Comments on: Threatening Israel Isn’t Enough Anymore

By: crosspatch

crosspatch — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 08:19:22 +0000

It was probably the mention of the anniversary of Mughniyeh's assassination, that Iran has promised to avenge, that struck me. I had forgotten about it. And that in context with the Syrian reserve call up, and the Iranian rhetoric, and then the US response of bolstering the defensive posture of the region ... it just seemed interesting when taken all together.

By: Michael J. Totten

Michael J. Totten — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 08:00:49 +0000

Thanks, Crosspatch. Just posted links on the main page.

By: Michael J. Totten

Michael J. Totten — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:40:06 +0000

I thought two links would keep a comment out of moderation, but it was actually set to one. It's set to two now. You can post two URLs without your comment being moderated.

Sorry for the hassle, but spam is an issue.

By: crosspatch

crosspatch — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:20:57 +0000

And one more here that was linked at Drudge:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/31/iran-nuclear-us-missiles-gulf

By: crosspatch

crosspatch — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:11:58 +0000

What is interesting about the Syrian reserves story is the intersection of the February 11 anniversary of the Islamic Republic and the February 13 anniversary of the assassination of Mughniyeh.

From the article at Israel National News quoting other news sources:

"(IsraelNN.com) Tensions have escalated along the Israeli-Lebanese border and Syria has begun calling up troops from its Fourth Reserve, sources told the pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat.

The newspaper, printed on four continents, reports that the Israeli military has been carrying out drills on Israel's northern frontier, as the second anniversary of the death of senior Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniyeh approaches. Mughniyeh was killed when a car bomb exploded in Damascus on February 13, 2008.

“Well-informed Lebanese sources” told the newspaper that Hizbullah is on a state of alert in the face of IDF “military maneuvers.” The sources added that Hizbullah is concerned Israel may launch a surprise attack on its bases and posts. "Israel has accustomed us to aggression and we are used to being vigilant and on the lookout all the time. That is what we are doing,” a source said. "

None of these reports look all that scary by themselves but taken in toto seem "interesting" at least.

The Iranians say:

"Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the nation will deliver a harsh blow to the "global arrogance" on this year's anniversary of the Islamic Revolution."

in the article text but the headline is:

"Iran will deliver telling blow to global powers on Feb. 11"

By: crosspatch

crosspatch — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:01:28 +0000

Apparently I had too many links and the reply fell into the moderation bucket.

By: crosspatch

crosspatch — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:00:54 +0000

"Telling blow"

http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=f&pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=Iran+%22telling+blow%22

It is a link to Press TV which seems to be overloaded with traffic from links to it. Druge has a link, too.

Check there (Drudge) for ships and missile batteries moving into the region, too.

Wonder if Iran will test a nuke.

The Syrian reserves story is several days old:

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/135663

By: Michael J. Totten

Michael J. Totten — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 06:42:52 +0000

Crosspatch, do you have links? I knew about Shias dispersing from the south, or at least that it is rumored. (Don't know if it's really true.)

But what's this business about Feb 11 and the US moving ships into the region?

By: crosspatch

crosspatch — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 06:29:02 +0000

Syria calling up reserves, Lebanese Shiites dispersing from Southern Lebanon, Iran saying it will "deliver telling blow to global powers on Feb. 11", US moving more ships and Patriot batteries to the region.

I sense a disturbance in The Force.