Israel Matzav

Pentagon claims reduced presence at drill not connected to Iran

The Pentagon has confirmed an earlier report that it is reducing its presence at a joint exercise with Israel due to take place in October, but it is denying that reduction has anything to do with mistrust of Israel over Iran.

Responding to the report, the defense source said, “All of the commentary on this has been wrong. There is no great significance. Nothing has changed.”

The source stressed that the drill is still the largest held by the US and Israel to date, even with the smaller American force.

“Defense cooperation between Israel and the US has never been better,” the source added.

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“Austere Challenge 12 remains the largest-ever ballistic missile defense exercise between our nations and a significant increase from the previous event in 2009,” said US Air Force Lt.-Col. Jack Miller, a Pentagon spokesman.

“The exercise has not changed in scope and will include the same types of systems as planned. All deployed systems will be fully operational with associated operators,” Miller said.

Miller said US-Israeli ties were strong and Austere Challenge “is a tangible sign of our mutual trust.”

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, declined to say how many US personnel would be involved in the exercise but said the reported figures were wrong and the change in scale was far smaller than indicated.

An Israeli defense official briefed on the exercise told Reuters the drill “will be held on a similar scale as when it was last held, two years ago.”

The Israeli official said the size of the exercise was initially slated to be larger but added that “the changes are within the framework of the drill’s requirements and nothing more.”

“These things are planned over a long time and changes are not uncommon,” the official said.

Miller said the exercise was initially planned for May but earlier this year, Israeli defense officials approached the US about shifting the date until late autumn.

“When the exercise was moved, the United States notified Israel that due to concurrent operations, the United States would provide a smaller number of personnel and equipment than originally planned.

Israel reiterated to postpone until late fall,” Miller said.

The US continues to repeat the meme that 'defense cooperation between the United States and Israel has never been better' and Israeli officials continue to try to downplay differences out of fear that President Obama will be reelected. What could go wrong?

Labels: anti-missile systems, Barack Hussein Obama, Campaign 2012, Iranian nuclear threat, Israeli attack on Iran, US-Israel relationship

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:23 AM