Israel and the US are set to hold their largest ever joint military exercise in October, which will include thousands of soldiers and advanced weaponry as well as a simulation of simultaneous fire from Iran and Syria.
About 3,000 US soldiers will participate in the highly militarized, highly provocative, highly unnecessary drill, alongside thousands of Israeli troops.
The exercise will simulate missiles being fired at Israel from Iran and Syria simultaneously, despite how thoroughly unrealistic such a scenario is. Israel will test its upgraded “Arrow 2” missile defense system, while the US will deploy the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System and PAC-3 Patriot air defense platforms.
Some military analysts have referred the exercise as a “dress rehearsal” for a potential military conflict, emphasizing that it will send a clear – and threatening – message to Iran at a time when the Islamic Republic has been needlessly targeted in a harsh set of economic sanctions for what everyone agrees is currently a civilian nuclear program.
These ostentatious military exercises are a common way to threaten adversaries like Iran. Just last month, the US completed a massive military exercise called Operation Eager Lion in Jordan that included 18 other nations and served as a very provocative show of force in a very unstable region.
Michael Eisenstadt, director of the Military and Security Studies program at the Washington Institute for Near East Studies, said the drill “puts more pressure on the regime in Syria,” even though it “was planned from a long time ago.”
Michael Rubin, an adviser to former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld from 2002-2004 and now an analyst at the American Enterprise Institute told the Christian Science Monitor that the exercise was meant to reassure America’s puppet dictators that we have their back.
“In Washington we can convince ourselves we withdrew [from Iraq] per political agreements, but a lot of the propaganda in the region, especially the Iranian-backed propaganda, suggests we fled in defeat,” Rubin says. “One of the perceptions we’re trying to reverse is the perception among many of the Gulf monarchs, and the king of Jordan, that we dumped Hosni Mubarak way too quickly.”
“What this does is send a signal to many of the GCC states that we’re not simply going to turn our backs on all the monarchs,” Rubin says. Building this kind of military-to-military relationship with allied Middle Eastern dictatorships “is an important check against Iran’s military ambitions, and has been a US goal since the 1980s,” Rubin told the Christian Science Monitor.
Is there gonna be an October surprise?
Won't be much of a surprise.
That said, perfect time for al-Quaeda (they're Sunnis, remember) to mount a "false flag" attack against US naval forces in the Gulf. The attack would automatically be blamed on Iran (Shia, adversaries/apostates of Sunni Islam), the war would be on, mideast oil flow would cease, Western economies already weakened by the bankster-inflicted depression, would collapse, and al-Quaeda would have its final victory.
Praise be to Allah!
Typical pre-election saber-rattling from the White house; nothing to see here. Move along.
I think you miss the real point of this massive waste of taxpayer dollars. Both Gulf Wars demonstrate that the US will not call upon Israel to contribute to any American military action in the region. The cost outweighs the benefit. [Israel, despite US weaponry is a 3rd rate power lucky to be surrounded by 5th rate powers. Israel had its ass kicked in in 1973 and had to be bailed out. It has failed in Lebanon twice.] There is no reason militarily for joint exercises because we will never hook up with them. They would be a liability.
Jews in Israel are even less likely to be willing to put their lives on the line for American interests than jews in America are. The latter are the only demographic that significantly underserves in the US military despite their outsized contribution to warmongering. Because at their behest the public is not allowed access to the information the facts about the greater willingness of 'American' jews to serve in the IDF than in the US defence forces cannot be verified. So much for transparency and accountability.
This expensive boondoggle is a public contribution to Obama's re-election campaign. It is designed to project a tough guy image, court jewish voters and, more importantly, jewish financial contributors, many of whom are likely reimbursed, directly and indirectly, by Israel out of US taxpayer dollars in the form of massive increases this year in foreign aid for the Racist, apartheid state.
This is less about saber rattling than it is about pork barrel politics for those who don't eat ham. It is bringing the bacon home to those who don't eat bacon. It is racial pandering
at their behest the public is not allowed access to the information the facts about the greater willingness of 'American' jews to serve in the IDF than in the US defence forces cannot be verified. So much for transparency and accountability.
Does anyone smell an October Surprise here?
Drill baby, drill!
If straying F4 phantoms can be shot down in the absence of the flash and hassle of a taxpayer-provided "drill", I wonder what could go wrong in October? A true October surprise may await.
I trust Israel will not choose to atack an American naval vessel during this time like when they attacked the Nal shio the Liberty.
Seems like they are trying to be provacative…does seem like an October surprise to me. I think they are going to try and get Iran to fire upon the exercises and then Whammo…war is declared and the mlitaries of Isreal and US right there waiting. What kind of sick people run these governments??
Maybe China will send some subs in.
Why are we doing exercises with Israeli troops? Are they planning on accompanying us into Iran? Can their planes keep up with us over Iran or the Gulf without any credible in-flight refueling capability of their own?
If Obama wants to really be cool about this, he would stage it for December or January to give the impression that he's confident he will win the election. As it stands, it's transparently a publicity stunt.
If one soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine dies in that exercise their blood will be on Obama's hands. I wonder if his website accepts funeral gifts for fallen troops instead of gifts going to the surviving families?