IMPORTANT WEEKEND EVENTS!
June 11, 2007
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
I do not expect an in iti
al attack against Israel will start a major Middle East War in 2007, but do believe such an attack is very likely to occur at some point in time after 2007, but before 2013 begins. The two events reported over the weekend were definitely preparation for such a war, regardless of when the initial attack occurs. The joint military exercises and precise satellite eyes, over the field of a conflict between Israel and its neighbors, are two essential elements necessary for success when such a conflict eventually erupts.
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‘Military plan against Iran is ready’
Yaakov Katz. THE JERUSALEM POST
June 10, 2007
Predicting that Iran will obtain a nuclear weapon within three years and claiming to have a strike plan in place, senior American military officers have told The Jerusalem Post they support President George W. Bush’s stance to do everything necessary to stop the Islamic Republic’s race for nuclear power.
Bush has repeatedly said the United States would not allow Iran to “go nuclear.”
A high-ranking American military officer told the Post that senior officers in the US armed forces had thrown their support behind Bush and believed that additional steps needed to be taken to stop Iran.
Predictions within the US military are that Bush will do what is needed to stop Teheran before he leaves office in 2009, including possibly launching a military strike against its nuclear facilities.
On Sunday, Sen.
Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut said the US should consider a military strike against Iran over its support of Iraqi insurgents.
“I think we’ve got to be prepared to take aggressive military action against the Iranians to stop them from killing Americans in Iraq,” he said. “And to me, that would include a strike over the border into Iran, where we have good evidence that they have a base at which they are training these people coming back into Iraq to kill our soldiers.”
According to a high-ranking American military officer, the US Navy and Air Force would play the primary roles in any military action taken against Iran. One idea under consideration is a naval blockade designed to cut off Iran’s oil exports.
The officer said that if the US government or the UN Security Council decided on this course of action, the US Navy would most probably not block the Strait of Hormuz – a step that would definitely draw an Iranian military response – but would patrol farther out and turn away tankers on their way to load oil.
On Sunday, the Israel Air Force held joint exercises with visiting US pilots, but IDF sources dismissed speculation that the drills were connected to an attack on Iran.
The US officer said that perhaps even more dangerous to Israel and the Western world than Iranian nukes was the possibility that a terrorists cell associated with al-Qaida or global jihad would acquire a highly radioactive “dirty bomb” or a vial of deadly chemical or biological agents. The officer said al-Qaida was gaining a strong foothold in the Middle East and that Israel was being surrounded by global jihad elements in Lebanon, Jordan and Sinai.
“Iran is a state-sponsored type of terrorism that can be dealt with,” he said, adding that it was far more difficult to strike at the source of an isolated terrorist cell.
To combat this threat, the US Navy has come up with a plan for a “1,000-ship navy” – a transnational network composed of navies from around the world that would raise awareness of maritime threats and more effectively thwart sea-based terrorism and the illicit transfer of arms by sea.
“The idea is to allow free trade and to prevent criminal and terror activity at sea,” the officer said.
A smaller-scale example of the US Navy’s vision is NATO’s Active Endeavor antiterrorism operation based in Naples. Israel plans to send an officer to be stationed there in the coming months. NATO launched Operation Active Endeavor in wake of 9/11 and has succeeded in bringing together a number of Mediterranean countries to work together in Naples to share information on naval terrorism and suspicious vessels in the region.
Begin Article 2
Israel successfully launches Ofek 7
spy satellite overnight
Yaakov Katz, THE JERUSALEM POST
June 11, 2007
In the face of Iran’s race to obtain nuclear weapons and predictions that war with Syria is on the horizon, Israel strengthened its foothold in space pre-dawn Monday and successfully launched a spy satellite, which defense officials said granted the IDF unprecedented operational capabilities.
The satellite, called Ofek 7, was launched from the Palmahim Air Force Base and successfully reached orbit. Officials said however that it would take several days to test the satellite’s systems before it would be declared operational.
The satellite was launched atop a Shavit missile.
The successful launch came as a great relief for the defense establishment and particularly Israel Aerospace Industries, lead contractor of the Ofek project. In September 2004, Israel failed to successfully launch the Ofek 6, which in its third boost stage plummeted to the sea. At the time, despite the disappointment, the Defense Ministry continued ahead with its development of the Ofek 7.
Weighing 300 kilograms, the Ofek 7 will orbit earth from up to 600 kilometers in space. It has a four-year lifespan and will communicate its images via downlink with an IAI-run ground station.
Defense officials said that the launching of the satellite was part of the MOD’s multi-year work plan but was also in line with the defense establishment’s “operational needs.” Israel has traditionally launched a new satellite once every two-and-a-half years staring in the late 1980s.
While refusing to divulge the performance levels of the new satellite, defense officials said that it was by far the most advanced satellite Israel has launched into space. Officials said that it was superior to the Eros B satellite – launched in April 2006 – which has the ability to spot images on the ground as small as 70 centimeters. The officials refused to divulge what made it superior
“With this launch we have improved Israel’s operational capabilities by dozens of percent,” said Brig.-Gen. Haim Eshet, director of Space Programming at the MOD’s Research and Development Directorate (MAFAT). “This is due to the improvements made to the satellite and also since we now have better coverage in the skies.”
In addition to the Eros B – a civilian-owned satellite used by the MOD on a contract basis – Israel currently operates the Ofek 5 spy satellite, successfully launched in May 2002.
It was supposed to have had a four-year life span, but its producers boast that it is still functioning and continues to produce high-resolution pictures from space. Its telescopic camera was designed by Elbit Systems and has variable direction capability.
The Ofek 5 satellite is in an elliptical orbit that reportedly takes it over Iran, Iraq, and Syria once every 90 minutes.
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