… from Press TV, Tehran
[ Editor’s Note: This was a major news story as the US Intel community, in a very careful way, spotlighted Israel as the aggressive threat in the Mideast. Statements made yesterday were sending a clear and public message not only to Israel, but to Iran and the entire Mideast powers, and NATO.
It put the stink on Israel in a major Senate hearing show, something I cannot remember happening on this scale, and at what is a critical time.
Why? It is because Israel is clearly seeing the destruction of Syria slipping out of its control, and Syria becoming strong enough to prevent Israel from taking all of the Golan Heights, which means air defense missiles will eventually be on the Syrian border protecting it from these continued IDF attacks.
Israel has decided that now, with Bibi as co-President of the United States with Trump, is the best time to get a war cranked up with Iran which it expects US forces to guarantee its victory, and pay for it all I might add.
What the Israelis saw happen yesterday is that there is some spunk left in the US defense command to not be manipulated in such a flagrant manner as Israel’s butt boy. It is going to be interesting how the Zionistas are going to respond to this, and whether the Iranians are paying attention and do not screw things up on by over playing their hand.
Now it the time to play one’s cards very carefully and conservatively, which it has so far. What proceeded this astounding Senate Intel hearing is Iran’s making it very clear to Israel that if the attacks on its people continued, or were escalated, it would respond, and if Israel wanted a war, it would be obliged to give them one.
I think the US command determined that this was not a bluff. Iran knows that if Israel over plays it hand, and no matter how much damage it inflicted on Iran, if Israel suffered great damage from retaliatory strike the world would change over night for the Likudite extremists in control of Israel.
The blame for the death and destruction in Israel would be laid squarely at their feet, and deservedly so. Would Bibi roll the dice on pushing a war with Iran to save his measly hide from his pending legal charges? VT readers know the answer to that… Jim W. Dean ]
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– First published … January 01, 2019 –
The top US intelligence official has warned Israel of the consequences of keeping up its military strikes on Syrian soil, saying the attacks could eventually trigger a response from Iran, which has its military advisors based in the Arab state.
Speaking at a hearing of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in Washington on Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said that Israel’s continued aerial assaults against Syria would increase the risk of Iran’s retaliation.
“We assess that Iran seeks to avoid a major armed conflict with Israel,” Coats said. “However, Israeli strikes that result in Iranian casualties increase the likelihood of Iranian conventional retaliation against Israel.”
Coats also raised concerns about “the long-term trajectory of Iranian influence in the region and the risk that conflict will escalate.”
He further claimed that Iran pursues “permanent military bases” in Syria and probably wants to maintain a network of “fighters” there despite the Israeli aerial assaults.
The American official was presenting the views of the US Intelligence Community to the congressional committee as part of the annual Worldwide Threat Assessment.
Tehran has been offering military advisory assistance to the Syrian army at the request of the Damascus government. Iran says it is not operating any military bases there.
The Israeli military has on multiple occasions launched air raids against targets inside Syria, some of which it claims belonged to Iranian forces.
Israel – which has been backing the terror groups operating against Damascus — views Iranian advisors in Syria as a threat and has openly pledged to target them until they leave the Arab country.
The IRGC chief commander says Iran will defend its military advisors and equipment in Syria in the wake of Netanyahu’s “ridiculous” threats.
Earlier this month, the chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) responded to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “ridiculous” threat of strikes against Iranian advisors.
Major General Ali Jafari vowed that the Islamic Republic will protect its military advisory mission against the regime’s acts of aggression.
Just days ago, Iran’s chief military commander raised the possibility of Iran adopting offensive military tactics to protect its interests:
The chief military commander says Iran is prepared to adopt offensive military tactics in order to protect its interests while generally adhering to its broad defense doctrine.
In April 2018, an Israeli airstrike against the T-4 airbase in Syria’s Homs Province killed more than a dozen people, reportedly including seven Iranian military advisors.
In May of the same year, Israel conducted its most intensive airstrikes on Syria in decades. According to Russia’s Defense Ministry, Israel had used 28 warplanes in its Syria strikes and fired 70 missiles. Both Damascus and Moscow said that the Syrian army had managed to shoot down over half of the missiles.
The Tel Aviv regime, at the time, claimed that its assault was in response to a barrage of 20 rockets that had been fired from Syria at Israeli military outposts in the occupied Golan Heights, and it blamed the rocket attack on Iran.
Jim W. Dean is VT Editor Emeritus. He was an active editor on VT from 2010-2022. He was involved in operations, development, and writing, plus an active schedule of TV and radio interviews. He now writes and posts periodically for VT.
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Yes , together the Butcher Brothers Bolton and Bibi ….!
” Bibi as the co – President of the U.S. ” You got that right !
btw,.. some of the things said in that briefing were like reading a VT article. Dare we think, rationality and plain talk, is overcoming ineptitude and obedience to “compromised actors”. Or is this some kind of “trade inside their minds” that we leave Iran alone, admit they are following the agreement , and turn our devilry toward Venezuela ? If we can be smart about more than 1 or 2 things at once it would be a positive report worthy of noting. I have Coats being: clingy memory, stable finance, too much emphasis on money, but cannot ignore facts when presented. he is capable of extending one time offers that do not return, habitually thinks small and readily takes advantage of erroneous bills in his favor, still ever seeking union.
Meanwhile, whole swathes of Palestinian and Bedouin held areas, neighborhoods, whole villages, are being ethnically cleansed by Israel. Their populations sniper culled like unwanted, burgeoning cattle herds. Not a peep of concern from Trump, Putin or from any of the “Great powers” set. It’s as if they are waiting for Israel to finish the job!
I am not convinced Iran, or any Iranian made missiles, struck the Golan Heights. It’s more plausible that the story is more theater.
There was a great video last year from the animal Kingdom. A giant Hippo was minding his own business lying half asleep and half awake on his side near a body of water. A relatively young small cat, likely a Lion, stealthily walked up to and round the Hippo sniffing him. The Lion then walked slowly away. This giant Hippo then slowly rose up on all four legs, walked up behind the Lion and grabbed him by those two giant jaws, closed them just enough to hold that poor animal but not kill it, and shook that Lion back and forth violently while then releasing him flying out to hit the ground. The Lion then sheepishly walked away licking his wounds. Obviously the Hippo knew exactly what he was doing. He could have easily killed that cat by simply fully closing his jaws. He wanted to teach that cat to never approach him or any other Hippo again. This is the kind of lesson Israel desperately needs. It may be too late now.
Have not both Iran and Russia displayed enormous restraint in responding to the obvious criminal aggression by gangsters in Israel especially in view of the fact that they basically stole the land they sit on and gang rape the Palestinians daily? How difficult would it be for both Iran and Russia or just one of them to turn the tiny country of Israel into ashes? As this excellent summary by Jim Dean explains, would anyone in the world weep for Israel if this happened? Didn’t this bully of the world ask for it? Beg for it!
Israel is like the younger child who parents allow to beat on older siblings without restraint, but the older siblings are prevented from fighting back by the parents. Israel has only won wars due to interference/support by the Soviet Union, Great Britain, France (1948 and 1956) and the US (1967 and 1973),
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