been evacuated from Lebanon by Saturday. Ten U.S. Navy vessels were in the area for the operation. Some 25,000 Americans were estimated to be in Lebanon when the Israeli offensive began, but less than half were expected to flee. The U.S. State Department said Saturday it was waiving a requirement that departing Americans reimburse the government for travel costs.
LONDON - Syria is ready to open a dialogue with the United States to resolve the crisis in Lebanon, deputy foreign minister Faisal Mukdad told a British all-news television channel on Saturday.
The United States, Israel, the United Nations and the European Union have reluctantly concluded that despite punishing military attacks, Hezbollah is likely to survive as a political player in Lebanon, and Israel now says it is willing to accept the organization if it sheds its military wing and abandons extremism, according to several key officials. "To the extent that it remains a political group, it will be acceptable to Israel," Israeli Ambassador Daniel Ayalon said yesterday in the strongest sign to date that the Israelis are rethinking the scope and ultimate goals of the campaign. "A political group means a party that is engaged in the political system in Lebanon, but without terrorism capabilities and fighting capabilities. That will be acceptable to Israel."
