I recently had the pleasure of attending a forum put on by the Israel Missile Defense Association. The IMDA forum was co-sponsored by the Claremont Institute and the Children of Holocaust Survivors.
While many in the audience had strong political opinions, this event was not about politics. It was about policy. The IMDA has one mission, and that is to educate people on the ins and outs of everything related to missile defense.
The presenters were Avi Schnur, the Executive Director of the IMDA, and Brian Kennedy of the Claremont Institute. Larry Greenfield of the Claremont Institute was the moderator of what was a very sobering evening.
The event took place only days after the heroic rescue of Richard Phillips by Navy Seals. Three perfectly fired shots took down three pirates.
Larry Greenfield began with some ice-breaker remarks.
“I am a proud Navy man. Let’s pay a tribute to the Navy Seals. Let’s also pay a tribute to an American hero, Richard Phillips.”
“The Navy has played a vital role in preserving the safety of America since the days of Thomas Jefferson, during the Barbary Wars of 1801 to 1805.”
“To those in this room, I wish you a happy Passover. With Passover we celebrate a festival of freedom. A love of freedom is what America protects and defends today.”
“Those involved with Navy Intelligence have an expression. ‘In God we Trust. All others, we monitor.'”
“Some might have noticed a slight shift in foreign policy lately. We now have a world wide apology tour, the closing of Guantanamo Bay, and bowing before the Saudi King.”
“Yet tonight is not about partisan politics. This is about something we can all agree about, the need to keep America safe. This is about the importance of missile defense.”
Avi Schnur then gave a very serious presentation. Mr. Schnur has a background with Northrup Grumman. His expertise is in space and laser products.
“Israel’s enemies are now making far reaching changes in military strategy. No more are they using traditional weapons. Now they are using missiles and rockets.”
“Israel is surrounded by the largest world fleet of missiles.”
“All of Israel’s major populations centers are in the range of Hezbollah and Hamas missiles.”
“Missiles, unlike rockets, can be aimed.”
“There is a missile defense gap between what is available and what is needed.”
“Israel has many threats. Iran is a threat. Their missiles now contain one ton warheads. This is not like the old twenty kilogram warheads that Hezbollah used to fire. Syria is a threat as well. They have thousands of missiles, buried in silos in the mountains. Hezbollah is a threat. Their missiles now contain half of a ton warheads.”
Mr. Schnur then shifted from the threats and problems to the solution, in the form of defenses.
“The F-16 I is a capable aircraft. The United States has them. Israel does not.”
“The Arrow Missile has been deployed against Iran. The Arrow Missile has been very effective. This was a joint project between America and Israel. However, production of the Arrow missile ended this year. The Arrow is the only long range defense that Israel has.”
“Medium range is needed to deal with Syria and Hezbollah. There is the New Patriot Interceptor. It destroys items at Mock 10 speed. There is no warhead. There is just complete disintegration.”
“There is also the Skyguard Laser. The prototype is meant to defend against Ketushah rockets.”
“For short range, there is the Phalanx Gun. This is being used by America in the Green Zone in Iraq and by Israel to combat attacks against Sderot.”
“What is probably shocking to most of you is that the Israeli military has fought the development of these weapons. That may sound strange, that Israel’s own military would want to fight the development of weapons that could save Israel. Yet one characteristics of democracies is that democracies need tragedies before taking action. For America, it was 9/11. Democracies need tragedies. Problems with developing these systems in Israel include budgetary and other constraints. Money for these weapons must be taken from somewhere else, and nobody wants to give up their slice of the budget.”
“These defense systems are not expensive, especially when compared to the amount of current world wide spending during these times. Building these missile defense systems will not take a relatively large amount of money. It will take a large amount of political will.”
“Benjamin Netanyahu has the political will. He has promised to defend Israel. The United States should let him keep his word.”
“Sitting back and hoping is not a solution. We are past that point.”
Brian Kennedy then offered his perspective.
“Happy Passover. Passover was another time in history when Jews refused to allow themselves to be destroyed. Here we are again today.”
“There is a Hebrew word ‘Shoah.’ Shoah means whirlwind. There is epochal confusion where good and bad are put on the same moral plane.”
“Twelve years ago, in 1997, 75% of people thought that we in America already had a missile defense system.”
“Ronald Reagan believed in missile defense. He felt it was better to prevent another attack.”
“Why don’t we have missile defense? This is bipartisan failure. Democrats and Republicans are to blame.”
“Liberals oppose missile defense because they oppose shows of force and military strength. They prefer the nihilist approach of mutually assured destruction. Conservatives were too busy preening over the end of the Cold War. We won the Cold War, but we never got rid of the Soviet weapons.”
“The GOP has been too busy saving tax dollars.”
“America has a rudimentary system of interceptors in Alaska and California. This is better than nothing, but it is not acceptable.”
“An attack on America by attacking our access to electricity would be devastating. Absent electricity, America could hold 30 million people. We have 300 million people. Food and water require electricity. If a ballistic missile from a ship takes out our electricity, then America has ended. Civilization has ended.”
“Iran has twice tested ballistic missiles in the Caspian Sea.”
“President Obama has said that he will support a missile defense system only if it is ‘cost effective and proven to work,’ but he won’t provide the money to make it work. It costs 30 billion dollars. To paraphrase an old senator, that is not even real money nowadays.”
“President Ahmadinejad is not crazy. He is cold, calculating, and rational. He sacrificed his own women and children. He put sheets around them and had them roll through minefields in the Iran-Iraq war. Even John McCain didn’t talk about this.”
“The Iranian goal is to bring about the 12th Imam. This will only happen with a cataclysm. They have no fear of obliteration.”
“One such cataclysm could come in the form of Iran destroying our transformers in an electric attack. We only have 300 transformers. That’s it. There are no backups just sitting around.”
“The experts know this, but the problem is that the experts are not getting their message to the leadership.”
“There are 9000 interceptors defending 75% of Russians. The Chinese and Israel are setting up missile defense systems. Only the West will not get right that we need it.”
“For those that are Republicans, saying you are for missile defense is not enough. Talking tough isn’t enough. You have to do something about it.”
The question and answer session allowed for more reality to be spread by the presenters.
“Preemption is necessary. If you wait too long, it is too late.”
“Most people do not know that Israel has no missile defense. Systems require deconfliction codes. America has the deconfliction codes, but has not shared them with Israel. Without the deconfliction codes, there is no defense. Israel does not have an offensive missile force. Israel only has fighter planes.”
“The grand strategy involves superpowers. Russia and China are helping Iran and North Korea against us.”
“90% of food and electricity into North Korea comes from China. North Korea would never test a missile without permission from China. The recent North Korea missile tests were done with approval from China with the purpose of embarrassing President Obama.”
“President Obama needs to say publicly what George W. Bush would not even say publicly. He needs to publicly state that he will kill 70 million Iranians if they attack us. He will never say this.”
An intense evening concluded with websites that people could go to if they wanted more information.
http://imda.org.il/English/index.asp
For the sake of those that love freedom and civilization, I hope that a pursuit of more information is just the beginning. Attending lectures and learning is informative. Concrete action is what is needed.
eric
Week in Review – The Tortured Edition ;)
A lot of talk about waterboarding, and
defining what is and isn’t torture. No one brought up in the news cycle
that the American People, are tortured daily by their own government. Defining torture, this one is like shooting fish in a barrel. How about we start with what the Speaker of the House,
and what she had to say about American Citizens, who attended Tax Day
Tea Partys. Can the C.I.A.’s enhanced interrogation techniques match up
to, what an out of control Government Beauracrat can do to the citizenry?
There
is an old story, if you put a frog, in a pot of cold water. Slowly turn
the heat up, the frog doesn’t jump because it gets acclimated slowly to
the temperature of the water slowly rising, and eventually is boiled to
death.
keep reading below.
http://youhavetobethistalltogoonthisride.blogspot.com/2009/04/tgif-circus-life-torture-slow-burn.html
None of this is news to me, an activist for our (US) survival, the survival
and integrity of the West and free nations throughout the world, and of course little Jewish (and Arab) Israel.
However, what was left out was Israel’s real defense, it’s 200 to 400 nuclear tipped weapons.
Experts (see websites) reveal that Israel has had sufficient time to
make these weapons. It has a delivery system, called the Jericho Missile
that can reach Iran.
Israel does have over 600 state of the art warplanes. It has about 200 F16s, just a little ahead of Egypt. Perhaps it doesn’t have the F16I?
I don’t know the difference. It has the F15Is…AND over 400 Phantom
2,000 (upgraded Phantom F4Es). All these planes can carry nuclear weapons.
It is reported that Israel also has 5 Dolphin Class submarines, patrolling
in Med. and Persian Gulf Waters..each are armed with cruise type
nuclear missiles.
BTW, two subs collided a few months ago…one was British, and other French. Each had over 25 nuclear armed cruise missiles, each with
6 times the explosive power of the Hiroshima bomb. ( So much
for French and British fatalism).
I understand Israeli nukes are “high fusiohn bombs” with over 10 times
the power of the Hiroshima bomb.
So, Israel has a 3 pronged potential to eradicate ANY and ALL of it’s enemies..from Iran, through Syria, to Lebanon and Hamastan, etc.
The real question has been for years (starting with the 2nd Intifada) to
today, does it have the will to use it’s awesome power to protect it’s
7m people (5.4m Jews and 1.5m Muslims)? Would Israel pre-empt
an Iranian and Syrian attack for example, NOT having those codes?
Israel needs the go-ahead to attack Iran, if it flies through Iraq. To date
the US will not give Israel the necessary codes.
The difficulties of flying around Saudi Arabia, etc., to get to Iran are
obvious..refueling, attacks from Arab countries etc. It is planning
a major national alert in June as a pre-caution against an Iranian attack.
I’m going to assume that since Israel has still satellites flying over the
planet, ( orbital ), it certainly has sub-orbital capabilities..with pin
point accuracy.
A former US general report on the devastation caused in an all out
war between Israel, Syria and Iran would cause the following within
the first 3 weeks: 30m dead Iranians, 15m dead Syrians and 1-2
m Israeli casualties (dead and injured). I doubt this study included
the possibility of Israel using neutron bombs…(lead coated
nukes), which kill people, but have little effect on buildings?
I don’t want to venture a guess at the Iranian and Syrian casualties if
Israel were to use it’s arsenal of b/c weaponry?
It’s absolutely true that Israeli defenses would not stop ALL of the incoming missiles from Syria and Iran. Add Egypt, Saudi Arabia,
Libya, Lebanon to that..and you get the picture. Egypt has
land to land missiles..as well as missile firing boats.
It’s obvious that this type of warfare would change the M.E. and
probably the world forever. Forget oil prices. Iran has 40,000
suicide bombers ready to strike worldwide..and has targeted
Israeli, Jewish and US interests. (They admit it, but say ONLY if
attacked first).
In the above scenario, no “infidel” (Christian) would be safe
anywhere, especially the US. US cities would be easy targets..(see NYCity
plan to provide protection in the event of a war). This war would be the
first step in the radical Muslims plan as in Erics’s narrative. Already
we are learning that the Taliban have taken over a district in Pakistan
near the capital..and are not afraid of NATO in Afghanistan.
We have to ask ourselves..what will they be satisfied with? Is London
next?
There is no doubt in my mind, that if Hamas and Hezbollah were to
join in, the Gaza Strip and Lebanon south of the Litani would be totally
destroyed. Israel would not be restrained as in the last 2 wars. In essence
they would become mass cemetaries for the encouraging pro-Jihadist
Palestinians.
This calamity is what John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and other Republican
candidates tried to tell US prior to the election. I believe it fell on
deaf ears.
Now, we see No. Korea planning to produce plutonium bombs, deliverable
with it’s upgraded missiles. Syria is arming itself with advanced Russian
Migs and missiles. Russia is debating providing Iran with the S-300 missile
defense system. Egypt is considering making it’s own nuclear weapons
if Iran continues to violate 3 UNSC resolutions against enrichment.
There are those who say Iran would be crazy to attack Israel. Yet, I question this? Cannot Iran GIVE nuclear componants to it’s surrogage
cells within Israel…..to be exploded in Tel Aviv, etc.? They of course
would deny it. Iran can also give the capability to Muslims within
the USA..smuggled across porous Canadian and Mexican borders..just
as guns are smuggled out of US and drugs in. It’s just that simple.
I envision a dirty bomb or worse, exploding in downtown Los Angeles,
and the resultant fires. Earthquakes would seem like a picnic in
comparison.
Yet, Obama is still pushing “talks” with Ahmad’s regime. Leftist
TV and radio commentators and reporters are still encouraging
debate and dialogue. Obama’s naive advisers say that in time
Iran will get the message. While I deplore naive leftist thinkers,
recall that the leftist Germans (NAZIs) first rounded THEM up in the
occupied countries..for extermination.
But would we really wipe out 70m Iranians?
I doubt it.
Food for thought folks. My suggestion: write your legislators
immediately. Tell them we want to thrive and survive. We need
a CHANGE all right..a change for an American that tells the
other side to apologize. Or as one US general said, “Let the other bastards die for their country”. Patton, do we need you now more than ever.
Israel has a missile defense system. I don’t know what Mr Shnur’s talking about. But coming from a man who said, “The GOP has been too busy saving tax dollars,” what should we expect? The man obviously lives in an alternate universe.
I know there was some flap over a sea-based system that Israel needed to work with us on. I don’t know enough about it to have an opinion, but apparently the US wants to sell them one thing only to stop selling another. We should se some more news about this soon enough.
As for intelligence, NO nation spies on the US more than Israel. I would be stunned if Israel needed some of our intel that they didn’t have.
Schur is surely right about the vulnerability of our electris grid. I’ve been saying that for years. The GOP did NOTHING about that – I guess it was just that ol’ “9/10 Mentality.” This should be addressed NOW, with a massive TVA-esque effort to wire a national grid, so that no one assault our grid could shut the whole thing down. Americans need the jobs and NOW would be the time to invest in it. As with the interstate highway program, this is a national security matter of the highest order.
JMJ
I am so sick of this “40,000 Iranian suicide bomber” nonsense. I don’t believe it for a minute. Iran has never produced such a thing. They talk, sure, but where’s the proof? I’m not buying it.
JMJ
After reading the latest report to Congress, an analysis of Israel’s capabilities should it duke it out with Iran…I had to post it.
Thank the Lord, Israel can more than just disable a few nuke sites and only temporarity stop Iran’s enrichment and nuclear ambitious programs,
it can, using one of 3 alternative routes, take out 9 sites..thus
thwarting Iran’s obvious goal of (as Ahmad boasts), wipe out the Jewish state.
This is the scenario: hundreds of Israeli F15s and F16s, with bombs
and missiles, can destroy the 9 most important sites, including the
site being used to manufacture heavy water for plutonium bombs.
Iran can produce 1 atomic bomb, if it spins 7,000 centrifuges 24-7
for 60 days, sooooo time is getting short, Bibi.
The routes include flyinng through Turkey, through Saudi Arabia
or the middle course, through Iraq (the US hasn’t given Israel
the go ahead codes).
Israel’s refueling capabilities make the above feasible.
My question to Bibi Netanyahu is, “why not use your tactical nukes?”
To digress, Avi Lieberman, Israel’s right-wing foreign minister is
not welcome in Egypt. You see, he threatened to bomb the Aswan Dam
in another war..and is against the 2 state solution as long as Hamas
and Hezbollah exist.
Now that should be something for Egypt to consider.
Iran’s chief honcho mullah says Israel and the US were behind the
latest bombings in Iraq.
He also says Jesus was a Palestinian…:-) AND the Holocaust is bogus
a Zionist plot.
Dan, you are waaaaaaaay too into this stuff. Your question is “why not use your tactical nukes?” Really? Mine would be, “Dan, are you in fact Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper?” I mean, are you seriously suggesting preemptive nuclear strikes? Really? And Iran has the “obvious goal of (as Ahmad boasts), wipe out the Jewish state,” huh? Really? And you know this because it’s nominal “president,” who has very little power, used Israel as a rhetorical strawman? Really? Do you really believe “Ahmad” copuld do it even if he wanted to? Really? I mean, C’MON MAN!!! This is like comic book %$#@ here!!! What the heck are you thinking???
JMJ
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Eric…. this is my first time on a blog but someone forwarded one of your articles to me, believing it would be of personal interest.
Is there a way i can contact you without it being on a blog?