Israel Prepares For War With Hezbollah (More Rumors Of War)

Israel Prepares For Short, Intense War To Deliver 'Knock-Out Blow' To Hizbullah

Israel’s military has been preparing for a brief and decisive war against Hizbullah, a report said.

The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies asserted that Israel’s military has invested heavily in new capabilities to ensure a brief war against Hizbullah in Lebanon.

In a report, Israeli analyst Yaakov Lappin said Israel was preparing for air and ground operations that would destroy Hizbullah’s strategic capabilities.

“The Israel Defense Forces has prepared for a combined air and large-scale ground operation, driven by new intelligence and precision-firepower capabilities, to deliver a knock-out blow and eliminate Hizbullah as a fighting force for years to come,” the report, titled “Israel vs. the Iran-Hizbullah Axis,” said.

The report, released before the latest attacks from Lebanon, said both Israel and Hizbullah were engaged in a long-term military buildup. Lappin, a defense reporter for the Jerusalem Post, said the buildup was meant to prepare for an imminent war that could include massive Hizbullah missile and rocket strikes on the Jewish state.

Hizbullah, aided by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was said
to have accumulated an arsenal of more than 80,000 missiles and rockets.
Lappin said the arsenal as well as Hizbullah capabilities were growing
despite its intervention in the civil war in Syria. Israel and Hizbullah
fought an inconclusive 34-day war in 2006.

“With one out of every 10 homes in Lebanon used as a rocket launcher or
weapons storage depot, Hizbullah and Iran have hidden the core of their
firepower in the midst of the Lebanese civilian population, endangering its
safety in a future war,” the report said.

At the same time, Israel was preparing for what the report termed
unprecedented air power capabilities to counter Hizbullah. Lappin said the
Israeli military intended a rapid invasion of Lebanon based on augmented
intelligence as well as a combat air fleet that could destroy hundreds of
Hizbullah targets per day.

“The IDF’s new capabilities also lean on a network-centered
technological revolution that allows the three branches of the IDF — Air
Force, ground forces, and Navy — to coordinate their strikes, and stay
linked in to Military Intelligence in real time,” the report, released in
November, said. “The new technology also allows both the General Staff
and the commanding levels in the field — at the division, brigade, and
battalion command levels — to enjoy enhanced command and control
abilities.”

Still, Israel’s plans could be hampered by infighting and budget
constraints. The report cited the suspension of production of the Namer
armored personnel carrier, designed to withstand Hizbullah mines and
anti-tank missiles.

“The ground forces, stung badly by its poor performance during the 2006
Second Lebanon War, has been preparing for new conflict with Hizbullah by
drilling a blitz invasion of southern Lebanon and the destruction of
Hizbullah infrastructure, using a massive combination of tanks, infantry,
artillery, and engineering corps,” the report said.

Meanwhile, in the land of Magog:

Russia Plans New ICBM To Replace Cold War 'Satan' Missile



Russia will begin deploying a new type of long-range missile in 2018 to replace a Cold War standby known in the West as "Satan", a military commander said on Tuesday in a signal to the United States that Moscow is improving its nuclear arsenal.

A new Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) called the Sarmat is being developed to supplant the RS-20B Voyevoda, the Interfax news agency quoted the commander of Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces, General Sergei Karakayev, as saying.

President Vladimir Putin has emphasized that Russia must maintain a strong nuclear deterrent, in part because of an anti-missile shield the United States is building in Europe and which Moscow says could undermine its security.

A pro-Kremlin newspaper reported on Monday that Moscow has deployed missiles with a range of hundreds of miles in its western exclave of Kaliningrad, alarming the governments of neighboring Poland and the Baltic states.

It was unclear whether the Sarmat was a missile that Russia tested in May 2012 and said should improve Russia's ability to foil missile defense systems. The Defense Ministry did not reveal the name of that missile.





Russia To Deploy Rail-Mounted Nuclear Missiles In Response To U.S. Missile Shield


Russia Strategic Missile Force Commander announced today that Moscow plans to deploy rail-mounted nuclear missiles as a defensive measure against the United States’ Prompt Global Strike missile program.

“A Defense Ministry report has been submitted to the president and the order has been given to develop a preliminary design of a rail-mounted missile system,” Lt. Gen. Sergei Karakaev told RIA Novosti, adding that work will begin on the project early next year.

The benefits of a rail-mounted program include the ability to camouflage the missiles amidst commercial rail traffic, unlike more conventional silo-based nuclear missiles which can more easily be located and targeted.

The START Treaty, signed by the United States and Russia in 2011, does not prohibit the development of rail-based missiles.

The fact that Russia decommissioned the last of its rail-based missiles eight years ago but is now restarting the program again suggests that Russia is embarking on a nuclear arms build-up.

Russia’s military build-up is a response to Washington’s plans to complete a project to install a missile defense system in Redzikowo, Poland by 2018 while another ballistic missile defense system in southern Romania is expected to be operational by 2015.

Moscow fears that the missile shield is in fact offensive in nature and part of a NATO military encirclement of Russia.

The news follows a separate announcement on Monday that Russia had moved nuclear-capable Iskander missiles closer to EU borders, a development that spurred complaints from the United States as well as Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.



German Chancellor Compares NSA To Communist Stasi

German Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly compared the NSA’s spying tactics to those of the Stasi, a ruthless communist secret police force, during an angry conversation with President Barack Obama.

Furious over reports that the U.S. had listened to her personal mobile phone, Merkel reportedly confronted Obama. “This is like the Stasi,” she said, according to the Guardian.

Merkel also told Obama it is clear that the NSA can’t be trusted due to the massive amount of information Edward Snowden was able to leak, the New York Times reports.

Snowden is scheduled to testify on NSA spying to a European parliament inquiry next month. U.S. lawmakers are upset over the decision and are pressuring the EU to cancel the testimony.

DID Official: Snowden Has "Everything"

Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden stole vastly more information than previously speculated, and is holding it at ransom for his own protection.

“What’s floating is so dangerous, we’d be behind for twenty years in terms of access (if it were to be leaked),” a ranking Department of Defense official told the Daily Caller.

“He stole everything — literally everything,” the official said.

Also see:





Former Top NSA Official: 'We Are Now In A Police State'



NSA's Goal: Elimination Of Individual Privacy Worldwide



Debate Over Jewish Prayer At Temple Mount Heats Up


Jailed Pastor 'Abandoned Because He Is Christian