"there are claims a lot of the original targets were not hit" By whom? Certainly not by US officials, who are confident that the targets were hit and have provided satellite imagery to back that up.
Aside from themselves, Hamas owes its existence to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hezbollah to Iran (and to a lesser extent, Syria). Wrong. Hezbollah is a Shiite Islamist-jihadist group, which is why it is fighting the Sunni jihadists in IS and Al-Nusra. Furthermore, since Hezbollah is aligned with Iran and Syria, it would also be opposed to the other rebel factions opposing Assad and their masters in Tehran. As for Hamas, there have been accusations/rumors that it has trained some of the Sunni jihadists in Syria but they have denied those accusations/rumors. Shiite Islamists, such as the theocrats running Iran and the ones in Hezbollah and Ansar Allah (aka the Houthis) are real Islamists. The hostility is primarily sectarian and part of the Sunni-Shi'a conflict that has been going on since the 7th Century. However, as is the case with all Islamist groups, there is a political dimension to the hostility. Hilarious. Never mind the inconvenient fact that the U.S. has been fighting the Wahhabists in the Islamic State not only in Syria but Iraq, for years. Strangely enough, this has put the U.S. on the same side as Syria and Iran. What I just pointed out means our countries are fighting on both sides, Victor. This might appear bizarre at first glance, but as I pointed out years ago, there are bad actors on both sides of the Syrian civil war, from Iran/Assad/Hezbollah on one side to IS/Tahrir al-Sham/AQ on the other.
Russia doesn't need to start a shooting war with the US to show they are serious and willing to get off the fence and take a resolute stance on what is going on. The first thing they need to do is to follow up on something they have suggested but never really undertaken: set up an effective air defense system for Syria. A multilayered, integrated, system that goes beyond selling a particular system (e.g. S300), which is backed up with all the requisite personnel, training and whatever else is required for Syria to be able to shoot down any intruding warplanes. This air defense system should be under the control of the Syrians and used to defend their territory based on their requirements, but should have the requisite support and training from the Russians. If the Russians do what I suggest, Iran wouldn't need to try to transport air defenses to Syria without adequate cover. Not that everything that what the Israelis say is necessarily true. While their attack on the T4 base was a rare success for them based on what I can tell, their pronouncements are usually meant to boost the morale at home and is more in the nature of propaganda than reality. More than 150,000 Hezbollah rockets and missiles aimed at Israel, the number of resistance bases, troops, and their success against the terrorist rebels, the setting up of various UAV bases operating Iranian made drones, the ability of Iranian backed forces to basically clear the path for the land bridge from Tehran to the Mediterranean through Iraq and Syria, and a host of other things, clearly attest to the fact that ultimately Israeli bites much more than it can chew and pretends to be accomplishing more than it actually accomplishes. Even the T4 airbase attack, which was carried out by missiles fired from Israeli fighters far away from the target and overflying Lebanese airspace in a manner suggesting coordination with certain factions within Lebanon that take their cue from the Saudis and the US, was probably not nearly as successful as Israel claims. In this instance, the Israelis did land some punches and Iran was quick to release photographs showing the damage done by the Israelis strike. But I have not seen any independent verification that the the TOR anti missile system being set up was destroyed or even substantially damaged. Instead, their attack appears to have succeeded in damaging a building and caused some infrastructure damage in that sense.
Saudi Arabia has lots and lots of oil. They deal in US$. They can do whatever they want as far as the US is concerned. As long as the above holds true and we have a base there. No matter how Islamic backwards their view are or how many terrorists they fund and support. Al Qaeda.
Yemen is also Hezbollah's fault for destabilising it with support to the Houthis, Iran being in Yemen is part of the problem. And while you are pointing fingers, Why is Germany selling the parts to Iran used in Chemical weapon attacks in Syria http://www.thetower.org/5918-german...to-iran-were-used-in-syrian-chemical-attacks/
Things are heating up between Iran and Israel, Israeli Army signifies direct warning to Iran with satellite images http://www.news.com.au/military/isr...s/news-story/f3ea50302c3cdadb04b17fcc8b48275c
Did you miss the part where they said, "for the first time we saw Iran do something against Israel - not by proxy" This is a dangerous development, pretending it's not happening is not going to change anything.
That is because millions of Arabs will claim their property in Israel that the Jews thieved from them.
It's about time Iran responds. For years it has been "pre-emptively" harassed by Israel. No occidental country would have endured such repeated, illegal aggression, yours like mine. Why should Israel have a free pass? If you think this game is dangerous, it might be wise to tell Israel to stop playing it on our supposed behalf.
What!!! that's nuts, Iran shouldn't be in Syria, it's openly threatening Israel have over 100 000 missiles pointed at Israel in Lebanon and you think it's time they respond...
winning land in a war that you didn't start, not theft. Especially when your armies were outnumbered 10 to 1. u just love to accuse the Jews of being "thieves"
Iran will respond, although 3 issues complicate things. First, internally, there is a currency crisis and things like war and threat of war exacerbate the situation. That is, right now, the most immediate problem Iran faces. Second, there is the Russians, who frankly prefer to make sure things are quiet and Israel's actions are overlooked. Even if they also prefer Israel not take actions either, they have greater leverage over Syria than they do over Israel. And, third, there is Assad. Iran's best retaliatory option and menu is to attack Israel from Syria. The Israelis have threatened Assad personally and he may not like to see an Iranian response from Syria. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/orde...he-syrian-conflict-its-only-a-matter-of-time/ Will Iran attack Israel over the Syrian conflict? It’s only a matter of time
In 1948, the largest and most effective Arab fighting force against Israel was Jordan's Arab legion. The overall forces weren't great in either quality or numbers. This force didn't outnumber Israel's in number, much less in overall quality and effectiveness in terms of equipment and training. Indeed, by the end of 1948, Israel had a force numbering around 80,000 troops including 60,000 combat soldiers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Arab–Israeli_War In any case, the world has changed. On the ground, Hezbollah by itself proved it can stand up to Israel's army even with Israel enjoying air superiority and Hezbollah indeed being outnumbered 10-1 (Israel has never been so outnumbered in the battlefield regardless of how many stooges and largely illiterate newly forced states were lined up against it). What Israel has is a good air force and nukes. Absent that, it would be toast. p.s. Well, Israel has another thing that matters a lot -- almost as much as their nukes if not more. A superpower in their pocket who sets up the chess board in a way that helps them in far more significant ways than most people realize. Indeed, if the US truly withdrew meddling from the region, Israel would collapse or would have simply turn the region into rubble using its nukes. It would have nothing else and even its air force wouldn't matter.
No you just deny history and replace it with a false narrative. Israel was born from terrorists and land thieves. It is a eastern european colony.
Many commentators have rightly mentioned the problem Iran is facing with the rapid devaluation of its currency as a complicating factor in any Iranian decision to retaliation against Israel. I alluded to it as well. At least in its immediate aftermath, any attack by Iran against Israel won't help Iran's spiraling currency speculation issues, which have plummeted the value of the Iranian currency greatly and forced Iran to in effect stop foreign currency trades. But looking a little ahead, the one thing that can actually turn the tables and help Iran get out of its current mess is to show up and be more forceful in act not just in words. The value of the Iranian currency ultimately reflects the faith and credit in Iran's ability to stand its ground and be around. If that faith is lost, there is nothing that can turn the table around given the economic warfare and other actions being waged against it. Internally, however, there are voices within Iran whose political fortunes are exclusively hinged on a mirage: namely Iran being able to have decent relations with the west. They will use whatever facts available to caution against a response by Iran. They would be dead wrong. I say this as someone who shares their ultimate desire to see a rapprochement between Iran and the west but knows that it takes two people to tango and right now one of them is totally unwilling to do so. Being weak and indecisive won't make the US and company want to tango either.
By whom I said, The Express. I accept that originally I thought that the express was referring to whether some were shot down and used the word 'still' which may have confused you. However had you read the context you would have seen that they are referring to the reduction made in targets after Russia expressed her disapproval of the attack https://www.express.co.uk/news/worl...-Trump-USA-Arab-Army-Iran-Russia-Israel-Assad My own belief is that America very much reduced what it was intending from regime change to targeting apparently only 3 targets, one of which some people suggest was actually a research facility for snake venom. That they managed to do this apparently without killing anyone illustrated that when wanted precision weapons can actually be precise and avoid 'collateral damage'.
I agree that all Russia needs to do is to make sure that Syria can protect it's air space as all countries ought to and would hope that she makes sure now that that is so. At the same time in the article I left before AC says http://21stcenturywire.com/2018/02/18/syria-putin-makes-offer-israel-will-israel-refuse/
and of course the US is intending on going back on the Iran Nuclear Deal. The big question here has to be whether Europe goes with Trump https://edition.cnn.com/2018/03/21/politics/us-iran-deal-trump-europe/index.html My own feeling about whether Iran should make a retaliatory move at the moment is that it should not. It just does not feel like the right time to do that.
This would seem to make sense given the US position on the Nuclear Deal and sanctions against Iran. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/midd...r-euro-financial-reports-180418183855096.html
And Israel has the Bomb. Iran was invited in by Syria's legitimate regime. That's all they need. If Israel doesn't like it; tough. Why do you care about Israel anyway? It's the ME's cancer.
