SecDef Leon Panetta has requested that Congress to increase military aid to Israel by an additional $647 million.
What's even more interesting is what that aid consists of:
.. the Pentagon wants to arm the IDF with a tail kit system used to convert free-fall bombs into satellite-guided ordnance, as well as with missiles that can be mounted on F-15 and F-16 fighter jets and are capable of penetrating underground or fortified targets.
The military aid includes 1,725 JDAM tail kits together with BLU-109 bombs, also dubbed "bunker-buster" and weighing in at more than 900kg. According to the Bloomsberg report, the bombs are intended to "defeat an enemy’s most critical and hardened targets such as protected weapons storage sites, and penetrate as much as six feet of reinforced concrete."
The official word on this is that the shipment is designed replenish stocks aftewr Pillar of Defense and to give Israel increased air strike capacity against Hamas' underground bunkers in the event of a future Gaza outbreak of hostilities, not to increase Israel's capacity to attack Iran.
But as one of my notorious Little Birdies tells me, while many Iranian facilities are located underground and protected by more than six feet of concrete, (A) multiple precision hits can increase the penetrating ability of the JDAMS and (b) the tail kits are quite easily adaptable to larger bombs.
That last hint leads me to believe that Israel may have something special in the works.Or that a future clandestine shipment of BLU 116s or even BLU 113s may be in the works. Either by themselves can penetrate any of the underground sites Iran currently has, with the BLU 113 capable of smashing through up to 20 feet of reinforced concrete.
My source further informs me that the new shipment is part of the quid pro quo to Israel for calling off the ground invasion of Gaza.
From this, I would assume something else. While President Obama remains indecisive about taking out Iran's nuclear facilities, from a political standpoint he probably realizes that Iran going nuclear on his watch would result in a political firestorm and a major stain on his legacy. On the other hand, if the Israelis do it...
-selah-
3 comments:
except when destroying the evil US economic system, hussein continues to vote "present".
This all sounds good in theory but right now it appears to be all talk. What is the scheduled delivery date for these weapons? If an agreement was made, what's to stop Mr. Obama from simply failing to honor the agreement? Ordinarily America has to honor any agreements it makes with foreign governments even if it does not wish to because of intense media scrutiny, however, in the case of Israel, given the intense media bias against Israel, the media would simply look the other way on a violation of an agreement made with Israel.
If this was the deal made so that Israel would not finish off Hamas and Fatah, I can at least see why they did it, assuming they currently lack the ability to manufacture these weapons on their own. Also, unlike many other countries, Israel has few options for any thing military related they are unable to manufacture locally.
With that said a golden opportunity to crush Hamas was missed. Against a powerful enemy like this such opportunities may not come very often!! Its important not to waste them!! The Palestinians are bitter enemies of both Israel and America. As such, they should have been defeated.
Hopefully Congress will make it a top priority to ensure that Israel receives these needed weapons.
"On the other hand, if the Israelis do it..." I've been correclty pointing this out for at least 4 years. Due to the superior training of Israeli pilots, superior technology possessed by the Israelis, and better leadership among Israeli forces Israel is in a much better position to take care of this problem than America is. America's best approach is to assist Israel with arms supplies where and when it can, such as with these proposed weapons systems and other than that to stay out of the way. It would be nice if Presient Obama and his team has figured this out even they have figured out for all the wrong reasons!!
I just love the above essay. It validates an analysis/prediction that I made in November when everyone was so disappointed in Netanyahu for calling off the assault on Hamas.
http://www.freedomrings1776.com/2012/11/why-israel-backed-downbe-patient.html#more
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