Category Military

Jul 8 2014

More than half of Israel now under Hamas rocket attack


No casualties. Besides rockets Hamas tries smuggling terrorists in by tunnels and sea

Re-Post from DEBKAfile Special Report July 8, 2014, 10:19 PM (IDT)

First Hamas rockets were fired or intercepted Tuesday night, July 8, over Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Rishon Lezion, Givatayim, Raanana, Caesaria and Yavne, as well as southern Israeli cities. No casualties but a house was hit in North Jerusalem. Beyond shooting dozens of rockets, Hamas also made several attempts Tuesday, July 8, to smuggle terrorists into Israel for attacks. A Hamas naval commando which tried in the afternoon to land from the sea near Ashkelon’s Zikkim beach was repelled by an IDF coast guard. Later, another group of terrorists tried to creep into Israel through a tunnel running under the Kerem Shalom crossing. This was discovered when a tunnel exploded there under an Israeli military post. A large IDF force backed by tanks raked the entire area with fire in case of a network of hidden tunnels was serving Hamas to secretly transport terrorists to civilian locations in Israel. The people living there were told to stay at home and lock their doors.

A wide-ranging search continues in the Ashkelon coastal area in case Hamas terrorists made it through to land. Local roads are blocked.

During the day, the first Hamas rocket over Tel Aviv was blown up in mid-air by an Iron Dome battery after volley after volley hit southern and central Israel.

In readiness for attack, public shelters were earlier opened in Tel Aviv, the beaches along the Mediterranean coast from the south to Netanyahu further north were cleared of bathers and Sdei Dov airport was been closed. Arrivals and departures of flights at Ben Gurion international and Eilat airports were thrown off schedule by Israeli Air Force sorties against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The IDF called up another 40,000 reservists Tuesday, July 8, after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ordered Operation Solid Rock expanded against mounting Palestinian rocket assaults – 100 by mid-afternoon. This was after Israel carried out dozens of air strikes Monday night, culminating during the day in raids that killed five leading Hamas operatives: Hamas Naval Commando chief Mahmoud Shaaban, 24, and three passengers were killed when their car was hit from the air. Another airborne raid bombed the Rafah home of Abdul Rahman Juda which served as a command and control center. Thirty Palestinians were injured.

Magen David Adom has treated nine people for minor injuries and anxiety attacks from emergency call centers in the southern and central Israeli regions under rocket attack.

The high-intensity rocket offensive from Gaza, now in its fourth week, has seriously disrupted normal life for millions of Israelis in the rocket-blasted regions – especially within a 40km radius from Gaza. Ashdod port has stopped working, major transport routes like the Ashkelon-Sderot railway halted, end-of-term exams in colleges postponed, children sent home from summer camps and social events called off.

debkafile reported earlier Tuesday: Israeli finally launched its military operation Solid Rock against Hamas Monday night, July 7, after the Palestinians directed a steady stream of 100 rockets from Gaza to expanded targets as far as Rehovot, 50 km away. Most of the 50 IDF strikes were conducted from the air and two from the sea. Ten destroyed Hamas infrastructure facilities plus 4 private buildings which, according to the Palestinians, included the homes of the Hamas commander and a Democratic Front operative in Khan Younes, after Israel gave them advance warning. Hamas reported 17 injured – but kept on shooting rockets through the night and early Tuesday, threatening to further expand the range of their rocket fire.

The government and the IDF have billed the operation as a long-term, staged offensive to destroy Hamas’ logistical and strategic infrastructure, to be escalated stage by stage as needed, up to a limited ground incursion, which would require additional reserve call-ups, as well targeted assassinations. This progression will be adjusted to the enemy’s response and how quickly “quiet is restored to the South.”

The population has been forewarned that the contest may be protracted and asked to refrain from public events within a 40km radius from Gaza.

Iron Dome batteries are in place.

Israel’s security cabinet and the IDF command are counting on the prospect of losing its infrastructure deterring Hamas and persuading it to halt its rocket war on Israel.

But Hamas has its own game book and is unlikely to play by the rules dictated by Israel.

Both sides have therefore entered a dark corridor in which the two adversaries will try and outdo each other in damage. Israel began by limiting itself to air strikes. Hamas hit back with a mighty barrage of 100 missiles and expanding its range of targets.
The rules of Operation Solid Rock now require Israel to scale its response up to the next stage, in response to which Hamas will no doubt go for Tel Aviv. No one seems to know how this tit-for-tat duel will end.

The inherent weakness of the thinking behind Israeli military operation is that it requires the IDF to catch up with and undo the damage caused by Israel’s passivity after the three boys, Gil-Ad Shaer, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrach, were kidnapped and murdered on July 12. The IDF’s campaign against its facilities on the West Bank left Hamas more confident than ever. In the space of a month, the Palestinian Islamists have maneuvered Israel into launching not one but two major operations – Brother’s Keeper to find the kidnapped boys and their abductors (who are still at large) and now Solid Rock – and they still hold the initiative against Israel, as well as the whip hand in the Palestinian movement.

They certainly owe their advantage in part to the atrocious murder by a handful of Israelis of the Palestinian boy Muhammad Abu Khdeir from Shuafat, Jerusalem. This was a gift which Hamas had never dreamed of. The Islamists have been able to assert control over and calibrate Palestinian fury across the board, in Gaza, the West Bank and the Israeli Arab community – a second front against Israel.
With all these cards stacked against Solid Rock, the IDF will have its work cut out to repair the damage and bring its operation to a successful conclusion.
On the diplomatic front, Israel suffered another letdown when Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi disappointed the hopes Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had vested in him to intercede powerfully with Hamas for a ceasefire. El-Sisi decided that the Israeli-Hamas conflict was a minor episode in regional terms and no real threat to Egypt’s national interests and dropped his role as peace broker.

This was a bitter disappointment to Jerusalem. It left Israel facing the Palestinian aggressor alone, but for the Europeans. They are willing to assume this role, but they are seeking the restoration of the short-lived Palestinian reconciliation and a unity government, which is the direct opposite of Netanyahu’s most fervent objective.

Jul 8 2014

The Isreali IDF launches Operation Solid Rock


Hamas’ 100-rocket blitz brings 50 IDF strikes in Gaza

Re-Post from DEBKAfile Special Report July 8, 2014, 8:42 AM (IDT)

Israeli finally launched its military operation Solid Rock against Hamas Monday night, July 7, after the Palestinians directed a steady stream of 100 rockets from Gaza to expanded targets as far as Rehovot, 50 km away. Most of the 50 IDF strikes were conducted from the air and two from the sea. Ten destroyed Hamas infrastructure facilities plus 4 private buildings which, according to the Palestinians, included the homes of the Hamas commander and a Democratic Front operative in Khan Younes, after Israel gave them advance warning. Hamas reported 17 injured – but kept on shooting rockets through the night and early Tuesday, threatening to further expand the range of their rocket fire.

The government and the IDF have billed the operation as a long-term, staged offensive to destroy Hamas’ logistical and strategic infrastructure, to be escalated stage by stage as needed, up to a limited ground incursion, which would require additional reserve call-ups, as well targeted assassinations. This progression will be adjusted to the enemy’s response and how quickly “quiet is restored to the South.”

The population has been forewarned that the contest may be protracted and asked to refrain from public events within a 40km radius from Gaza.

Iron Dome batteries are in place.

Israel’s security cabinet and the IDF command are counting on the prospect of losing its infrastructure deterring Hamas and persuading it to halt its rocket war on Israel.

But Hamas has its own game book and is unlikely to play by the rules dictated by Israel.

Both sides have therefore entered a dark corridor in which the two adversaries will try and outdo each other in damage. Israel began by limiting itself to air strikes. Hamas hit back with a mighty barrage of 100 missiles and expanding its range of targets.
The rules of Operation Solid Rock now require Israel to scale its response up to the next stage, in response to which Hamas will no doubt go for Tel Aviv. No one seems to know how this tit-for-tat duel will end.

The inherent weakness of the thinking behind Israeli military operation is that it requires the IDF to catch up with and undo the damage caused by Israel’s passivity after the three boys, Gil-Ad Shaer, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrach, were kidnapped and murdered on July 12. The IDF’s campaign against its facilities on the West Bank left Hamas more confident than ever. In the space of a month, the Palestinian Islamists have maneuvered Israel into launching not one but two major operations – Brother’s Keeper to find the kidnapped boys and their abductors (who are still at large) and now Solid Rock – and they still hold the initiative against Israel, as well as the whip hand in the Palestinian movement.

They certainly owe their advantage in part to the atrocious murder by a handful of Israelis of the Palestinian boy Muhammad Abu Khdeir from Shuafat, Jerusalem. This was a gift which Hamas had never dreamed of. The Islamists have been able to assert control over and calibrate Palestinian fury across the board, in Gaza, the West Bank and the Israeli Arab community – a second front against Israel.
With all these cards stacked against Solid Rock, the IDF will have its work cut out to repair the damage and bring its operation to a successful conclusion.
On the diplomatic front, Israel suffered another letdown when Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi disappointed the hopes Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had vested in him to intercede powerfully with Hamas for a ceasefire. El-Sisi decided that the Israeli-Hamas conflict was a minor episode in regional terms and no real threat to Egypt’s national interests and dropped his role as peace broker.

This was a bitter disappointment to Jerusalem. It left Israel facing the Palestinian aggressor alone, but for the Europeans. They are willing to assume this role, but they are seeking the restoration of the short-lived Palestinian reconciliation and a unity government, which is the direct opposite of Netanyahu’s most fervent objective.

Jul 7 2014

If This Is True, Benghazi Is Even Worse Than We Ever Thought


More and more keeps coming out and yet there is nothing there to worry about according to this administration?

Re-Post from Western Journalism By Kris Zane — June 25, 2014

The plan was to kidnap Ambassador Christopher Stevens and attack the CIA annex on 9/11. A team of Iranian operatives under the control of Qassem Suleymani, the head of Iran’s secretive Quds Force, arrived a few days before September 11, 2012 in order to put the plan into operation.

There was only one hitch: the NSA, which had a top secret listening station at the CIA annex in Benghazi, picked up on local jihadist chatter, revealing the plan. But Suleymani had a CIA source that told him of the NSA’s discovery. A backup plan was then quickly put into motion that sounds like something out of a spy novel.

The Iranian operatives, posing as doctors as part of the Red Crescent—the Islamic version of the Red Cross—travelled in a caravan of Red Crescent vehicles to their hotel. In a hail of gunfire, the al-Qaeda-linked group, Ansar al-Sharia, surrounded the caravan and took the Iranian operatives captive. Through the CIA’s contacts, they found out that Ansar al-Sharia had taken them prisoner and shipped them back to Iran, thus ending the Iranians’ plan to kidnap Chris Stevens and attack the CIA annex. And thus, no precautions were taken to protect the ambassador and fortify the CIA annex.

But it was all part an elaborate ruse. 

According to the book Dark Forces: The Truth About What Happened in Benghazi by Kenneth R. Timmerman, released today, the attack and kidnapping of Suleymani’s men by Ansar al-Sharia was completely staged to make the NSA and CIA think the plan to kidnap Chris Stevens and attack the CIA annex had been cancelled. The plan was merely altered, however, to have Ansar al-Sharia carry out the attack on the Benghazi consulate and CIA annex instead of Suleymani’s men. Suleymani didn’t believe Ansar al-Sharia could successfully kidnap Chris Stevens, so Suleymani ordered Chris Stevens to be murdered instead.

The NSA, CIA, and Obama fell for an elaborate ruse that left four Americans dead. 

That was why Obama would not send in help to Benghazi. That was the reason for the ridiculous story of a protest turned violent over an internet video. And that was the reason for the biggest coverup in U.S. history.

 

The views expressed in this opinion article are solely those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by WesternJournalism.com.
Read more at http://www.westernjournalism.com/revealed-obama-admin-knew-benghazi-consulate-going-attacked/#SJhBGQmc0KALRrC1.99

Jul 7 2014

ISIS in the Philippines: Prisoners Pledge Allegiance to Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (Video)


More bad ISIS news, is it spreading?

Jul 6 2014

ISIS: A Backgrounder


The Obama administration is either totally inept or very devious!

Re-Post from PowerLine Posted by John Hinderaker on July 6, 2014

If, like most, you wonder how the Islamic State of al-Sham (ISIS) came to prominence in the Middle East, seemingly overnight, terrorism analysts Ilana Freedman and Jerry Gordon offer a valuable primer. The rise of ISIS is rooted in the “Arab Spring”:

The confrontations developing in the Middle East are the predictable outcome of the so-called “Arab Spring,” coupled with weak American leadership which has empowered Islamists throughout the world to challenge the West at every opportunity. They know that the West will not respond.

The “Arab Spring” began in Tunisia in 2010, and raced through Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Nigeria, and other countries with large or predominantly Muslim populations whether Arab or not. …

ISIS evolved from a group founded by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 2004. … In 2006, the name was changed to the simpler “Islamic State of Iraq” (ISI). Then, in 2012, after entering the conflict in Syria to challenge both the forces of the ruling Assad and the various opposition groups, secular and Islamist, ISI was changed to ISIS. Thus including Syria and reflecting its expanded goals, ISIS moved further away from the core al Qaeda agenda that did not embrace the Caliphate as a primary goal.

While the group’s original aim was to establish an Islamic caliphate in the regions of Iraq where there is a Sunni-majority, once the group became involved in the Syrian war, this mission was expanded to include controlling the Sunni-majority areas in northern Syria. In the course of ISIS’ expansion and successes in Syria, they opened a second front in Iraq. ISIS smashed through city after city and took a huge swath of the country from the north to central Iraq in the largely Sunni areas. The goal was expanded to attacks on the Syrian border to blur the boundaries between Iraq and Syria that could facilitate a merger into a single Islamist state.

On June 29, 2014, ISIS took a major step to achieve its goals. It formally announced the establishment of the Caliphate, naming Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi the “Caliph for all Muslims.”

ISIS is distinguished not only by its brutality, but by its immense financial resources, which appear to dwarf any ever previously commanded by a terrorist organization:

One of the most stunning changes for ISIS over the last year has been its rapid accumulation of wealth. Just as the group has surged in strength and prominence in Iraq and Syria in recent months, it has unquestionably become the wealthiest terrorist organization in the world, with an estimated worth of $5-7 billion. This wealth was acquired in several ways.

Among the most notable and colorful was the sacking of the Central Bank in Mosul in early June 2014. When Iraqi soldiers fled the bank they were supposed to protect, they left it wide open for ISIS. The terrorists seized $429 million, much of it in gold bullion. According to a CFR report, it is believed that supporters in Jordan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia have provided “the bulk of past funding.”

Another key source of ongoing revenues for ISIS, however, has been extortion from the populations wherever it takes control.

ISIS is already well armed:

Prior to 2014, ISIS suffered from a severe shortage of weapons as they faced the US-equipped Iraqi military forces. Once they launched their assault on Fallujah in January, however, the situation changed dramatically. Iraqi soldiers fled before them, leaving their weapons behind and their armories unsecured. As ISIS overran police stations and security posts, they helped themselves to stores of US weaponry and vehicles, including Humvees, which had been left behind by departing US troops. The Humvees have been seen driving around in places as far away as Aleppo, Syria, 250 miles away, filled with well-armed ISIS fighters. …

In an alarming turn of events, it was reported on June 19 that ISIS had overrun the Saddam Hussein-era al-Muthanna chemical weapons complex 60 miles north of Baghdad. This coup gave them access to hundreds of tons of potentially deadly poisons, including mustard and sarin gas.

What can the U.S. do to oppose ISIS more effectively? Under the current administration, probably not much:

The Administration for its part looks like the proverbial deer frozen in the headlights of ISIS. Last week, it floated the belated idea of funding $500 million to train “moderate” Sunni rebel fighters in the Syrian civil war. This is a civil war that looks increasingly like a stalemate between ISIS and the Assad forces, backed by Hezbollah and Iran’s Quds Force with support from Putin’s Russia.

That Administration proposal may be more than a day late and a dollar short. Given that such aid would not even begin until 2015, should Congress approve it, it may be totally beside the point. We had reports in mid-June from Der Spiegel and other sources that the some CIA-trained rebel fighters in Jordan opted to join ISIS, given its stunning successes. We are likely to find that this is more the rule than the exception, as those we have trained opt for the success of ISIS’ terrorist activity.

As they say: read it all.

Jul 6 2014

Breaking: ISIS five miles from Baghdad International Airport, and closing fast. This is very bad news for the couple hundred troops we have in the area. Without close air support they are in serious trouble….


The last paragraph is troublesome if true as 200 American special operations troops are good but they will not stop the equivalent to a brigade without support! all this will do is get American killed for no good reason ISIS knows Obama is not serious in stopping them.

thomas madison's avatarPowdered Wig Society

ISIS terrorists executing prisoners.

A handful of American troops between thousands of ISIS forces and the American embassy …

With events happening faster than they can be reported, terrorist fighters are rapidly closing in on Baghdad’s International Airport and its adjoining al-Muthanna Iraqi Air Force base. Both reporting on July 4, 2014, the Israeli news portal The Debka File and alsoCNN (via WCSC CBS of Charleston, SC) cite the al-Qaeda-allied terrorists have broken the military stalemate outside of Fallujah and are now much closer to Baghdad than previously reported.

A mere 25 miles west from Baghdad International Airport, the site of the hard-fought Marine Corps victory over insurgents in 2004, the city of Fallujah fell to ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) terrorists earlier this year. Yet until recently the lines were static giving at least the outward appearance since winter that the Iraqi National Army…

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Jul 5 2014

ISIS Leader Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Makes First Public Appearance and Calls on ‘..All Muslims to Wage Holy War Worldwide..’ (Video)


When will Obama stop him? I hope its before he arrives in Washington!

Jul 5 2014

Oh my Gosh! ‘What’ will Obama do?


Al Qaeda-Iraq forces advance on Baghdad military air base. US ponders air strike ahead of Iran and Russia

Re-Post from DEBKAfile  Exclusive Report  July 4, 2014, 10:03 PM (IDT)

Sukhoi SU-25 warplane in Baghdad
Sukhoi SU-25 warplane in Baghdad

Al Qaeda Iraq (IS) and its Sunni tribal allies are advancing on the al-Muthanna military air base at Baghdad international airport, according to the latest intelligence dated Friday, July 4. Three columns, of 1,000-1,500 fighters each, are descending on their target from the north and the west in US-made armored Humvees and APCs taken booty from the Iraqi army.The air field is situated 16 km west of central Baghdad. The Islamist State’s military planners, many of whom were officers in Saddam Hussein’s army – the president ousted in 2003 by the US invasion of Iraq – have calculated that there was no need at this stage to conquer the Iraqi capital.Seizing the military air field will afford them control of Baghdad air space and provide a forward base for bombing forays in different quarters of the city. The Islamists count on support in the Sunni suburbs of West Baghad.debkafile’s sources also reveal that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki made the fatal mistake of withdrawing his army’s 4th Division from the southern Shiite town of Karbala and deploying it in defense of Samarra 125 km north of Baghdad. By this maneuver, he cleared the way for the IS columns to press forward toward the al-Muthanna air base with no obstacles in their path. This alarming development may well force President Barack Obama to hurry up and issue the order for air or missile operations to stop al Qaeda’s forces in their tracks. Most of this week, intense discussions were taking place in the White House and Pentagon. It appeared that a final decision was impending.

Thursday, July 3, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, left open the possibility of an expanded role for US military advisers in Iraq. Air strikes are one of the options, he said. More than ever before, speed is of the essence. IS’s commanders have their eye on the assault planes stored at the Baghdad air base which Iran and Russia delivered in the last 10 days to help Maliki fight the Sunni Islamists. They are all designed for striking ground targets. Iran sent eight fighters – four Su-25UBKMs and four Su-25Kms with crews, and the Russians six Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoots, along with air and ground maintenance crews. Since al-Muthanna is guarded by Iraqi special forces, IS reckons that the takeover of the base and its valuable prize of warplanes before they become operational will be a walkover, especially after they proved their mettle by commandeering a mountain of advanced US weaponry.

The Obama administration therefore needs to decide in the coming hours on a US air strike that will head off the Iraqi Islamists before they grab the strategic air base and acquire their first fleet of warplanes. It is just as important for Washington to embark on this action before America is beaten to the draw by Tehran or Moscow.

Jul 4 2014

ISIS and the CIA Connection


Given what we know about Benghazi and the movement of former Libyan military equipment to Syria this is believable.

Jul 4 2014

Obama one the ISIS Caliphae Four


‘They fled like rats’: ISIS snatches key Syrian oilfield from rival militants

Re-Post from RT Published time: July 04, 2014 10:16

Fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) (Reuters)

Fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) (Reuters)

ISIS fighters have seized an oilfield on the Syria-Iraq border, snatching it from the control of rival militants. The Pentagon has said while it considers the Iraqi Army capable of defending Baghdad, outside aid may be required to repel the jihadists.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the key oil field in the Deir al-Zor province had fallen under the control of fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) on Thursday.

“ISIS took control of the Al-Omar oil field,” located north of the strategic town of Mayadin, also under its control since dawn Thursday, said the Observatory.

The group cited an amateur video that was posted on YouTube purporting to show the capture of the oilfield. The footage shows a bearded man who is identified by the cameraman as Commander Hommam boasting that the field was taken without a single shot being fired.

“We took it [the oil field] over without any fighting. They fled like rats,” the commander said, referring to fighters from the Syrian opposition group al-Nusra who had previously been controlling the oilfield.

Al-Nusra Front had captured the oilfield from Syrian government forces in November and kept up with the production of oil at 10,000 barrels a day, according to the Observatory. The field itself has a maximum capacity of 75,000 barrels a day.

ISIS has gained significant ground in both Syria and Iraq and has declared the creation of an Islamic state, or caliphate, straddling both countries. The group has also issued a call to Muslims throughout the world to flock to their banner, vowing revenge for crimes committed against Muslims.

“Muslims everywhere, whoever is capable of performing hijrah [emigration] to the Islamic State, then let him do so, because hijrah to the land of Islam is obligatory,” said leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Monday, two days after the group rebranded itself as IS (Islamic State).

Iraq’s security forces have so far proved to be of little use in stemming the onslaught of the extremist group. ISIS continues to seize control of towns in Iraq, getting steadily closer to the capital of Baghdad. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has appealed to Washington for help, but the American government has shied away of making any statements about the deployment of troops in the region.

On Thursday, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Army General Martin Dempsey said they believed the Iraqi army was capable of defending Baghdad. However they expressed doubts over whether they could push ISIS out of the country without external support. The two military heads said they were now considering what military role should be adopted by the US in this conflict.

The possibility of airstrikes and the deployment of 750 American military advisors is currently on the table, said Dempsey. The US government has urged Maliki to take steps to combat the sectarianism that has taken root in Iraq. The country’s Sunni and Kurd minorities claim they are discriminated against by the Shiite elite in Baghdad.