I saw this story break on cable before the posting the link below.
Is something imminent ?
Actually, the Times link itself tells a more complcated tale, from which samhenry [whoever he, she or it may be] has summarized and cherry picked.
The first four paragraphs of the Times Online story :
Saudi Arabia has conducted tests to stand down its air defences to enable Israeli jets to make a bombing raid on Iran’s nuclear facilities, The Times can reveal.
In the week that the UN Security Council imposed a new round of sanctions on Tehran, defence sources in the Gulf say that Riyadh has agreed to allow Israel to use a narrow corridor of its airspace in the north of the country to shorten the distance for a bombing run on Iran.
To ensure the Israeli bombers pass unmolested, Riyadh has carried out tests to make certain its own jets are not scrambled and missile defence systems not activated. Once the Israelis are through, the kingdom’s air defences will return to full alert.
“The Saudis have given their permission for the Israelis to pass over and they will look the other way,” said a US defence source in the area. “They have already done tests to make sure their own jets aren’t scrambled and no one gets shot down. This has all been done with the agreement of the [US] State Department.”
I'm not exactly sure why any "tests" have to be conducted to stand down Saudi air defenses. Xrist, just order the damned things grounded and that would be that. I can't imagine that there are a bunch of hot-shot, wanna-be aces Saudi pilots just itching to scramble and dogfight with the Israelis.
And I can't imagine the Saudi royals, as cluelessly corrupt and decadent as any Versailles-dweller eating cake on the eve of the French Revolution, would ever consent to have this news make public, even as plausibly deniable leak.
And i'm curious about "Once the Israelis are through, the kingdom’s air defences will return to full alert." What aboutthe return trip? Are the boys of zion planning to ditch in the Persian Gulf and get picked up by the Israeli subs?
This may be another turn of the psych warfare screw, like th Israeli nuclear subs prowling around the Persian Gulf.
Stranger things have happened, though.
Also notice how offhandedly it's mentioned that all of this is being done with the agreement of the US Dept of State, thereby implicating this country, come what may, in any Israeli strike which may come to pass.
As the Israelis have to cross Iraqi airspace, that unresolved problem remains.
I'm hoping that they don't decide to land in Iraq to refuel, in as public a maner as possible, and really fuck over this country.
No doubt POTUS Obama would advise patience until all the facts are known to see if [1] the Israelis did indeed cross Iraqi airspace, and [2] if they did, were these the same Israelis who conducted the strikes on Iran and [3] if they were, well then, VPOTUS Biden and Special Rep Mitchell will remonstrate with the Israelis in the strongest possible terms. Hopefully, the israelis will take a little time of from the further construction of illegal west bank settlements to receive Biden, mitchell, clinton et. al. and make a pretense of listening to pro forma protests delived in the most perfunctory manner imaginable.
In any case, poor marikod must be feeling some crosspressures.
Let's wait and see.
-- Modified on 6/12/2010 11:07:48 AM
-- Modified on 6/12/2010 11:12:49 AM
is that Russia yesterday said it would not deliver the SS 300 anti aircraft system to Iran bc these weapons are included in the latest round of UN sanctions.
Now, by all accounts I have read, any bombing raid on Iran after the system is installed would result in a terrifying lost of pilots and planes bc this system can shoot down high or low attackers. The problem is that Russia seems to change its mind about the deal every few weeks as it debates whether is better to be a responsible international citizen or cash in on the $800 million it would get for the sale.
So does Israel decide the raid is off bc there no longer is an impending sale of the system, or decide the raid is on bc it is likely Russia will change its mind?
-- Modified on 6/12/2010 12:40:53 PM
It got more interesting .But it is par for the course for Saudi Arabia to deny .
Saudi Arabia denies it will allow Israel to use its airspace .
'Saudi Arabia responded Saturday afternoon to The Times of London report that the Saudi Air Force would allow Israeli jets to use Saudi airspace to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities. The Saudi Defense Ministry said the report was baseless and untrue.
“Saudi Arabia is not party to the conflict between Iran and the US and Israel,” the Defense Ministry said.''
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=178225
-- Modified on 6/12/2010 12:37:23 PM
provides a real incentive for Israel's hawks to decide they must make a preemptive bombing raid before the system is operational, even though Iran has no nuclear weapons and as discussed before, there is no credible basis to believe that they would use them to attack Israel.
I just can't believe that Saudi Royal Family would ever approve of this.
The Saudis are scared shitless about any Moslem country that would like to establish a "caliphate" type regime. The Saudi control the holy cities.
If my memory serves me, and this is from memory, the Saudis are Sunni and the Iranians tend to be Shiite.
They only thing worse in a religion that people outside the religion is people of the same faith but a different sect.
The Catholics and the Prods were at war in Ireland for generations. It becomes a question of "true faith." It is worse to be close to the ture religion and reject it than be a total outsider.
That is why Hindus inspired less animosity among Catholics 100 years ago that did Prods. The Hindus were Heathens anyway, so it didn't matter. the Prods were so close, why couldn't they see the true light.
Likewise, Jewish theology is closer to Islam thatn Hindu. But being closer, the rejection is more severe. THe Islamic world is more hostite to Jews than Hindus, EVEN BEFORE ISREAL. In 1930 they had massacres of Jews in Hebron, but they never attacked Hindus then.
In the cause of the Saudis v. Iran, the failure to accept true Islam is bad,and the desire to be the dominant sect on the part of Iran is a threat to the Saudis.
(Why do you think the Saudis were willing to let the US have bases on the Holy Land to fight another Islamic, albiet secular, nation? Iraq was closer to the Saudis culturally and religiously than the US. But they welcomed the US in fighting Iraq.)
Same things.
''Efram Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies near Tel Aviv, says Arab allies of the United States are prepared to cooperate with Israel to block Iranian ambitions.
"It's hard to believe that the State Department does not understand that the moderate Arab states will cooperate to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear bomb regardless of the Palestinian issue," Inbar said.''
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2010/06/14/Fearing-Iran-Arab-stand-on-Israel-shifts/UPI-48251276538998/
The we would not be dealing with these sandfleas now!!!