When NBC first ran with a story about this, I laughed and cheered. Now that the story is changing and there are three reported strikes, I am having a harder time believing it.
Not that either the US or Israelis are incapable of this, except politically, but it is very unlikely that this is the results of either airstrikes or drones. One strike might work, but three?
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2009/03/exclusive-three.html
ABC News' Luis Martinez reports: Israel has conducted three military strikes against targets in Sudan since January in an effort to prevent what were believed to be Iranian weapons shipments from reaching Hamas in the Gaza Strip, ABC News has learned.
Earlier this week, CBSNews.com was the first to report that Israel had conducted an airstrike in January against a convoy carrying weapons north into Egypt to be smuggled into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
But actually, since January, Israel has conducted a total of three military strikes against smugglers transporting what were believed to be Iranian weapons shipments destined for Gaza, a U.S. official told ABC News.
The information matches recent reports from Sudanese officials of two airstrikes in the desert of eastern Sudan and the sinking of a ship in the Red Sea carrying weapons.
Jonathan Peled, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington, would only say, "No comment," when contacted by ABC News on the matter.
Sudanese officials initially said this week that 39 people riding in 17 trucks were killed in a mid-January airstrike conducted by an unidentified aircraft in a desert area north of the Red Sea port of Port Sudan.
Today, a Sudanese Foreign Ministry representative said there were two separate bombing raids against smugglers in January and February. The Sudanese minister for highways was more specific, saying the airstrikes took place Jan. 27 and Feb. 11.
Arabic broadcaster Al-Jazeera also reported today a Sudanese official's claim that Israel had sunk a ship carrying weapons.
Israeli officials continue to refuse to confirm or deny the reports of airstrikes, but Thursday Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said, "Israel hits every place it can in order to stop terror, near and far."
In January, the United States signed an agreement with Israel to stop arms smuggling into Gaza. At the time, Israel was conducting a military operation in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for Hamas' firing of rockets on Israeli towns.
Shortly after the agreement was signed, the U.S. Navy twice boarded a Cypriot ship in the Red Sea that was traveling from Iran to Syria and believed to be carrying Iranian weapons bound for Hamas.
After the boardings were inconclusive, the United States asked Egypt and Cyprus to search the vessel when it made ports of call. Cypriot authorities ultimately found material that could be used to manufacture munitions, which they described as a violation of the U.N. ban on Iranian arms exports.
After the Media have tried to make the story about the Israelis and the US, it would be a shame not to elaborate upon the malfeasance of the Iranians and their lackeys.
A better report is at Report: Israel Attacked Sudan 3X Near Egyptian Border
So who did bomb the Iranian arms trucks in Sudan?
and also:
Sudan: Questions on an Airstrike
STRATFOR Today ยป March 26, 2009 | 1357 GMT
Reports emerged March 26 of an airstrike on a convoy of suspected arms smugglers in Sudan in January. Information is still sketchy at this point, and the story has unraveled with each new statement, but the report appears to have originated in Sudan, with Sudanese officials pointing fingers at the United States. (This comes after the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar al Bashir, who has maintained a defiant position despite the pressure.) A CBS report then emerged citing U.S. officials that in turn placed responsibility in Israel's lap.
At the moment, these reports raise more questions than answers.
These reports have already been circulated across various media outlets, and most reports read identically. Where did they come from, who leaked them and why now?
Are the reports accurate? At this point, the reports suggest that a 17-truck convoy was attacked north of the Sudanese city of Port Sudan (near the Egyptian border) by aircraft, killing some 39 people. The convoy was supposedly carrying arms bound for Hamas in Gaza -- weapons that originated from Iran. (STRATFOR has noted connections between Iran and Sudan.)
If accurate, what weapons were being smuggled? Small-arms ammunition, mortars and the occasional Grad artillery rocket? Advanced anti-tank guided missiles?
Who pulled off the reported attack and why? If reports of the scale of this attack are accurate, it would have taken more than a single unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to pull it off, even the more heavily armed MQ-9 Reaper. The U.S. military operates out of Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, the base of operations for counterterrorism efforts in the Horn of Africa. Aircraft as large as the AC-130 gunship are thought to operate from there, though most of the presence there is thought to consist of CIA and special operations force elements. The Pentagon certainly has the assets in place to accomplish an operation like this.
It is a 600-mile flight down the Red Sea and the coast of Egypt before Israel planes could arrive at the Sudanese coast, and then get further inland for the actual strike. But Israel has aerial refueling capability and strike fighters capable of the inland leg that could then be refueled over the Red Sea before returning to base. Israel thus also certainly has the capability to do something like this.
Were any other countries' airspace violated?
Why were the Egyptian authorities not notified? The decision to proceed with a direct strike that would take significant planning suggests that it was more important to destroy the convoy immediately than to trust the Egyptians with the intelligence.
Finally, this was not a strike of opportunity carried out by a UAV that happened to be in the area. As mentioned, if reports of the scale of the attack are accurate, refueling aircraft had to be in place and manned strike aircraft armed and briefed on the mission. Even on a contracted timetable, that takes actionable intelligence with significant longevity.
What was this intelligence and where did it come from?
All of this leads me to believe that the Israelis are not to blame. I can easily picture the Jew-haters in the current White House and their Media butt-boys salivating at the chance to blame the Israelis for dead terrorists, especially if they know better. I can also picture a small group of Israeli commandos doing this with drones and direct fire missiles,
If you can think of a better idea, let me know.
