Israel and Iran on Path to War as Mideast Tinderbox Awaits Spark
May 7, 2018 18:04:06 #
ziggy88
Loc: quincy illinois 62301
Biblical prophecy about to go down with one spark..........
By David Wainer , Donna Abu-Nasr , and Henry Meyer
Researched by Pastor Gary Boyd
There have been c**ps and revolutions, external invasions and proxy conflicts, but the Middle East hasnât seen a head-to-head war between major regional powers since the 1980s.
Thereâs a growing risk that one is about to break out in Syria, pitting Israel against Iran.
The Islamic Republicâs forces are entrenching there, after joining the fight to prop up President Bashar al-Assad. The Jewish state, perceiving a direct threat on its border, is subjecting them to an escalating barrage of airstrikes. Nobody expects those strikes to go unanswered.
The path to escalation is clear, and the rhetoric is apocalyptic. âWe will demolish every site where we see an Iranian attempt to position itself,ââ Israelâs Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman told the London-based Saudi newspaper Elaph, adding that the Iranian regime is âliving its final days.ââ
In Tehran, Hossein Salami, deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards, said that â100,000 missiles are ready to flyââ in Israelâs direction, and warned they could bring about its âannihilation and collapse.ââ
Light a Match
Iran and Israel have been exchanging threats for decades. Whatâs different now is that Syriaâs civil war, which sucked in both countries, provides a potential battlespace -- one thatâs much closer to Jerusalem than to Tehran.
Israeli officials say there are 80,000 fighters in Syria who take orders from Iran. As they help Assad recapture territory, m*****amen from Hezbollah have deployed within a few kilometers of the Golan Heights on Israelâs border. Iran has vowed to avenge its citizens k**led by the Israeli airstrikes, and it has plenty of options for doing so.
Itâs a tinderbox, says Ofer Shelach, a member of the foreign affairs and defense committee in Israelâs parliament. âIâm worried about the possibility that a match ignited in the Golan will light up a war going all the way to the sea.ââ
Even more troubling is the absence of firefighters.
Israelis lament that Washington has become a bit-part player, unable to impose a Syrian settlement that would guarantee its allyâs security. Absent that, âwe can only represent our interests through force,ââ Shelach says.
Asked about Israel-Iran tensions at a press briefing on Thursday, Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said the U.S. is concerned by Iranian actions that âdestabilize the region,â including through its proxy Hezbollah. âWherever Iran is, chaos follows,â she said.
Able or Willing
Far from tamping down tensions, President Donald Trump -â egged on by Israel â- has been ramping them up. By threatening to withdraw next week from the international agreement to curb Iranâs nuclear program, heâs added another volatile element to the regional mix.
The only power with channels open to both sides, and the clout to play mediator, is Russia.
President Vladimir Putinâs intervention in 2015 to shore up Assad has left Russia as the strongest actor in Syria. Putin is seeking to impose a peace that would lock in his political gains, so he has every interest in averting any spread of the war.
But that doesnât mean heâs able or willing to rein in Iran. While Russia has cordial ties with Israel, theyâre likely outweighed by the confluence of interests with the Islamic Republic, whose ground forces were crucial to the success of Putinâs Syrian gambit. Repeatedly threatened with attack or regime-change by its enemies, Iran sees the sympathetic governments in Damascus and Beirut as providing strategic depth.
âUnstable, Unmanagedâ
Now, the Iranians in Syria have graduated from helping Assad to âbuilding their strategic presence against Israel,ââ said Paul Salem, senior vice president at the Middle East Institute in Washington. âIt appears that neither the Russians nor the Assad regime are in control or can limit these things,ââ he said. âThe situation is highly unstable and highly unmanaged.ââ
One test of Russiaâs ability to manage it may come in southern Syria, where Islamic State and other jihadists and rebels still hold territory near Israelâs border -- enclaves that are among the likely next targets for Assadâs advancing army.
âBefore they do that, the Russians need to have an arrangement with the Israelis,ââ said Yuri Barmin, a Middle East expert at the Russian International Affairs Council, which advises the Kremlin. Russia is âwilling to negotiate on the issue of Iran and Iranâs presenceââ in those regions, he said.
âItâs Shortsightedâ
That may not be enough to meet Israeli concerns, which extend far beyond the border.
Earlier in the Syrian conflict, Israelâs airstrikes typically aimed to destroy weapons convoys bound for Hezbollah in Lebanon. Thereâs been a significant change. Two strikes in the past month -â widely attributed to Israel, though the Jewish state doesnât comment on such matters â- targeted permanent infrastructure used by Iranâs forces. Both took place deep inside Syrian territory.
âItâs shortsighted to look at it in terms of how many kilometers from the border Iran is sitting,ââ said Amos Gilad, who recently stepped down as director of political-military affairs at Israelâs Defense Ministry. âIran cannot be allowed to base themselves militarily in Syria. And Israel is fully determined to prevent that.ââ
To be sure, the goal could be achieved without a full-blown war. Salem, at the Middle East Institute, says the likeliest outcome is that Israel and Iran will avoid a conflict that neither really wants -- though he says the risk that theyâll end up fighting is higher than at any time since the Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.
And although hostilities have effectively begun with the airstrikes, many analysts say that they can be contained to Syria -â where Israel and Iran can square off without their allies necessarily being drawn into the fight.
âNever!â
âNever!ââ said Liberman, when asked if clashes with Iran could lead to clashes with Russia. âThere will be no confrontation with them.ââ
In Beirut, Sami Nader of the Levant Institute for Strategic Studies said that Russia may not oppose an Israeli attack on Iranian positions in Syria, provided it doesnât threaten to topple the Assad regime that is âthe Russiansâ main card at the negotiating table.â Barmin, the Kremlin adviser, said thereâs plenty of daylight between the âdiverging interestsâ of Russia and Iran.
So far, Russiaâs response to Israeli airstrikes has been muted. But after the U.S. bombed Syrian targets last month, to punish Assad for an alleged chemical attack, Russian officials said they may deliver state-of-the-art S-300 missile defense systems to Syria. That would pose new risks for the Israeli air force -â and increase the chance of a flashpoint.
Israelâs parliament this week passed a law empowering the prime minister and defense to declare war without wider Cabinet approval in âextreme circumstances.â
Half a century ago, Israel launched a surprise attack against its Arab enemies. A few years later, in 1973, the tables were turned. In both cases, one of the combatants consciously opted for war.
But thatâs not how Israelâs more recent conflicts have started, says Shelach. âIt always happened because the situation escalated, deteriorated, without any of the sides making a decision.ââ
And thatâs the risk he sees now, with no obvious off-ramp.
By David Wainer , Donna Abu-Nasr , and Henry Meyer
Researched by Pastor Gary Boyd
There have been c**ps and revolutions, external invasions and proxy conflicts, but the Middle East hasnât seen a head-to-head war between major regional powers since the 1980s.
Thereâs a growing risk that one is about to break out in Syria, pitting Israel against Iran.
The Islamic Republicâs forces are entrenching there, after joining the fight to prop up President Bashar al-Assad. The Jewish state, perceiving a direct threat on its border, is subjecting them to an escalating barrage of airstrikes. Nobody expects those strikes to go unanswered.
The path to escalation is clear, and the rhetoric is apocalyptic. âWe will demolish every site where we see an Iranian attempt to position itself,ââ Israelâs Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman told the London-based Saudi newspaper Elaph, adding that the Iranian regime is âliving its final days.ââ
In Tehran, Hossein Salami, deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards, said that â100,000 missiles are ready to flyââ in Israelâs direction, and warned they could bring about its âannihilation and collapse.ââ
Light a Match
Iran and Israel have been exchanging threats for decades. Whatâs different now is that Syriaâs civil war, which sucked in both countries, provides a potential battlespace -- one thatâs much closer to Jerusalem than to Tehran.
Israeli officials say there are 80,000 fighters in Syria who take orders from Iran. As they help Assad recapture territory, m*****amen from Hezbollah have deployed within a few kilometers of the Golan Heights on Israelâs border. Iran has vowed to avenge its citizens k**led by the Israeli airstrikes, and it has plenty of options for doing so.
Itâs a tinderbox, says Ofer Shelach, a member of the foreign affairs and defense committee in Israelâs parliament. âIâm worried about the possibility that a match ignited in the Golan will light up a war going all the way to the sea.ââ
Even more troubling is the absence of firefighters.
Israelis lament that Washington has become a bit-part player, unable to impose a Syrian settlement that would guarantee its allyâs security. Absent that, âwe can only represent our interests through force,ââ Shelach says.
Asked about Israel-Iran tensions at a press briefing on Thursday, Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said the U.S. is concerned by Iranian actions that âdestabilize the region,â including through its proxy Hezbollah. âWherever Iran is, chaos follows,â she said.
Able or Willing
Far from tamping down tensions, President Donald Trump -â egged on by Israel â- has been ramping them up. By threatening to withdraw next week from the international agreement to curb Iranâs nuclear program, heâs added another volatile element to the regional mix.
The only power with channels open to both sides, and the clout to play mediator, is Russia.
President Vladimir Putinâs intervention in 2015 to shore up Assad has left Russia as the strongest actor in Syria. Putin is seeking to impose a peace that would lock in his political gains, so he has every interest in averting any spread of the war.
But that doesnât mean heâs able or willing to rein in Iran. While Russia has cordial ties with Israel, theyâre likely outweighed by the confluence of interests with the Islamic Republic, whose ground forces were crucial to the success of Putinâs Syrian gambit. Repeatedly threatened with attack or regime-change by its enemies, Iran sees the sympathetic governments in Damascus and Beirut as providing strategic depth.
âUnstable, Unmanagedâ
Now, the Iranians in Syria have graduated from helping Assad to âbuilding their strategic presence against Israel,ââ said Paul Salem, senior vice president at the Middle East Institute in Washington. âIt appears that neither the Russians nor the Assad regime are in control or can limit these things,ââ he said. âThe situation is highly unstable and highly unmanaged.ââ
One test of Russiaâs ability to manage it may come in southern Syria, where Islamic State and other jihadists and rebels still hold territory near Israelâs border -- enclaves that are among the likely next targets for Assadâs advancing army.
âBefore they do that, the Russians need to have an arrangement with the Israelis,ââ said Yuri Barmin, a Middle East expert at the Russian International Affairs Council, which advises the Kremlin. Russia is âwilling to negotiate on the issue of Iran and Iranâs presenceââ in those regions, he said.
âItâs Shortsightedâ
That may not be enough to meet Israeli concerns, which extend far beyond the border.
Earlier in the Syrian conflict, Israelâs airstrikes typically aimed to destroy weapons convoys bound for Hezbollah in Lebanon. Thereâs been a significant change. Two strikes in the past month -â widely attributed to Israel, though the Jewish state doesnât comment on such matters â- targeted permanent infrastructure used by Iranâs forces. Both took place deep inside Syrian territory.
âItâs shortsighted to look at it in terms of how many kilometers from the border Iran is sitting,ââ said Amos Gilad, who recently stepped down as director of political-military affairs at Israelâs Defense Ministry. âIran cannot be allowed to base themselves militarily in Syria. And Israel is fully determined to prevent that.ââ
To be sure, the goal could be achieved without a full-blown war. Salem, at the Middle East Institute, says the likeliest outcome is that Israel and Iran will avoid a conflict that neither really wants -- though he says the risk that theyâll end up fighting is higher than at any time since the Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.
And although hostilities have effectively begun with the airstrikes, many analysts say that they can be contained to Syria -â where Israel and Iran can square off without their allies necessarily being drawn into the fight.
âNever!â
âNever!ââ said Liberman, when asked if clashes with Iran could lead to clashes with Russia. âThere will be no confrontation with them.ââ
In Beirut, Sami Nader of the Levant Institute for Strategic Studies said that Russia may not oppose an Israeli attack on Iranian positions in Syria, provided it doesnât threaten to topple the Assad regime that is âthe Russiansâ main card at the negotiating table.â Barmin, the Kremlin adviser, said thereâs plenty of daylight between the âdiverging interestsâ of Russia and Iran.
So far, Russiaâs response to Israeli airstrikes has been muted. But after the U.S. bombed Syrian targets last month, to punish Assad for an alleged chemical attack, Russian officials said they may deliver state-of-the-art S-300 missile defense systems to Syria. That would pose new risks for the Israeli air force -â and increase the chance of a flashpoint.
Israelâs parliament this week passed a law empowering the prime minister and defense to declare war without wider Cabinet approval in âextreme circumstances.â
Half a century ago, Israel launched a surprise attack against its Arab enemies. A few years later, in 1973, the tables were turned. In both cases, one of the combatants consciously opted for war.
But thatâs not how Israelâs more recent conflicts have started, says Shelach. âIt always happened because the situation escalated, deteriorated, without any of the sides making a decision.ââ
And thatâs the risk he sees now, with no obvious off-ramp.
May 7, 2018 18:50:29 #
Israel has flown thousands of missions over Syria and Iran trying to provoke a response that will d**g the US into a war with Iran. Did you know that Iran is twice the size of Texas with a modern population twice that of California? We have been at war right next door with a country with no army, no airforce, no navy and no central government for 15 years and can't win. Why would anyone think we can bring Iran to their knees.
May 7, 2018 19:10:27 #
jim_shipley wrote:
Israel has flown thousands of missions over Syria and Iran trying to provoke a response that will d**g the US into a war with Iran. Did you know that Iran is twice the size of Texas with a modern population twice that of California? We have been at war right next door with a country with no army, no airforce, no navy and no central government for 15 years and can't win. Why would anyone think we can bring Iran to their knees.
Because we are Amaricans and gots god on our side...
May 7, 2018 19:19:14 #
PeterS wrote:
Because we are Amaricans and gots god on our side...
AND the military industrial complex at OUR control, not to mention.....
May 7, 2018 19:19:15 #
jim_shipley wrote:
Israel has flown thousands of missions over Syria and Iran trying to provoke a response that will d**g the US into a war with Iran. Did you know that Iran is twice the size of Texas with a modern population twice that of California? We have been at war right next door with a country with no army, no airforce, no navy and no central government for 15 years and can't win. Why would anyone think we can bring Iran to their knees.
General Wesley Clark: Wars Were Planned - Seven Countries In Five Years
https://youtu.be/9RC1Mepk_Sw
The Syrian War What You're Not Being Told
https://youtu.be/dkamZg68jpk
May 7, 2018 19:20:33 #
PeterS wrote:
Because we are Amaricans and gots god on our side...
The Covert Origins of ISIS
https://youtu.be/oMjXbuj7BPI
The road to WWIII by StormClowdsGathering.com
What's really going on in Syria? Let's look at the evidence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP7L8bw5QF4
May 7, 2018 20:54:39 #
ziggy88 wrote:
Biblical prophecy about to go down with one spark.... (show quote)
================
Obama h**es and wanted to destroy Israel for Islam, his religion of peace. Main purpose of the $150 billion and $1.73 cash was given to Iran. To allow Iran manufacture nuclear weapons to destroy Israel and the US. Obama is a t*****r.
May 7, 2018 21:04:28 #
Radiance3 wrote:
================
Obama h**es and wanted to destroy Israel for Islam, his religion of peace. Main purpose of the $150 billion and $1.73 cash was given to Iran. To allow Iran manufacture nuclear weapons to destroy Israel and the US. Obama is a t*****r.
Obama h**es and wanted to destroy Israel for Islam, his religion of peace. Main purpose of the $150 billion and $1.73 cash was given to Iran. To allow Iran manufacture nuclear weapons to destroy Israel and the US. Obama is a t*****r.
I thought you Christians needed a war with Israel for the end of the world to come about? If that's the case then Obama would be doing gods will and should be your hero...
May 7, 2018 21:27:58 #
PeterS wrote:
Stop pretending you know what Christians need. You don't have a clue.I thought you Christians needed a war with Israel for the end of the world to come about? If that's the case then Obama would be doing gods will and should be your hero...
May 7, 2018 21:33:02 #
What makes you think we control the military-industrial complex? It controls us! Plus it is a dusty shadow of what it once was. We make very few of our weapons and the ones we do were designed in the 70s and 80 and many were made even before that. The average age of an aircraft in the US airforce is 25 years. I seriously doubt we can even manufacture the ammunition for a real war.
May 8, 2018 01:19:21 #
Blade_Runner wrote:
Stop pretending you know what Christians need. You don't have a clue.
Listening to you certainly is no help...
May 8, 2018 01:20:42 #
jim_shipley wrote:
What makes you think we control the military-industrial complex? It controls us! Plus it is a dusty shadow of what it once was. We make very few of our weapons and the ones we do were designed in the 70s and 80 and many were made even before that. The average age of an aircraft in the US airforce is 25 years. I seriously doubt we can even manufacture the ammunition for a real war.
Well, so long as the Russians tell us what to hit we seem to do okay! We blew the hell out of the area's of Syria they said it was okay to destroy--just so long as we gave them and the Syrians enough time to get out of the way...
May 8, 2018 07:05:25 #
ziggy88 wrote:
Biblical prophecy about to go down with one spark.... (show quote)
Israel made a big mistake shaking off Putin's approaches, but really it's not Israel it's only one lunatic Netanyahu.
May 8, 2018 08:42:45 #
I agree that Netanyahu is one of the most dangerous men alive and has more blood on his hands then most. What is more scary is that he has turned Trump into his poodle.
May 8, 2018 08:45:41 #
RT friend wrote:
Israel made a big mistake shaking off Putin's approaches, but really it's not Israel it's only one lunatic Netanyahu.
"One world government with a one world religion. Islam is being used by NWO Z*****ts to destroy Christianity, real Capitalism, and the freedoms protected by the Bill of Rights. All in the guise of protecting us.
More Americans better figure out how diabolical that plan is.
The NWO plan goes back to at least the late 1800's:
Top Illuminati Grand Wizard: “We Control Islam and We'll Use It to Destroy the West.” (WW3)
https://youtu.be/0dXD2H0m74g
(For the root of the planning, go to minute 6)
Inside this ''Illuminati Temple'' will shock you! (R$E)
https://youtu.be/uuT_4XElXOU
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