Report: Israel Rehearsed Attack on Iran

A major military exercise carried out by Israel earlier this month seemed to be a test-run for any potential strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, the New York Times reported, citing US officials.

In Athens, an official with the Greek air force's central command confirmed to AFP the substance of the report, stating that it had taken part in "joint training exercises" with Israel off the Mediterranean island of Crete.

The maneuvers, code-named "Glorious Spartan 08," took place on May 28 and June 12, and consisted of aerial maneuvers and knowledge exchange, said the Greek source, who requested anonymity.

news.sbs.com.au...

mod edit: cut down quote, added external quote tags

[edit on 24-6-2008 by UK Wizard]

Interesting that Israels planes have tails like that of a scorpion.

WWIII is upon us.

Damn! I hope the Israelis give the Iranians more time to practice before Israel attacks!

Cmon folks, Israel should just rename itself "Worlds biggest illegal nuclear program".

Like Ive said in other posts...

To hell with them both....

It never ceases to amaze me that the only country who has used weapons of mass destruction, when she had no need to, should dictate to a NATION STATE what it can and cannot do.

I notice at the same time however, [that] the foreign policy towards our nearer African friends is somewhat patchy and that the US led UN is reluctant to sound off against Mr Mugabe.

The US would do better in the Middle East if it at least got Israel to adopt the UN Resolutions regarding the occupied territories and force Israel to address the so called 'Palestinian' Homeland question - with or without the now debunct Mr Tony Blair, than to lecture Iran on its fledgling nuclear industry.

I for one, am heartily sick and tired of people asking whether or not Israel should have nuclear weapons or not.

It is reputed that Israel has acquired nuclear weaponry through the back door as it were, from the US.

From my point of view [and one could argue this 'till the cows came home]
is that since 1949 Israel has, in one way or another, been constantly at war with her Arab neighbours.

In 1973 [?] the Egyptiand and Syrians kicked off the Yom Kippur war. By then, Israel had managed to acquire [perhaps] a dozen surface fused nuclear bombs.

Even in her darkest hour, when Israel was loosing the war, Israel did not go nuclear.

Forget about the semantics of dropping nuclear weapons against the Egyptiand or the Syrians. If Israel had to resort to nuclear weapons, it would have been the last desperate act of a near dead nation.

That she did not, and her reasons for not doing so, will only stand full scrutiny in the sands of time.

But for me the only reason the State of Israel exists today, is because no Arab leader cannot be sure that Israel will not use her nuclear weapons.

[edit on 23-6-2008 by fritz]

Fritz and others,

To my limited knowlege ...the nuclear position of the nation we today call Israel is embodied in what is called

The Sampson Complex.

This is a policy which has been changed from the previous policy prior to the acquisition of nuclear weapons. That older poliicy was called

The Masada Complex.

These should be pretty much self explainatory to those of us who know a modicum of history but they can also be looked up on the web for those wanting further details.

Thanks,
Orangetom

Iranian defense, I wonder how well the S-300 & TOR-M1 would cope against 100 F15/F16's, lets not forget when Iraq was attacked by air in the gulf wars they did not have the same capabilitys that Iran now possess.

Russia has delivered an undetermined number of Tor-M1 systems (originally built for Greece) to the Islamic Republic of Iran amid protests from the United States.[2] It is suspected that at least 29 such systems have been transferred along with service contracts with an approximate value of $700,000,000 USD.

IRAN TAKES DELIVERY OF RUSSIAN TOR-M1 MISSILES

It has been reported in the Russian press that the Iranians will use the Tor-M1 system to defend their nuclear facilities against possible U.S. air and missile attacks (see EDM, September 20, 2006). But the Tor-M1 can take on only relatively low-flying targets (up to six kilometers) at a relatively short range (up to 12 kilometers). The Tor-M1 is good against helicopters, incoming attack planes, and low-flying slow cruise missiles. But the Tor-M1 will be unable to engage U.S. bombers, especially stealth aircraft, flying over 10 kilometers high while they release a volley of GPS-guided bombs.

Iran successfully tests Russian TOR-M1 missiles

Kill probabilities for later versions are quoted as:
92-95% against aircraft
80-96% against helicopters
60-90% against cruise missiles (with an effective range of around 5 km/3 miles)
70-90% against precision munitions (LGBs, glide bombs, etc.)
90% against UAVs

Iran's status regarding the S-300 system remains controversial. They seem to have acquired an unknown number of S-300PMU-1 missiles in 1993, maybe even recently from Belarus.[17] Iran claimed to have signed a contract with Russia on 25 December 2007 on the sales of the S-300PMU-1 missile system.[18] Russian officials have denied this.

The S-300 is an improvement over the Tor-M1 air defense missile system. Russia delivered 29 Tor-M1s to Iran this year under a $700 million contract signed in December 2005. Iranian media reports have claimed the improved missile systems could inflict significant damage on U.S. or Israeli forces, were they to attack Iran.

reply to post by orangetom1999[/url]

Ah yes - The Masada Complex! One has to wonder Orange, if you are a professor of ancient history?

Do you have a degree in any 'ology' perchance?

Somehow my friend, I cannot envisage the Iranians building a giant ramp to get over the Israeli wall.

More to the point, I don't believe the Israelis would needlessly slaughter their old and infirm, their children and then their wives before they finally slit each others throats.

More to the point, where does Delilah fit in to all of this?

LOL LOL ..no Fritz..no ology here on the end of my name.

I just like to read alot when time allows. I ran across this one some years ago..sort of just reading random books and it was mentioned that the Israelis had switched their survival dogma from the Masada Complex to the Sampson Complex...if they were ever about to be overun by the Arabs.

Now that they have nuclear weapons ..the doctrine is that the Israelis intend to take everone with them if they are about to be overun..as did Sampson against the Philistines with his last breath. And they mean ...everyone.

This is the essence of the Sampson Complex. As the Israelis claim... "Never Again."

I dont think they are bluffing here.

As I recall the unofficial stories...the Israelis were arming thier nukes when it looked like they were about to be overun in the Yom Kippur War. This knowlege has been carefully kept from most of the American public.

THanks,
Orangetom.

[edit on 24-6-2008 by orangetom1999]

Certain European country is a target in the samson option `never forget and never forgive` is also the words used.