Aanhangers van de pro-Israellobby-is-oppermachtig-theorie opgelet:
Since taking office, Obama has refused to approve any major Israeli requests for U.S. weapons platforms or advanced systems. Officials said this included proposed Israeli procurement of AH-64D Apache attack helicopters, refueling systems, advanced munitions and data on a stealth variant of the F-15E.
"All signs indicate that this will continue in 2010," a congressional source familiar with the Israeli military requests said. "This is really an embargo, but nobody talks about it publicly."
Het mag misschien lijken alsof Israel evengoed wel erg veel wapenspul van de VS krijgt (of koopt), dit moet worden afgezet tegen alles wat naar Egypte, Saoedi-Arabië en andere Golfstaten gaat.
De VS dragen bij aan de veiligheid van tientallen landen wereldwijd, vooral uit eigenbelang. Vroeger was het tegengaan van Sovjet-invloed het voornaamste motief, tegenwoordig de dreiging van terrorisme en (in mindere mate) linkse dictaturen. Natuurlijk spelen ook materiële zaken als olie of andere grondstoffen een rol.
Het is om meerdere redenen wenselijk dat Israel meer eigen wapens produceert en minder afhankelijk wordt van de VS.
RP
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The important news here is the information (or allegation?) that the US has in place a de-facto arms embargo on advanced weaponry for Israel. It is not impossible. An embargo was in place prior to 9-11 during the Bush administration it seems. That embargo was more dangerous, because it reportedly covered spare parts for existing equipment.
The advanced weaponry would not be a critical concern unless a full scale war breaks out against a state like Iran. The article does not state whether routine shipment of spares, shells and other mundane but much more vital equipment has been affected.
The fact is that Israel manufactures its own bunker buster bombs, and exhibited them for sale in India in 2003 (emphasis in the original):
Israeli Military Industries (IMI) is offering the Indian Army bombs capable of piercing concrete, fortresses, and bunkers. The bombs will be displayed this week at the Aero India 2003 defense exhibition in Bangalore, in southern India. The bomb, called the PB-500, was developed in the main IMI ammunition laboratory.
The bombs are capable of piercing the most highly sophisticated fortifications, such as those surrounding nuclear missile launching bases. In contrast with ordinary bombs, containing only a body and an explosive payload dropped on the target from an airplane, the PB-500 includes a laser guidance system, developed by Israeli Aircraft Industries and Elbit Systems (Nasdaq: ESLT; TASE:ESLT).
IMI claims that the bomb can penetrate two meters of concrete, and that its explosive payload causes damage equivalent to that of a bombing with twice the weight.
These may be insufficient to penetrate heavily reinforced underground installations, but Israel evidently has the tecnhology to produce such weapons, including various sophisticated variants, and could develop larger versions of the bombs. .
Ami Isseroff
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Thursday, March 18, 2010
Obama blocks delivery of bunker-busters to Israel
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2010/me_israel0217_03_18.asp
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2010/me_israel0217_03_18.asp
WASHINGTON — The United States has diverted a shipment of bunker-busters designated for Israel.
Officials said the U.S. military was ordered to divert a shipment of smart bunker-buster bombs from Israel to a military base in Diego Garcia. They said the shipment of 387 smart munitions had been slated to join pre-positioned U.S. military equipment in Israel Air Force bases.
"This was a political decision," an official said.
In 2008, the United States approved an Israeli request for bunker-busters capable of destroying underground facilities, including Iranian nuclear weapons sites. Officials said delivery of the weapons was held up by the administration of President Barack Obama.
Since taking office, Obama has refused to approve any major Israeli requests for U.S. weapons platforms or advanced systems. Officials said this included proposed Israeli procurement of AH-64D Apache attack helicopters, refueling systems, advanced munitions and data on a stealth variant of the F-15E.
"All signs indicate that this will continue in 2010," a congressional source familiar with the Israeli military requests said. "This is really an embargo, but nobody talks about it publicly."
Under the plan, the U.S. military was to have stored 195 BLU-110 and 192 BLU-117 munitions in unspecified air force bases in Israel. The U.S. military uses four Israeli bases for the storage of about $400 million worth of pre-positioned equipment meant for use by either Washington or Jerusalem in any regional war.
In January 2010, the administration agreed to an Israeli request to double the amount of U.S. military stockpiles to $800 million. Officials said the bunker-busters as well as Patriot missile interceptors were included in the agreement.
The decision to divert the BLU munitions was taken amid the crisis between Israel and the United States over planned construction of Jewish homes in Jerusalem. The administration, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has warned that Washington could reduce military aid to Israel because of its construction policy.
In 2007, after its war in Lebanon, Israel requested 2,000 BLU-109 live bombs from the United States. The 2,000-pound bomb, produced by Boeing and coupled with a laser guidance kit, was designed to penetrate concrete bunkers and other underground hardened sites.
Israeli ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, was quoted as saying that his country faced its biggest crisis with the United States since 1975. A pro-Israel lobbyist said Oren was referring to the current U.S. embargo, which echoed a decision taken 35 years ago by then-President Gerald Ford after Israel's refusal to withdraw from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. Oren has since denied the remark.
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