IAF Chief: S-300 is En Route to Syria; Surprise War is Possible

IAF Commander Eshel says IAF can deal with all weapon systems. “The question is only — at what cost.”

IAF Commander, Major General Amir Eshel, spoke Wednesday about the IAF’s preparedness for a surprise war scenario with Syria, and said that the S-300 anti-aircraft system is on its way to Syria.

Philippines boosts military to resist ‘bullies’

Country relations in Asia are getting to the boiling point in regards to China. What we’re seeing within the region is an arms race to protect itself against the communist giant, and it’s not just the Philippines. For example, Japan seems to be silently going nuclear and going on the offensive to protect its disputed territory. Within the next ten years, we could see a situation where all countries within the Asian giant’s reach become strong enough combined that China will have no choice but to go on a ‘charm offensive’ and unite the continent under its political/military/economic umbrella rather than go to war with every neighbor. Having done this, combined with the United States suiciding itself from within and becoming more unreliable as a partner each day, it will have effectively taken out America’s hegemony in the Asia Pacific without having to go to war with it. However, because that nobody has a crystal ball (that works), a war or skirmish in the future shouldn’t be dismissed.

MANILA – Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Tuesday announced a US$1.8-billion (S$2.26b) military upgrade to help defend his country’s maritime territory against “bullies”, amid an ever-worsening dispute with China.

The announcement came on the same day that the Philippines filed a protest with China over the “illegal and provocative” presence of a Chinese warship and two other vessels at a Filipino-claimed shoal in the disputed South China Sea.

Massing on the Heights — Hezbollah forces mass on Israel’s northern border

Iran and its terror proxy Hezbollah are building a military force on Israel’s northern border in the Golan Heights in order to wage “popular resistance” against the Jewish state, according to areport released Tuesday.

Military forces constituted by both Syrian and non-Syrian forces have been amassing near the Golan Heights and are waiting for an attack order, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which has collected and translated a number of Arab media reports on the matter.

Breath-Taking Progress

What you see here is the notion that without humans in combat, there’s less risk involved, therefore there is stronger public support for the usage of UAVs in war, and war itself. Such might be the current situation in America today, as it’s waging 74+ wars, both declared and undeclared. If there’s no human intervention (i.e. drone strikes) or a small teams of special ops are being used, it’s not thought of as a war.

BERLIN (Own report) – The German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) is propagating in favor of the deployment of combat drones. The influential think tank, headquartered in Berlin, has published an opinion poll indicating that more than two-thirds of the German population are in favor of using Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles or UCAVs in warfare. The results of this poll can be found in the current edition of “Internationale Politik,” the journal published by the DGAP. The journal extensively treats the subject – with an unambiguous tenor: UCAV development is characterized as an “enormous technological leap” that the German armed forces cannot evade. The authors consider the construction of combat drones, which, based on artificial intelligence can quasi “autonomously” carry out killer functions without human intervention, to be a “logical consequence.” The PR campaign, launched by the DGAP, accords with the German government’s intention to increase the reliance on UCAVs in future wars.

‘India preparing for a possible two-front war with Pak, China’

India continues to view Pakistan as the “real threat” even though it is adjusting its military strategy to include the possibility of a limited two-front war with both Pakistan and China, the first Blue Book on India published by a Chinese think tank said.

Pakistan is India’s main “real threat” to maintain a high degree of vigilance and preparedness, the summary of the Blue Book released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, (CASS) said.

Europe’s Unemployed: An Army Waiting for a Leader

As Europe edges toward mass anarchy and chaos, the Catholic Church is emerging as the key mediator between Europeans and their leaders.

Europe’s unemployment crisis is one everyone knows about, but no one is thinking seriously about.

Syria: Israeli attack equals declaration of war. Iron Domes at Haifa and Safed

Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said Sunday, May 5, that the strike at Syria overnight represented a “declaration of war” by Israel. Russian and Iranian media earlier predicted full-scale Middle East hostilities involving Israel erupting in the coming hours, in the wake of Israel’s renewed strikes against Iranian missiles bound for Hizballah and other targets around Damascus. Russian sources reported rumors that President Bashar Assad was on the point of declaring war on Israel.

Israel Air Force bombs Syrian chemical and other targets from Lebanon, Golan

This could be the beginning of a wider, regional war. We are yet to see Bashar al-Assad’s response, or Iran’s. Perhaps the Assad regime’s military is too crippled or diverted on the civil war itself. Perhaps Iran also would back away from further involvement, other than planning for a post-Assad era with thousands of sleeper operatives it has already planted within its neighbor. Only time will tell, but this does seem to heighten the possibility of Isaiah 17:1 becoming fulfilled. Assad himself has said he will vow to press on, even if Damascus is reduced to rubble.

American sources reported Israeli air strikes Saturday, May 4, against a number of targets in Syria including a chemical weapons depot outside Damascus. They were carried out remotely from Lebanese air space and the Golan starting Friday and continuing up until early Saturday, May 3. Neither Damascus nor Jerusalem has yet confirmed the attacks in which according to US sources 16 IAF warplanes took part.  According to one report, Israeli jets were seen early Saturday circling over Assad’s presidential compound in Damascus before moving on to target a weapons site. The Israeli jets reportedly received fire but returned to base unscathed.

Some sources say the target attacked was a convoy transporting chemical arms to the Lebanese Hizballah, which Israeli leaders have vowed to prevent. debkafile’s military sources say the start of the Israeli air force operation can be fixed by the sirens set off over the Golan Friday afternoon and again before dawn Saturday. The IDF spokesman said they were set off by a “technical glitch.” They now prove to have been triggered automatically by the Israeli aerial movements.

Helmut Kohl: I acted like a dictator to bring in the euro

“I knew that I could never win a referendum in Germany,” he said. “We would have lost a referendum on the introduction of the euro. That’s quite clear. I would have lost and by seven to three.”

The interview was conducted by Jens Peter Paul, a German journalist in 2002, the year when the Deutsche Mark was replaced by euro notes and coins, but has only been published now.

Most U.S. Troops Would Die in N. Korean Onslaught

Not only this, but how would the West successfully retaliate? The North Koreans have hundreds of miles of tunnel networks hardened for bombings, so therefore they’re likely prepared to withstand the retaliatory strikes. To get to those hiding, it would mean going through the Vietnam experience all over again. In addition, and like the first Korean War, the United States will likely have to deal with Chinese intervention again.

WASHINGTON – If North Korea were to launch an attack, U.S. intelligence analysts tell WND the barrage of hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds and missiles would destroy not only South Korea’s capital, Seoul, but also most of the U.S. troops stationed primarily around the capital and near the Demilitarized Zone separating the two countries.

“The 28,500 guys on the border are a speed bump and a trigger for war,” a U.S. intelligence officer who is closely monitoring North Korean activities told WND in an exclusive interview. “They probably would die.”

SAVAGE: ‘We may be forced to attack North Korea before they attack us’

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is now threatening to wipe out American cities through the use of nuclear weapons.

Dr. Savage ponders the motivation behind these threats, contemplates possible U.S. responses and explains how Asian “honor culture” might be influencing Kim Jong Un’s behavior.

“North Korea’s leader has backed himself into a corner,” explained Michael Savage, noting:

If you know anything about Asian culture, and the concept of “saving face,” if the boss of North Korea has approved a merciless nuke attack on the U.S., then he has to do something to save face.

Chinese expert: If tensions escalate, US support for PHL, Japan will be ‘limited’

The United States will only give “limited” support to Japan and the Philippines if ever the situation between the two countries and China worsens, a Chinese expert said Wednesday.

A report posted on Chinese website SINA quoted Ruan Zongze, vice president and senior research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), as saying that he expects that the US  won’t “go too far” in supporting Japan and the Philippines.