In simulation, U.S. stopped Israeli response to Hizbullah WMD attack
TEL AVIV — Israel has hosted a high-level strategic simulation in
which the United States prevented the Jewish state from responding to an
Iranian weapons of mass destruction threat.
The simulation, conducted by the Interdisciplinary Center in the Israeli
city of Herzliya, was based on a scenario in which Iran supplied its proxy,
Hizbullah, with a radiation bomb. During the exercise, which employed former
diplomats and senior officials, the administration of President Barack Obama
prevented an Israeli military operation.
"As far as the United States was concerned, Israel was trigger-happy,"
former U.S. ambasador to Israel, Daniel Kurtzer, who played Obama, said. "It
sought to use the Hizbullah attack as a justification for what the United
States was told would be an all-out war."
Also In This Edition
Organizers said the simulation was based on a scenario employed by
Harvard University in early 2010. In the Harvard exercise, Washington
imposed heavy pressure on Israel to block any response to a Hizbullah strike
on the Defense Ministry and military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Middle East Newsline reported.
"Iran deterrence proved dizzyingly effective," former Israel Air Force
commander Maj. Gen. Eitan Ben-Eliahu, who participated in the simulation,
said.
The latest simulation enacted heavy pressure by Obama on Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu. During the exercise, Obama forced Netanyahu to agree to
an international, rather than Israeli, response to a Hizbullah radiation
bomb.
"This would be a very serious act of war with serious losses of life and
would be seen this way by the public," former Israeli ambassador and
Netanyahu confidant Zalman Shoval, who played the prime minister, said. "As
prime minister, I would call for the opposition to join an emergency
coalition government and hold a conversation with the president of the
United States. We would expect the United States to make clear decisions in
regard to an umbrella defense for us in the region."
Organizers said the simulation was based on the assessment that
Netanyahu as well as his defense minister, Ehud Barak, could be stopped by
Washington from launching a major attack on Hizbullah and Syria. During the
scenario, they said, Netanyahu was urged by Arab adversaries of Iran to
launch war against Hizbullah.
"In certain circumstances U.S. diplomacy can actually work in this
region, and it ends up not only leaving Israel in check but it also ends up
leading a more willing international coalition," Kurtzer said.
The simulation demonstrated the fear by the international community of
Iran and its proxies. Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni, a former
foreign minister, said virtually the entire world was prepared to accept a
nuclear Iran.
"As leader of the free world, the United States has the responsibility
of leading more effective sanctions that can absolutely turn around this
shift from a process of stopping Iran to a process of acceptance," Ms. Livni
said.
Comments
I agree with Sam completely, except he gives them more credit for being educated than I would. You can send someone to school, but you can't teach them if they are unwilling to learn. This administration is the most bizarre collection from a freak-show that I have seen in the past 50 years.
Les
6:58 p.m. / Monday, May 24, 2010
Were those people simulating Obama and Netanyahu as they really are, or on their skewed perception of reality? The reality being, Obama is a coward's coward who would let Israel die if he had the chance, and would aid Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons, just as he has been doing with no sanctions, endless "diplomacy," and outright appeasement. Israel ought to do what is best for Israel, even if it means refusing US financial aid, as it's quite capable of going it alone.
Steve D.
6:35 p.m. / Monday, May 24, 2010
Well, it's clear to anyone with more than 2 working brain cells that Obama is anti-Israel, anti-America, and anti-Christ. The only support he has in the USA is the "news" media and ignorant minority sects. The real Americans have nothing for this man and will stand with Israel in whatever it decides is the best way to deal with the Iranians. This bunch of educated idiots currently known as 'the Obama administration' lack wisdom needed in dealing with even domestic issues much less the international community. War is coming and the Obama administration is doing everything it can to defeat us and our strongest ally, Israel. Just as we've witnessed in the economic issues, the international stage is the last place these incompetant fools need to be.
Sam
12:04 p.m. / Monday, May 24, 2010
We can only hope that BiBi is made of stronger stuff and this was no more than a PR exercise designed to put the minority of Persians who are aggressive terrorists to sleep. What I propose is that the Israelis use any provocation by Iran as an opportunity to not only take out the Iranian nukes but also decapitate the aggressive terrorist government of Iran. This will be welcomed by the peaceful majority of Persians who want peace with both the Arabs and the Israelis.
Frank
12:53 p.m. / Saturday, May 22, 2010
The US will stop Israel because Israel doesn't exist day-to-day without aid from the US. Fact-of-life. Knowing this, Iran WILL attack indirectly because they know Obama is a toothless coward. See NK sinking a SK ship. What is Obama going to do, nada! The US allies will realize they are on their own as this administration continues to embrace every crooked dictator and turns away from other Western democracies. The world is less stable due to the worst President in US's short history. May God protect us. Obama won't.
Jim H.
9:30 a.m. / Saturday, May 22, 2010
Absolutely silly. The U.S. and it's manipulative as well as bumbling, fumbling, ever-changing, wishy-washy ways are a large part of the problem in the first place. Since when does ANY nation need the permission of another nation to defend itself? The U.S. doesn't ask for permission, why should Israel or anyone else?
ShareThis
