TT:s totalt oinformerade artikel om att den årliga försvarsövningen mellan Israel och USA skjuts upp, passar bäst i Året Runt.
Övningen har hållits årligen,
denna är planerad i ett år - och i senaste upplagan tycker TT att framskjutandet av övningen kan ha att göra med "ekonomiska problem" A7,
Jpost talar om "tekniska problem",
Ynews är rätt klara när de säger att det var "på USA:s begäran för att minska chansen för att mullorna i Iran ska göra i byxorna". Eller för att "minska spänningarna" som det så vackert heter, Obongon vill ju för allt i världen inte skrämma Iran från att tillverka kärnvapen i lugn och ro, väl medveten om att Israel blir den viktiga måltavlan. Passar honom som hand i handske. Han har jobbat stenhårt för varenda gnutta han tror möjligtvis kan ge honom en extra röst i valet. Och än mer valpengar från muslimerna världen över, än förra gången, då ofantliga summor kom i småbelopp som inte kan spåras.
Det tycks ju hela tiden varit någon intern kamp mellan Obongon och hans militär,
i början av sin karriär sålde han bunker busters till Israel, som inte har någon användning mer än att spränga vad som ligger dolt i bergsrum.
Här en analys av DEBKA. Originalet följer eftersom de har en tendens att rätt snabbt ta betalt för artiklarna. Därefter kopia av en artikel i WSJ, som har en tendens att försvinna än snabbare.
Öppen spricka mellan USA och Israel över Iran: Stor gemensam militär övning avbryts
15 januari 2012, 03:31 (GMT +02:00)
USA-israelisk osämja över åtgärder mot Iran kopplade in överväxeln söndag 15 januari när Svarta Huset avlyste övning kallades av Austere Challenge 12, det största gemensamma krigsspel USA och Israel har iscensatt, redo att äga rum under våren, i vedergällning för en kommentar av Israels vice premiärminister Moshe Yaalon i en tidig morgonradiointervju. Han sade att USA var tveksamma till sanktioner mot Irans centralbank och olja av rädsla för en spik i oljepriset.
Brålet mellan Washington och Jerusalem är nu i det fria, och orsakar utan tvekan glädjetjut i Teheran.
Ingenting sades om
9000 amerikanska trupper som redan landat i Israel tidigare denna månad för en längre vistelse. Inte heller talade man om det förestående besöket av general Martin Dempsey, ordförande för den gemensamma amerikanska Chiefs of Staff, som kommer på torsdag.
Övningen har officiellt skjutits upp från våren 2012 till sista kvartalet över "budgetrestriktioner" - ett självklart diplomatiskt talesätt för annullering. Det utfärdades omgående på en ovanligt tidig timme Washingtontid, för att understryka Obama-administrationens totala avståndstagande från alla förberedelser att attackera Iran och att betona sin ståndpunkt att om en attack ägde rum, skulle Israel ensam vara ansvarig.
Israels vice premiärminister inflammerade ytterligare en av de mest akuta meningsskiljaktigheter i historien om de amerikansk-israeliska relationerna under Obama-administrationens invändningar mot en Israelisk militär aktion mot Irans kärntekniska anläggningar i någon form. Yaalon vågade sig in i den knepiga terrängen när han påpekade att USA:s kongress hade visat att de ville lösa problemet genom att införa lagstiftning för sanktioner som verkligen bet. Men Vita huset "tvekade." Han fortsatte med att säga: "En militär operation är sista utvägen, men Israel måste vara redo att försvara sig."
Friktionen ökade redan förra veckan av den djupa harm som väcktes i Israel av Washingtons hårda fördömande av mordet i onsdags, 11 januari av kärnfysikern Prof. Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, och ett absolut förnekande av all inblandning från USA.
Även om Teheran sedan dess har anklagat USA för attacken,har den i Svarta Huset behandlats som ett trotsigt tecken på en annalkande ensidig israelisk militär operation mot Iran till vilken USA:s förvaltning är benhårt emot.
Fredag 13 januari meddelade Pentagon den betydande ackumuleringen för att bekämpa makten kring Iran, stationering av
nästan 15.000 soldater i Kuwait - två arméinfanterier brigader och en helikopterenhet - och att hålla två hangarfartyg i regionen: USS Carl Vinson, USS John Stennis och deras attackgrupper.
Militära källor rapporterar att ett tredje hangarfartyg kommer att ansluta sig, USS Abraham Lincoln, och är också på väg till Persiska viken.
Denna massiva militära uppbyggnad visar att antingen uppskattar president Obama oddsen för en Israelisk attack som hög och han vill stärka försvaret av USA:s militära resurser mot iranska repressalier - eller alternativt att USA tänker hinna före Israel och attackera Iran självt .
Det officiella syftet med general Dempsey besök nästa torsdag var tänkt att samordna mellan de amerikanska väpnade styrkorna och IDF. Men hans främsta syfte var ett annat försök att avråda Israels regering och militära ledare från planer att slå till Iran utan Washingtons samtycke.
Den uppfunna anledningen om "budgetrestriktioner" för att avbryta Austere Challenge 12 är svår att tro på eftersom de flesta av pengarna redan har använts att flyga in 9000 amerikanska trupper till Israel den här månaden. Även om övningen de skulle ha deltagit i kallades att "testa flera israeliska och amerikanska luft-och missilförsvarssystem", meddelade befälhavaren i USA: s Third Air Force Lt Gen Frank Gorenc att händelsen var mer en "utplacering" än en "övning".
Dess annullering lämnar Washington och Jerusalem osams inom fyra huvudområden:
1. President Obama tror att han rusar igenom sanktionerna mot Irans centralbank CBI och begränsningar av Irans oljeförsäljning med all möjlig hastighet. Han behöver tid att övertala fler regeringar att stödja honom. Israel ser få verkliga framsteg i de krypande diplomatiska ansträngningarna att hitta uppbackare och är otålig för handling. I den takt sanktionerna går igenom kommer de inte på plats före utgången av 2012 och då kommer Iran redan att ha förvärvat ett kärnvapen.
Israeliska ledare misstänker också att Obama-administrationen avsiktligt segdrar det i hopp om att uppmuntra Iran att inleda förhandlingar för att undvika en militär kraftmätning. De påpekar att alla tidigare förhandlingsrundor utnyttjades av Iran för att gå framåt i sin kärnvapenutveckling, fria från internationella krångel.
2. President Obama insisterar på att USA ensam anfaller Iran utan någon israelisk militär inblandning. Detta skulle lämna honom fritt att besluta ensam när och hur en operation ska genomföras. Han räknar med att det skärpta militära och underrättelsesamarbetet han har inlett mellan de två väpnade styrkorna och myndigheterna ska skydda Washington från att plötsligt stå inför en ensam israelisk åtgärd.
Men Israel har vägrat att göra detta åtagande - även i ansiktet på amerikanska tjänstemän som har arbetat hårt med operation övertalning.
3. USA: s militära strateger räknar med att en iransk vedergällning för en attack på deras kärnanläggningar kommer att vara återhållsam och begränsas till vissa amerikanska militära resurser i regionen, israeliska mål och installationer olja i Persiska viken, bland annat en tillfällig och partiell stängning av sundet Hormuzsundet, där en femtedel av världens olja passerar.
De förväntar sig att Israel avstår från att slå tillbaka efter iranska attacker och lämnar payback-alternativet helt i amerikanska händer. Amerikanska tjänstemän har sagt att de fruktar att en israelisk overkill skulle tippa hela den amerikanska militära operationen i obalans och generera oförutsedda konsekvenser.
De inkommande amerikanska trupperna var därför beväpnade med sofistikerade antimissil-missiler
THAAD-system (lätta att transportera Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) för att visa den israeliska regeringen att USA skulle hålla koll på alla militära rörelser mot Iran - offensiva och defensiv lika.
På dessa tre punkter är USA och Israel oense. Varken premiärminister Benjamin Netanyahu, inte heller försvarsminister Ehud Barak eller vice premiärminister Yaalon, som är ansvarig för alla beslut om Iran, är villiga att lägga all sin tillit till att försvara Israel i amerikanska händer eller avstå från ensidiga militära alternativ mot Iran. De tror på USA:s tjänstemän när de påstår att administrationen är beredd att förhindra Iran att skaffa kärnvapen, men de vill se bevis på handling som backar upp retoriken. Mot bakgrund av trovärdig information att Iran är mycket nära att nå sina nukleära mål, håller Israel håller på dess militära alternativ över amerikanska invändningar.
DEBKA
file Exclusive Analysis January 15, 2012, 3:31 PM (GMT+02:00)
US-Israeli discord over action against Iran went into overdrive Sunday, Jan. 15 when the White House called off Austere Challenge 12, the biggest joint war game the US and Israel have every staged, ready to go in spring, in reprisal for a comment by Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon in an early morning radio interview. He said the United States was hesitant over sanctions against Iran's central bank and oil for fear of a spike in oil prices.
The row between Washington and Jerusalem is now in the open, undoubtedly causing celebration in Tehran.
Nothing was said about the
9,000 US troops who landed in Israel earlier this month for a lengthy stay. Neither was the forthcoming visit by Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint US Chiefs of Staff, Thursday mentioned.
The exercise was officially postponed from spring 2012 to the last quarter of the year over "budgetary constraints" – an obvous diplomatic locution for cancellation. It was issued urgently at an unusually early hour Washington time, say DEBKAfile's sources, to underscore the Obama administration's total disassociation from any preparations to strike Iran and to stress its position that if an attack took place, Israel alone would be accountable.
Israel's Deputy Prime minister further inflamed one of the most acute disagreements in the history of US-Israeli relations over the Obama administration's objections to an Israel military action against Iran's nuclear sites in any shape or form. Yaalon ventured into tricky terrain when he pointed out that US Congress had shown resolve by enacting legislation for sanctions with real bite. But the White House "hesitated." He went on to say: "A military operation is the last resort, but Israel must be ready to defend itself."
The friction was already fueled last week by the deep resentment aroused in Israel by Washington's harsh condemnation of the assassination last Wednesday, Jan. 11, of the nuclear scientist Prof. Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, and absolute denial of any US involvement.
Although Tehran has since accused the United States of the attack, the White House treated it as the defiant sign of an approaching unilateral Israeli military operation against Iran to which the administration is adamantly opposed.
Friday, Jan. 13, the Pentagon announced the substantial buildup of combat power around Iran, stationing nearly
15,000 troops in Kuwait - two Army infantry brigades and a helicopter unit – and keeping two aircraft carriers the region: The USS Carl Vinson, the USS John Stennis and their strike groups.
DEBKAfile's military sources report that a third aircraft carrier and strike group, the USS Abraham Lincoln, is also on its way to the Persian Gulf.
This massive military buildup indicates that either President Obama rates the odds of an Israel attack as high and is bolstering the defenses of US military assets against Iranian reprisals - or, alternatively, that the United States intends to beat Israel to the draw and attack Iran itself.
The official purpose of Gen. Dempsey's visit next Thursday was supposed to be coordination between the US armed forces and the IDF. But his main object was another try to dissuade Israel's government and military leaders from plans to strike Iran without Washington's prior consent.
The "budgetary constraints" pretext for cancelling Austere Challenge 12 is hard to credit since most of the money has already been spent in flying
9,000 US troops into Israel this month. Although the exercise in which they were to have participated was billed as testing multiple Israeli and US air and missile defense systems, the exercise's commander, US Third Air Force Lt. Gen. Frank Gorenc, announced that the event was more a "deployment" than an "exercise."
Its cancellation leaves Washington and Jerusalem at loggerheads in four main areas:
1. President Obama believes he is rushing through the sanctions against Iran's central bank CBI and oil restrictions with all possible speed. He needs time to persuade more governments to support him. Israel sees little real progress in the crawling diplomatic bid for backers and is impatient for action. At the rate the sanctions are going through, they will not be in place before the end of 2012 and by then, Iran will have already acquired a nuclear weapon.
Israeli leaders also suspect that the Obama administration may be foot-dragging deliberately in the hope of encouraging Iran to enter into negotiations and so avoid a military showdown. They point out that all previous rounds of talks were exploited for Iran's forward leaps in their nuclear weapon drive, free of international hassle.
2. President Obama insists on the US acting alone in attacking Iran with no Israeli military involvement. This would leave him free to decide exclusively when and how to stage an operation. He is counting on the tightened military and intelligence cooperation he has instituted between the two armed forces and agencies to safeguard Washington against the surprise of a lone Israeli action.
But Israel has declined to make this commitment - even in the face of US officials' efforts at persuasion.
3. US military strategists are counting on an Iranian reprisal for an attack on its nuclear sites to be restrained and limited to certain US military assets in the region, Israeli targets and oil installations in the Persian Gulf, including a temporary and partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which one fifth of the world's oil passes.
They expect Israel to refrain from striking back for Iranian attacks and to leave the payback option entirely in American hands. US officials have said they fear an Israeli overkill would tip the entire American military operation into imbalance and generate unforeseen consequences.
The incoming US troops were therefore armed with the sophisticated missile interceptorTHAAD systems (easily transportable Terminal High Altitude Area Defense hit-to-kill weapons) to show the Israeli government that the US would stay on top of all the military moves against Iran - offensive and defensive alike.
On these three points, the US and Israel disagree. Neither Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, nor Defense Minister Ehud Barak or Deputy Prime Minster Yaalon, who are responsible for all decisions on Iran, are willing to put all their trust for defending Israel in American hands or relinquish unilateral military options against Iran. They believe US officials when they assert that the administration is prepared to prevent Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon, but they want to see proof of the pudding and actions to back up the rhetoric. In the light of credible intelligence that Iran is very close to achieving its nuclear goal, Israel is holding on to its military option over American objections.
Här en artikel från Wall Street Journal som lär försvinna snart.
Officials Lobby Against Attack on Iran as Military Leaders Bolster Defenses
WASHINGTON—U.S. defense leaders are increasingly concerned that Israel is preparing to take military action against Iran, over U.S. objections, and have stepped up contingency planning to safeguard U.S. facilities in the region in case of a conflict.
![[USIRAN]](http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/WO-AI445_USIRAN_D_20120113165536.jpg)
Associated Press
Iranians on Friday carried the flag-draped coffin of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, a scientist working in Iran's nuclear sector assassinated in Tehran.
President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other top officials have delivered a string of private messages to Israeli leaders warning about the dire consequences of a strike. The U.S. wants Israel to give more time for the effects of sanctions and other measures intended to force Iran to abandon its perceived efforts to build nuclear weapons.
Stepping up the pressure, Mr. Obama spoke by telephone on Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and U.S. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet with Israeli military officials in Tel Aviv next week.
The high-stakes planning and diplomacy comes as U.S. officials warn Tehran, including through what administration officials described Friday as direct messages to Iran's leaders, against provocative actions.
Related Video
Iranian officials blame the U.S. and Israel for the killing of one of the country's nuclear scientists who was blown up in his car on Wednesday. Video Courtesy of Reuters.
Tehran has warned that it could retaliate to tightened sanctions by blocking oil trade through the Strait of Hormuz. On Thursday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to punish the perpetrators of the assassination—blamed by Iran on the U.S. and Israel—of an Iranian scientist involved in the nuclear program.
The U.S. denied the charge and condemned the attack. Israel hasn't commented.
Mutual Contempt
Insults, taunts and threats between Israel and Iran have been heating up in recent months:
- Oct. 31, 2011: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to the Knesset: 'Security is not just about defense' but also 'the ability to attack.'
- Nov. 5: Israeli President Shimon Peres, in a television interview, says a strike against Iran by Israel and other countries is 'more and more likely.'
- Nov. 18: Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani: 'If the Zionists like to sit on wheelchairs, then they should attack Iran.'
- Nov. 21: Iranian Brig. Gen. Ali Hajizadeh: 'One of our big wishes is that they take this action … We are eager to … throw the enemies of Islam and Muslims to the garbage can of history.'
- Jan. 2, 2012: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: 'Iran must expand its relations with all countries, except the illegal Zionist regime and the U.S. administration.'
- Jan. 10: Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz: '2012 will be a critical year in the connection between Iran gaining nuclear power, changes in leadership, continuing pressure from the international community and events that happen unnaturally.'
- Jan. 11: IDF Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, on the killing of Iranian nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan: 'I don't know who brought the Iranian scientist to account. But I certainly won't shed a tear for him.'
- Jan. 12: Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, on Roshan's killing: 'Another black page to the heavy records of crime and savageness of the terrorism-centered Zionist regime [of Israel] and its sympathizers in the White House and the West.'
Source: WSJ researchThe U.S. and Iran, however, have taken steps in recent days apparently designed to ease tensions. Iran has agreed to host a delegation of United Nations nuclear inspectors this month. The U.S., meanwhile, has twice this month rescued Iranian sailors in the region's seas.
Covert efforts by Israel's intelligence service to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons have been credited with slowing the program without the high risk of military conflict that could be sparked by an airstrike. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful uses.
But Israel has declined to rule out a strike, as has the U.S.
"It is the policy of the Israeli government, and the Obama administration, that all options remain on the table. And it is crucial that the ayatollahs in Tehran take this policy seriously," said Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to the U.S.
Mr. Netanyahu said in a recent interview that Iran has begun to "wobble," a signal some U.S. officials believe suggests he is willing to follow the current U.S. strategy, which seeks to avoid a military confrontation with Iran.
"Recent comments by the Israelis show they understand how tough the sanctions we've put in place are and are giving them time to work," said a senior Obama administration official.
The U.S. military is preparing for a number of possible responses to an Israeli strike, including assaults by pro-Iranian Shiite militias in Iraq against the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, according to U.S. officials.
The U.S. believes its embassy and other diplomatic outposts in Iraq are more vulnerable following the withdrawal of U.S. forces last month. Up to 15,000 U.S. diplomats, federal employees and contractors are expected to remain in Iraq.
In large measure to deter Iran, the U.S. has 15,000 troops in Kuwait, and has moved a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Persian Gulf area.
It has also been pre-positioning aircraft and other military equipment, officials say. Arms transfers to key allies in the Gulf, including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, have been fast-tracked as a further deterrent, officials say.
Israeli officials said Mr. Netanyahu's government continues to closely coordinate with the U.S. in responding to the Iranian threat. "Israel believes that heightened sanctions combined with a credible military threat may dissuade the Iranian regime from developing nuclear capabilities," Mr. Oren said.
Mr. Panetta and other top officials have privately sought assurances from Israeli leaders in recent weeks that they won't take military action against Iran. But the Israeli response has been noncommittal, U.S. officials said.
U.S. officials briefed on the military's planning said concern has mounted over the past two years that Israel may strike Iran. But rising tensions with Iran and recent changes at Iranian nuclear sites have ratcheted up the level of U.S. alarm.
"Our concern is heightened," a senior U.S. military official said of the probability of an Israeli strike over U.S. objections.
Tehran crossed at least one of Israel's "red lines" earlier this month when it announced it had begun enriching uranium at the Fordow underground nuclear facility near the holy city of Qom.
The planned closing of Israel's nuclear plant near Dimona this month, which was reported in Israeli media, sounded alarms in Washington, where officials feared it meant Israel was repositioning its own nuclear assets to safeguard them against a potential Iranian counterstrike.
Despite the close relationship between the U.S. and Israel, U.S. officials have consistently puzzled over Israeli intentions. "It's hard to know what's bluster and what's not with the Israelis," said a former U.S. official.
Inside the Israeli security establishment, a sort of good cop, bad cop routine, in which Israeli officials rattle sabers amid a U.S. scramble to restrain them, has assumed its own name: "Hold Me Back."
Some American intelligence officials complain that Israel represents a blind spot in U.S. intelligence, which devotes little resources to Israel. Some officials have long argued that, given the potential for Israel to drag the U.S. into potentially explosive situations, the U.S. should devote more resources to divining Israel's true intentions.
—Charles Levinson and Siobhan Gorman contributed to this article.
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I Betlehem Ring definieras Israel som en "olaglig regim" och ett "brott mot mänskligheten", de främjar "internationell bojkott, avyttring och sanktionskampanjer" mot Israel [d.v.s. det gamla Hitlerarvet "köp inte från judarna" "Kauft nicht bei Juden", inget annat - se bild], kallar de mer neutrala kyrkorna "medbrottslingar i brott mot mänskligheten" och attackerar kristen sionism som "ett brott och synd som trotsar kärnan i evangeliet."
