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Monday, January 16, 2012

Joint missile drill to take place later this year? Is it an election stunt?

Now the US says that the joint missile drill with Israel will take place in late 2012.
“We are going to be conducting the exercise in the second half of 2012,” explained Capt. John Ross, spokesman for the US European Command (EUCOM). “It is not unusual for such exercises to be postponed and leaders of both sides believe that the best participation of all units will be best achieved later in the year.”

...

Initially scheduled for April and called "Austere Challenge," the drill was supposed to see the deployment of thousands of US troops and various sophisticated US missile defense systems in Israel.

The sides are currently in discussion about holding the drill towards the end of the year.
Israel Radio reports on Monday morning that the IDF and the US Army have issued an announcement that the drill has been postponed. It is believed here in Israel that the reason behind the postponement is a desire not to further antagonize Iran. But I have other explanations I will cite below.

In the meantime, we now know that the 'budget constraints' were American and not Israeli.
According to Ben-Yishai, the decision to delay the drill is also related to financial concerns. Washington has cut its defense budget for 2012 by $450 billion dollars – a move which is aimed at helping the US tackle its national debt, which has affected the country's credit rating.
There's also another explanation: I believe that the drill will take place in mid-to-late October. It's still early enough not to be very deep into the rainy season or the winter and it's perfect timing for a certain reelection campaign that wants to claim that American relations with Israel are 'better than under any previous President.'

What could go wrong?

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2 Comments:

At 6:31 PM, Blogger Moriah said...

Everything obama does is an election stunt ... ACTING!

 
At 4:18 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I wouldn't count on Obama being self-confident enough of his base to demonstrate on-the-ground solidarity with the Zionist army, even as an election stunt. Not to mention his hugging best friends forever the Turks. btw are Israeli medical facilities ever used to treat American servicemen wounded in theater? As I recall George Bush senior vetoed that and possibly the son.

 

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