More proof that America's you-know-what's have been found in Israel
In an earlier post, I reported that Israel had found the United States' missing you-know-what's and the proof was that Israel refused to let a Russian ship dock in Haifa port. But now there's more proof. In another earlier post, I reported that Israel has troops on the ground in Nigeria and is helping to search for 276 girls who were kidnapped by the Boko Haram terror group. Compare that to the American contribution to the search (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).
The U.S. is now using unmanned drones in the search for hundreds of
Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by the Islamist group Boko Haram, the
White House said Wednesday.
The deployment of drones comes in
addition to manned surveillance flights and satellite imagery being
offered to the Nigerian government in the search for the girls. The U.S.
has also sent an interdisciplinary crisis team with officials from the
Pentagon, State Department and FBI to consult with Nigerian authorities.
White
House press secretary Jay Carney, though, said the drones being used in
the search were not armed, and stressed that American military
resources and personnel were in Nigeria in an advisory capacity.
And when and if they find the girls, what will they do? Send in the Marines to get them? Most definitely not.
“At this point," he said, the administration was "not actively
considering the deployment of U.S. forces,” despite calls from some
Republicans to use special forces to rescue the missing girls.
More likely they'll call the Israelis. Sad, isn't it?
'Moderate' Rohani's defense minister behind Beirut Marine barracks bombing
What a surprise.... Adam Kredo reports that new 'moderate' Iranian President Hassan Rohani has appointed as his defense minister a general who was behind the 1983 bombing of the US Marine barracks in Beirut that murdered 241 American soldiers.
Rowhani, who some described as a “moderate” following his election in
June, has selected General Hussein Dehqan as his defense minister, according to retired Israeli Brigadier General Shimon Shapiro.
Shapiro was a top intelligence official in the Israeli Defense Forces
and remains a leading authority on Hezbollah who recently penned a
report on Dehqan for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA).
Dehqan has “spent his entire military career” in the Iranian
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and served as the military group’s
commander in Tehran until 1982, according to Shapiro.
Dehqan spent many years in Lebanon helping to build the terror group
Hezbollah and was later appointed as the IRGC’s top official in that
country.
Dehqan received an order to launch a terror assault on the
Beirut-based Multinational Force while serving as commander of the IRGC
forces in Lebanon in 1983, according to Shapiro’s report.
“Instructions for the attack on the Multinational Forces were issued
from Tehran to the Iranian ambassador to Damascus, who passed them on to
the Revolutionary Guards forces in Lebanon and their Lebanese Shiite
allies,” the report states.
“According to the U.S. Marine commander, the U.S. National Security
Agency (NSA) intercepted on September 26, 1983 the Iranian orders to
strike,” according to the report. “It is difficult to imagine that such a
high-level directive to the Revolutionary Guards in Lebanon would be
transmitted without the knowledge of their commander, Hussein Dehqan.”
On October 25, 1983, about a month after the order was issued, “a
Shiite suicide bomber detonated a truck at the U.S. Marine barracks in
Beirut, killing 241 Marines [and sailors and soldiers]; simultaneously,
another Shiite suicide bomber blew up the French paratroopers’ barracks
in Beirut, killing 84 soldiers,” Shapiro recounts in his report.
Dehqan is not the only appointment that belies Rohani's 'moderacy.'
I have never been a combat soldier. I understand from accounts I read of the Second Lebanon War in 2006 that some of the issues presented in this article were resolved by having soldiers ingest pills that shielded them from the need to relieve themselves for extended periods of time. Still, one has to wonder why anyone would want to put young men and women in this situation, and why so many Israelis think Haredim are being so unreasonable for not wanting their men to serve alongside women in combat units. The writer is a former Marine who is now a lawyer. His description is fairly graphic.
I served in the 2003 invasion of Iraq as a Marine infantry squad
leader. We rode into war crammed in the back of amphibious assault
vehicles. They are designed to hold roughly 15 Marines snugly; due to
maintenance issues, by the end of the invasion we had as many as 25 men
stuffed into the back. Marines were forced to sit, in full gear, on each
other's laps and in contorted positions for hours on end. That was the
least of our problems.
The invasion was a blitzkrieg. The goal
was to move as fast to Baghdad as possible. The column would not stop
for a lance corporal, sergeant, lieutenant, or even a company commander
to go to the restroom. Sometimes we spent over 48 hours on the move
without exiting the vehicles. We were forced to urinate in empty water
bottles inches from our comrades.
Many Marines developed dysentery from
the complete lack of sanitary conditions. When an uncontrollable urge
hit a Marine, he would be forced to stand, as best he could, hold an MRE
bag up to his rear, and defecate inches from his seated comrade's face.
During the invasion, we wore chemical
protective suits because of the fear of chemical or biological weapon
attack. These are equivalent to a ski jumpsuit and hold in the heat. We
also had to wear black rubber boots over our desert boots. On the
occasions the column did stop, we would quickly peel off our rubber
boots, desert boots and socks to let our feet air out.
Due to the heat and sweat, layers of
our skin would peel off our feet. However, we rarely had time to remove
our suits or perform even the most basic hygiene. We quickly developed
sores on our bodies.
When we did reach Baghdad, we were in shambles. We had not showered
in well over a month and our chemical protective suits were covered in a
mixture of filth and dried blood. We were told to strip and place our
suits in pits to be burned immediately. My unit stood there in a
walled-in compound in Baghdad, naked, sores dotted all over our bodies,
feet peeling, watching our suits burn. Later, they lined us up naked and
washed us off with pressure washers.
Yes, a woman is as capable as a man of pulling a trigger. But the
goal of our nation's military is to fight and win wars. Before taking
the drastic step of allowing women to serve in combat units, has the
government considered whether introducing women into the above-described
situation would have made my unit more or less combat effective?
Marine General forced out of CENTCOM for questioning Obama's Iran policy
If you're not going to be a yes-man, there's no place for you in Obama's military. That's the lesson to Marine General James Mattis, who is being forced out of CENTCOM (Central Command) for questioning President Hussein Obama's Iran policy.
In particular, it appears his questions surrounding the U.S. response to Iran's nuclear ambitions drew the ire of civilian military and security advisers.
These civilians were apparently upset by the way Mattis pushed them
to "consider second and third-order consequences of military action
against Iran." Nor did they appreciate the way he pushed them to think
long term and consider what the U.S. will do if Iran develops
non-nuclear weapons that can be used to keep U.S. ships out of the
Persian Gulf.
Mattis also expressed concern over the consequences of certain aspects of the U.S. approach to Afghanistan and Pakistan. It seems this line of reasoning didn't sit well with National Security Adviser Tom Donilon.
''This is all about the rise of China, the modernisation of the People's Liberation Army and, particularly, it's about the increased vulnerability of US forces in Japan and Guam to the new generation of Chinese missiles,'' said Alan Dupont, the Michael Hintze professor of international security at Sydney University.
''The new Chinese missiles could threaten them in a way they've never been able to before, so the US is starting to reposition them to make them less vulnerable. Australia's 'tyranny of distance' is now a distinct strategic advantage.''
Professor Dupont, a former Australian Defence official and intelligence analyst, said the ''Australian strategic rationale is that we are also hedging against increasing Chinese military power and their capacity to destabilise maritime trade routes. And we want to get closer to the US.
''There's no doubt at all the Chinese will have serious reservations about this''
Mr Obama and Ms Gillard are not expected to argue that China is a factor in the decision. ''This is a strong gesture that even in the face of budget constraints, the US reaction to the winding down of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan deployment is not to go home but to pivot'' into the Asia-Pacific, according to the former deputy secretary of state in the Obama administration, Jim Steinberg.
But Hugh White, a professor of strategic studies at the Australian National University and a former deputy secretary of defence, said the decision would have deep consequences for Australia's relations with China.
''I think this is a very significant and potentially very risky move for Australia. In the view from Beijing, everything the US is doing in the western Pacific is designed to bolster resistance to the Chinese challenge to US primacy.
''In Washington and in Beijing, this will be seen as Australia aligning itself with an American strategy to contain China.''
This was actually the lead item on the 2:00 am news on Israel Radio. No, not just because it's the middle of the night. They didn't say this on the news, but as I see it, when you combine this with the upcoming US withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan (where the US is essentially cutting and running), what you are left with is that the US is abandoning the Middle East in favor of the Western Pacific.
The United States Marine Corps is in Israel... for training.
As part of the cooperation between IDF ground forces and the U.S. Marine Corps force stationed in Europe, a company of U.S. Marines came to Israel for a month of intensive training alongside IDF soldiers at IDF facilities. Dividing their time between the Adam Base in central Israel and the Tze’elim Base in the south, the soldiers trained in urban warfare, reconnaissance and target shooting.
As they embarked on a training exercise at the UWTC, Platoon Sgt. Robert Hattenbach explained, “We’ve never been to a mock town like that of the IDF.” He noted the facility’s size and unique structure. “It’s important for our soldiers to train in different sites, preparing them for anything,” he said. The Marines were thrilled to train at the city, raving about its realistic feel.
A smoke grenade hit the floor, rapidly secreting thick smoke of a vibrant color used for camouflage against the lurking enemy. Yelling out commands, M4s ready, Marines snuck from building to building, clearing out every room and securing their objective. The success of the operation is determined by the captain, and the “enemy” is a squad of the Marines platoon, hiding inside each multiple story building, waiting for the other squads to find them. “By training here, we can better combat terrorism in any area and field,” Hospital Corpsman HM1 Raymond Price elaborated. “Coming to Israel has been an inspirational trip. It’s beautiful to see how Israel has managed to preserve so many years of history, culture and tradition.”
“This trip was a serious wake up call,” said Sgt. Hattenbach. “The instructors at the Adam Base took the time to explain to us what’s been going on in Israel and we realized that Israeli people are just like us. We now better understand what Israel really is and when we go back to the U.S. we can tell people that.”
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
