War in the Middle East...2010?

[Yono]

http://doubletapper.blogspot.com/2010/05/war-in-middle-east-2010.html

All I can say is, it is going to be massive.
And Pittsburgh, I think this is why Obama gave us that money for the Iron Dome project.

[ianstone]

Anything is possible, Hamas would suffer as much as anyone else .
A chemical letter device delivered successfully to the local israel's boarder town, Anthrax etc would put Hamas back on centre stage.
A large in payload missile from probably Syria would cause outrage, then a total humiliation of Syria.
The best chance is for Hamas to take its head from up its own ass
and negotiate a framework for a peace deal.
Because Israel would loose the moral high ground and world support and isolate themselves.
Israel rely on hamas being to radical and blinkered to do anything unpredictable.
My opinion, you cant change the past but you can shape the future, peace.

[Pittsburgh]

http://doubletapper.blogspot.com/2010/05/war-in-middle-east-2010.htmlAnd Pittsburgh, I think this is why Obama gave us that money for the Iron Dome project.

That's assuming the damn thing even works...


"The Iron Dome is all a scam. The flight-time of a Kassam rocket to Sderot is 14 seconds, while the time the Iron Dome needs to identify a target and fire is something like 15 seconds. This means it can’t defend against anything fired from fewer than five kilometers, but it probably couldn't defend against anything fired from 15 km., either.”

Considering the fact that each Iron Dome missile costs about $100,000 and each Kassam $5, all the Palestinians would need to do is build and launch a ton of rockets and hit our pocketbook." -Reuven Pedatzur, Tel Aviv University professor and noted military analyst

Yeah, that makes me feel much better.

Even if the system does work...

In short and in my opinion, this is nothing short of a $205 million dollar apology and political move by Obama. The relationship between the USA and Israel has been strained over the past year and this is Obama's answer. It has nothing to with keeping the American people safe from Iranian missile attacks on our mainland, which is comical in it's own right for a number of reasons.

The whole thing is a complete joke and an expensive one for the American tax payers.

[bobdina]

The budgetary difficulty that has been delaying Israel's armament with the anti-missile defense system Iron Dome has apparently been resolved. The Pentagon has issued a message to Israel's Defense Ministry that U.S. President Barack Obama has approved the transfer of special assistance totaling $205 million (just under NIS 800 million) for the purchase of more than ten Iron Dome batteries.

Apparently, the game-changing Iron Dome test from this past January was proof enough for Obama to support full throttle deployment:

"The Americans were skeptical at first," the official continued. "But after they saw the results of the last test run they were impressed and became confident in the system's abilities." He added that the Defense Ministry has yet to decide how to allocate the funds. He stressed that it would be at least a year before a substantial number of batteries would be operational in Israel.http://closingvelocity.typepad.com/closing_velocity/2010/05/obama-doubles-down-on-israeli-iron-dome-missile-defense.html

NATO forces interested in Iron Dome http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=170605

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/iron-dome-defense-system-gets-new-backer-barack-obama-1.290226, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6980098.ece

I could put a hell of a lot more links here but but I'm hoping you get the idea. 99% of the research and articles I have read says the system works after some fine tuning last year. There are some drawbacks to the system as there is to all systems. It can only destroy incoming rounds after they cross into Israel by 2.5 miles, each interceptor will cost $50,00 (U.S.) and the cost of homemade Hamas rockets are between $50-100 (U.S.). Now with that being said I am all for giving any of our allies an extra $205 (U.S.) million dollars if it will protect our interests in that country and we have plenty of U.S. citizens working there as well as tourists visiting there, not to mention U.S. soldiers who are stationed there (exchange programs, air defense personal, plus units that deploy there for training ) ( http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3744319 )
This is not a one way street, they don't give us money but the intelligence we have gained from them over the years is invaluable.Until the first Gulf War the vast majority of U.S. weapons were combat tested by Israel in the desert and urban terrain which led to our being able to improve weapons and tactics without actually going to combat. Equipment the Israelis captured were transferred to the U.S. for testing. Now don't get me wrong there are still things they have done there is no excuse for U.S.S. Liberty (http://ussliberty.wordpress.com/), Jonathan Pollard (whatreallyhappened.com/.../motherofallscandals.html). all in all I think it's been a pretty good trade off.

[Pittsburgh]

Then again, I guess the $205 million is just a mere drop in the ocean compared to the $30-billion we will be giving them over the next decade.

http://america-hijacked.com/2009/12/19/obama-approves-30-billion-in-military-aid-to-israel-over-next-decade/

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/07/29/israel.missile.defense/index.html

We can afford it. Afterall, we are in great shape over here. They can just thank us later. Possibly a fruit basket of some sort will due?

Keep spending Obama...keep spending.

[Yono]

Yes but Pittsburgh you make it sound as if we haven't done anything in return for the money we have received. Like bob said...we are pretty much your most (if not only) real and reliable intelligence help in the Middle East.

[Pittsburgh]

Yes but Pittsburgh you make it sound as if we haven't done anything in return for the money we have received. Like bob said...we are pretty much your most (if not only) real and reliable intelligence help in the Middle East.

I'm sure the $30 billion more than makes up for that. I'm curious, what would happen to Israel if they were not backed by the United States?

30 f-ing billion dollars to one country. Keep spending Obama. See where that get's us down the road.

[bobdina]

As long as we cut our foreign aid to all countries I have no problem with that at all( and I think it needs to be done,cut not stop). Between Israel and Egypt they account for 2/3 of our foreign aid.( http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/politics/us-foreign-aid.htm )

[Yono]

I'm sure the $30 billion more than makes up for that. I'm curious, what would happen to Israel if they were not backed by the United States?

30 f-ing billion dollars to one country. Keep spending Obama. See where that get's us down the road.

30 billion dollars is a motherload and without the U.S.A I doubt the state of Israel would exist.
Which is why, when the shit hits the fan in the Middle East and U.S. troops need a close home, they have one here.