Day: November 8, 2009

America Owned by Its Army By William Pfaf

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8 November, 2009 — TMS

It is possible that the creation of an all-professional American army was the most dangerous decision ever taken by Congress. The nation now confronts a political crisis in which the issue has become an undeclared contest between Pentagon power and that of a newly elected president.

Barack Obama has yet to declare his decision on the war in Afghanistan, and there is every reason to think that he will follow military opinion. Yet he is under immense pressure from his Republican opponents to, in effect, renounce his presidential power, and step aside from the fundamental strategic decisions of the nation.

The officer he named to command the war in Afghanistan, Stanley McChrystal, demands a reinforcement of 40 thousand soldiers, raising the total U.S. commitment to over 100 thousand troops (or more, in the future). He says that he cannot succeed without them, and even then may be unable to win the war within a decade. Yet the American public is generally in doubt about this war, most of all the president’s own liberal electorate.

President Obama almost certainly will do as the the general requests, or something very close to it. He can read the wartime politics in this situation.

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US Generals Flood Israel for Exercise against Specific Threats’ By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

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8 November, 2009 — (IsraelNN.com) — 11/03/09

An unprecedented number of American generals, along with 1,400 U.S. army soldiers, are participating with top IDF brass in the high-level Juniper Cobra military exercise that one U.S. Navy commander said is aimed at “specific threats.” Public affairs officials interrupted the naval commander in order to divert the conversation from the scenario of Israel attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities and defending itself from a counter-attack.

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One senior IDF source told BBC magazine, “I’ve never seen so many American generals.”

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, along with the commander of the U.S. force in Europe and U.S. ambassador to Israel James Cunningham attended the three-week exercise on Tuesday. It is one of the largest-ever joint training drills and is fueling speculation that the United States is preparing for the worst while hoping for the best concerning Iran’s nuclear program.

Former IDF General Yitzchak Ben-Israel told BBC, “[On] one thing we are serious: We will not let Iran have a nuclear bomb.” He said that the joint drill, which is held annually, “is not a bluff’ but is aimed at pressuring Iran to back down from its refusal to cooperate with international authorities on its program to enrich uranium, a key element for a nuclear weapon.”

“But if Iran will not be pressed, if Iran continues to insist that it has the right to go and enrich uranium as much as it wants, then someone will have to use force.” he added.

“Overall, the goal is to ensure peace in the region, and maybe even farther from this region,” said Prime Minister Netanyahu. “I think the IDF and the U.S. Armed Forces are creating a new path, and the goal is to defend Israel. This exercise, unique and large in scale, is an expression of the meaningful relations between Israel and the United States”

The exercise included a live-fire component and a multi-layered active defense system.

As the joint drill was taking place, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the U.S. Congress, “Whoever threatens Israel also threatens us.”

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Video: Ni’ilin marking 20 years to the fall of the berlin wall by taking down the wall on their land

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6 November, 2009 — Uruk Net

Ni’ilin.jpgDemonstrators toppled 8 meters tall concrete wall in Ni’ilin The protest in Nilin was held today to mark the 20th anniversary to the fall of the Berlin wall, which has been declared an international day of action against Israel’s barrier. The 300 demonstrators managed to topple a part of the eight meters tall concrete wall that cuts through the village’s land. The concrete wall in Ni’ilin – five to eight meters (15 to 25 feet) in hight has only recently been laid on the path of the wall cutting through Ni’ilin’s lands, in addition to the already existing electronic barrier and razor-wire.

Since the Wall was built to allow more land to annexed to the nearby settlements rather than in a militarily strategic manner, demonstrators have been able to repeatedly dismantle parts of the electronic fence and razor-wire surrounding it. The section of the Wall in Ni’ilin is the only place along the route of the barrier where a concrete wall has been erected in an attempt to deal with the civic, unarmed campaign waged by the village in protest of the massive land theft that will enable the expansion of the illegal settlements of Modi’in Il’it and Hasmonaim.

Since Israel began its construction in the year 2002, This is the first time demonstrators succeed in toppling a part of Israel’s barrier which is a concrete wall. One of the demonstrators, Moheeb Khawaja, said during the protest: “Twenty years ago no one had thought the monster that divided Berlin into two could be brought down, but in only two days in November, it did. Today we have proven that this can also be done here and now. It is our land beyond this wall, and we will not give up on it. We will win for a simple reason – justice is on our side.”

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