British newspapers have been credibly reporting for about of week that the US has shipped 387 bunker-buster bombs to a US base on the British possession of Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean.
There are at least two possible interpretations. One is that the US is planning to attack Iran (some Brits are very upset about this possibility), or at least to make a strategic move designed to show the Iranians that they mean business. Some air attacks on Iraq and Afghanistan have originated on Diego Garcia. That’s the good interpretation.
The other one is that the bombs were intended to be sent to Israel, but were diverted to Diego Garcia to prevent Israel from using them against Iran, or, worse, to punish Israel for its insouciance in building apartments in Jerusalem:
In 2008, the United States approved an Israeli request for bunker-busters capable of destroying underground facilities, including Iranian nuclear weapons sites. Officials said delivery of the weapons was held up by the administration of President Barack Obama, Middle East Newsline reported.
Since taking office, Obama has refused to approve any major Israeli requests for U.S. weapons platforms or advanced systems. Officials said this included proposed Israeli procurement of AH-64D Apache attack helicopters, refueling systems, advanced munitions and data on a stealth variant of the F-15E.
“All signs indicate that this will continue in 2010,” a congressional source familiar with the Israeli military requests said. “This is really an embargo, but nobody talks about it publicly.”
Under the plan, the U.S. military was to have stored 195 BLU-110 and 192 BLU-117 munitions in unspecified air force bases in Israel. The U.S. military uses four Israeli bases for the storage of about $400 million worth of pre-positioned equipment meant for use by either Washington or Jerusalem in any regional war…The decision to divert the BLU munitions was taken amid the crisis between Israel and the United States over planned construction of Jewish homes in Jerusalem. The administration, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has warned that Washington could reduce military aid to Israel because of its construction policy. — World Tribune
If this is true, then the much-vaunted “absolute commitment to Israel’s security” is so much bullshit. Keep in mind that these weapons would be used not only in an attack on Iran, but against Hizballah bunkers in the event of another war in the north — a war which most Israelis believe to be inevitable. The administration’s actions could translate directly into Israeli casualties.
I would love to believe that Obama has decided to get tough with Iran, but it would fly in the face of his behavior until now.
I really want to be wrong about this one.
Technorati Tags: Israel, Obama Administration, bunker-busters, BLU-110, BLU-117, Diego Garcia
I think you are right, unfortunately.
The Jerusalem apartment imbroglio has forced Obama to show his “true colors” with respect to Israel as never before. To the extent that this announcement on the part of Israeli officials during Biden’s visit was calculated, I believe that was the intent.
Fortunately, Israel has the military capability to defend herself against immediate threats for the time being, even with the embargo.
The problem, of course, is Iran. If I were the Israelis, I’d be developing a bunker buster of my own. I imagine Israel has the tecnhical resources to do this.
I have no faith, trust or confidence in Obama or the Congress. I could write a novel about how a president of the U.S. purposely weakens his own country and then proceeds to weaken its friends. Weakness invites attack. The novel would be eerily prophetic!
Oh yes, Grandma, this is about weakening both the U.S. and Israel, for sure.
Obama was practically breast-fed on an ideology that has open contempt for everything this country stands for. His is a bizarre perversion of patriotism, one that turns hatred of American into an “enlightened” kind of patriotism. The kind you and I understand as such is for chumps and rednecks, “clinging to our guns and religion”.
In order to “transform” America into something he and his ilk consider worthy of support, he has to tear down the loathsome, evil, imperialistic empire that it is first. To him, one has to hate American in order to love America. America as it is today must be destroyed, so that it can be built up again in his preferred image, and thus “saved”.
Israel, which, given her strength and her success as a country, in the ‘imperialistic exploitative rich white guy’ mold as Obama & Co. sees them, is especailly odious, and must be humiliated to the maximum extent possible. This is “just retribution’ on behalf of the poor, noble dark-skinned people of the region, who have suffered for so long under Israel’s unjust, racist and apartheid presence, dontcha know.
I don’t have that much faith in Congress in general, but I have a little bit at least in that it is a large body, there are some good people there, and being closer to the American people, they are forced to reflect the national mood more accurately than the president. Especially this president, who is both detached and utterly contemptuous of rank and file Americans. To him, we are the ignorant, unwashed peasants; we are of no account. He and his fellow anointed ones, they know best, and lying to us is only for our own good, as we could not handle the “truth” (according to them).
Of course, with respect (wait, he doesn’t deserve any) to Obama, I never had any faith in him at all. As I’ve said in other posts, I went to school with guys like him, I read him like a book, and I knew early on what bad news he would be. What makes him particularly difficult to combat, however, is what an incredibly effective liar he is; that is his greatest talent.
It will all catch up to him in 2012. I predict the most thorough defeat of a sitting president in U.S. history. But he will have done incredible damage by that time. He already has, and it is only going to get worse.