{"id":4688,"date":"2023-10-08T08:18:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T13:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/?p=4688"},"modified":"2023-10-22T22:15:10","modified_gmt":"2023-10-23T03:15:10","slug":"4688","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/2023\/10\/08\/4688\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

This confirms my initial thoughts, and other persons who follow Iran\u2019s regional terror and strategy.\u00a0 And this will put pressure on Israel to attack Iran directly.\u00a0 \u201cIran Helped Plot Attack on Israel Over Several Weeks,\u201d<\/a> Wall Street Journal, 10-8-23.\u00a0 “Leading the effort … has been Ismail Qaani, the leader of the IRGC\u2019s international military arm, the Quds Force.\u00a0 …\u00a0\u00a0Representatives of these groups [Hamas, Hezbollah, etc.] have met with Quds Force leaders at least biweekly in Lebanon since August to discuss this weekend\u2019s attack on Israel and what happens next, they said. Qaani has attended some of those meetings along with Hezbollah\u2019s leader Hassan Nasrallah, Islamic Jihad leader al-Nakhalah, and Saleh al-Arouri, Hamas\u2019s military chief, the militant-group members said.\u00a0\u00a0Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian attended at least two of the meetings, they said. ”\u00a0 And the motivation?\u00a0 “Building on peace deals with Egypt and Jordan, expanding Israeli ties with Gulf Arab states could create a chain of American allies linking three key choke points of global trade\u2014the Suez Canal, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Bab Al Mandeb connecting the Red Sea to the Arabian Sea, said Hussein Ibish, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.\u00a0 “That\u2019s very bad news for Iran,\u201d Ibish said. \u201cIf they could do this, the strategic map changes dramatically to Iran\u2019s detriment.\u201d”<\/p>\n

\u201cHamas attack bears hallmarks of Iranian involvement, former U.S. officials say,\u201d<\/a> NBC, 10-8-23.\u00a0 Key observations\u2014\u201cMarc Polymeropoulos, a former CIA officer who specialized in counterterrorism, the Middle East and South Asia, said on X that it will be critical for intelligence agencies to determine the precise role Iran played in the surprise assault. “The difference between ‘directing’ the attack and giving the actual green light” versus “‘coordinating’ may be difference between war with Iran or not,” he said. For decades, Iran has tried to counter technologically superior adversaries through guerrilla or low-tech methods, swarming warships with smaller speed boats, firing barrages of rockets, using drones and missiles to undercut opposing air forces and abducting foreign nationals, U.S. officials and analysts say. When one of Iran\u2019s proxies, whether they are Shiite militias in Iraq, Houthi forces in Yemen or Hamas in Gaza, demonstrate a significant advance in military sophistication, it is usually a sign that Tehran has lent a helping hand, said Michael Knights of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. \u201cThis was the case with the Houthi takeover of Yemen and with the Lebanese Hezbollah defense against Israel in 2006,\u201d Knights said. Striking Israel simultaneously at a variety of locations with rockets, small guerrilla cells, kidnapping units and fast boats \u201creeks of Iranian training, weapons provision, probably Iranian intelligence,\u201c said Colin Clarke, a senior researcher at the Soufan Center, a nonprofit organization that focuses on global security. \u201cThis was a full-on assault from multiple entry points. I have to believe the Iranians are playing a role,\u201d he said. A central question is how Hamas members were able to breach Israel\u2019s fortified border with Gaza, which consists of a series of fences, security posts, regular patrols, sophisticated cameras and ground motion sensors. That Hamas militants were able to cross over with relative ease at multiple points on the border raises the possibility that the militants may have jammed the cameras and electronic sensors, depriving the Israelis of an early warning as the attack began, said Mark Montgomery, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral who recently visited the border area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Remember, Iran uses hostages for its foreign policy.\u00a0 Hamas has learned this lesson well from Iran (supplier of training, funding, weapons, missiles), and now apparently has scores, including elderly, women, and children. Dastardly.\u00a0 \u201cIsraelis feverishly search for relatives at rave attacked by Hamas,\u201d<\/a> I24, 10-8-23.<\/p>\n

With all respect, Sec. Blinken has it wrong.\u00a0 The $6 billion hostage exchange amount absolutely plays into the attack by Hamas against Israel.\u00a0 Sec. Blinken tried to make the case that no dollars have been exchanged, therefore it is impossible for the $6B to have been used.\u00a0 This is disingenuous.\u00a0 First, the money is delayed future payment\u2014it is assuredly coming, and can replace amounts already spent or being spent at present.\u00a0 Second, it is encouragement\/support for past bad acts.\u00a0 Third, it emboldens terrorists to pay ransom (especially huge ransom).\u00a0 So yes, in a very real sense the gift was given which compensates Iran for such acts as prepping Hamas for this attack.\u00a0 And yes, in a very real sense we should remember the $6B was being negotiated as the attacks against Israel were being planned\u2014and yes, Iran knew these attacks would happened (for example, the day prior, Hezbollah told the UN observers in southern Lebanon to stay on their base.\u00a0 BTW, if this was money Iran could have unlocked on its own, it would have done so years ago.\u00a0 Blinken\u2019s saying no U.S. tax monies were involved masks the issue of appeasement.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cBlinken pushes back against GOP claims that Iran hostage deal funded Hamas attack,\u201d<\/a> CNN, 10-8-23.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least 130 Israelis held hostage in Gaza,\u201d<\/a> Politico, 10-8-23.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Iran-Gaza War,\u201d<\/a> WSJ, 10-8-23.\u00a0 Precisely correct article.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This confirms my initial thoughts, and other persons who follow Iran\u2019s regional terror and strategy.\u00a0 And this will put pressure on Israel to attack Iran directly.\u00a0 \u201cIran Helped Plot Attack on Israel Over Several Weeks,\u201d Wall Street Journal, 10-8-23.\u00a0 “Leading the effort … has been Ismail Qaani, the leader of the IRGC\u2019s international military arm, … <\/p>\n

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