Published: February 18, 2008
Op-Ed Contributor
Crossfire War -Iran States Hezbollah to Use "Radiation Therapy" on Israel
By Willard Payne
Crossfire War - RAPID FIRE NEWS=TEHRAN - BEIRUT - DAMASCUS WATCH - West Asia - North - Northeast Africa Theatre: Tehran - Riyadh - Tripoli - Khartoum - Baghdad - El Arish - Nablus - Gaza - Damascus - Beirut/Jerusalem - Cairo - Amman - Paris - Rome - London - Washington; Iran States Hezbollah to Use "Radiation Therapy" to Destroy Israel - Russia to Recognize Independence of South Ossetia - Abkhazia in Wake of Kosovo Declaration and Recognition
Night Watch: TEL AVIV - In the aftermath of Iran staging the mock assassination of one of its senior agents, Imad Mughniyeh, Tehran is taking the lead in maintaining the feverish atmosphere as war preparations continue. The Jerusalem Post/AP report the semi-official Iranian FARS news agency reprinted Monday portions of a letter of condolence written by the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps General Muhammad Ali Jafari. The letter is addressed to Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, "The cancerous growth Israel will soon disappear. I am convinced that with every single day Hezbollah's might is increasing and in the near future, we will witness the disappearance of this cancerous growth Israel by means of the Hezbollah's fighters "radiation therapy". General Jafari is of course in a position to know the extent of nuclear radiation Hezbollah is able to use perhaps in the form of an unconventional bomb, the kind manufactured by the Soviet Union during the Cold War to destroy a large military base, but if it goes off in an urban area it could kill 50,000 to 100,000 people. Nearly two hundred of those devices were unaccounted for when the Soviet Union ceased functioning in 1990 along with many Russian scientists that went south at the end of the Cold War that same year and are also unaccounted for but not by Tehran. [
JPOST]
Beirut - Though publicly and officially Tehran-Damascus accuse Israel for the killing behind the scenes Iran is supporting Syria's preparations to attack their enemies in Lebanon as Tehran-Damascus also accuse them of involvement. Debka is reporting they are targeting the most important Lebanese leader, who has long been opposed to Syria-Iran's influence in the country, the head of the Druze community Walid Jumblatt. Therefore Syria is targeting Druze offices in Beirut and their main base Mount Lebanon. It was Jumblatt, speaking from Mount Lebanon before the assassination, who said he and his militia were ready to take away Hezbollah's missiles. Offices of intelligence agencies controlled by Lebanon's government are also being targeted. February 22, Friday, Damascus is to make public the result of its investigation and I suspect also release the testimony of those arrested as proof Lebanon's government was as much to blame for the assassination as Israel in this violation of Syria's sovereignty. Tehran will fully support Syria and in the name of the security-defense agreements signed between the two will enter the war as will Hezbollah. [DEBKA]
This is confirmation of a suspicion I have been stating since Hezbollah began street demonstrations in Beirut December 2006, to weaken Lebanon's government as it prepares the way for Iran-Syria to retake Lebanon from Paris and the West. Violence is increasing with an attack Sunday on a Lebanese army position in the Beirut southern district of Sabra by unidentified gunmen. Unidentified probably means Hezbollah. The army has erected barricades in the city and set up no-go zones in flashpoint districts. Beirut is its own front and I would be very surprised if the 12,000 European units, sunning themselves in Lebanon's south, would want to get involved in Beirut's no man's land fighting.
Sukhumi - As suspected the Russian government is using Kosovo's declaration, and Washington and some European governments expected recognition, to increase Moscow's military relations with two territories that seceded from Georgia in 1991, Abkhazia-South Ossetia. It is no coincidence RIA reported today the heads of both territories just happened to be in Moscow for meetings with Russia's Foreign Ministry and though not reported I would not be surprised if they are also meeting the Defense Ministry. Moscow has maintained troops in both territories and has been hinting for nearly a year any recognition of Kosovo will inflame other nationalistic disputes from the Atlantic to the Caucasus, in this case the South Caucasus and the military standoff between Abkhazia/Georgia for nearly two years in the Kodori Gorge near the Black Sea. Though there is no standoff between South Ossetia and Georgia there have been many exchanges of fire and Russia has been accused of violations of Georgian airspace. And just last week Moscow stated Russia had the right to protect Russian citizens in both areas as opposed to the Georgian government in Tbilisi. [RIA]
President of Abkhazia, Sergei Bagapsh, when asked if he intends to approach Moscow on this issue as a follow up to Kosovo's declaration he replied, "Yes we do." He should have added it is at Russia's invitation. The Russian Foreign Ministry issued this statement, "The declaration of sovereignty by Kosovo and its recognition will undoubtedly be taken into account in Russia's relations with Abkhazia and South Ossetia." This is not only in direct conflict with Tbilisi but also in conflict with overtures the West likes to make to Georgia even offers of NATO membership. Both are about to be blown off the map along with Anakra-Tehran's military support of Tbilisi as Turkey-Iran seek to use this war to control the Caucasus-Caspian region which is a crossroads of energy pipelines. If Washington-Brussels believe the mercurial Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili can guarantee the security of the energy sources then they are engaging in another strategic fantasy like the recognition of Yugoslavia's division and committing forces there as in Afghanistan to protect the opium traffic. NATO could have secured bases in the Caucasus by fighting alongside Russia when Chechnya erupted in December 1994 but Brussels wanted war against Serbia and now it's headed for another one.
South Ossetia President Eduard Kokoity stated after arriving, "Two years ago we declared our intention to apply to the Russian Constitutional Court. We have a document on a united Ossetia voluntarily joining the Russian Empire in 1774." No document exists which says Ossetia ever seceded from Russia. Two years ago the Russia Empire was not yet ready to re-establish its rule over the South Caucasus and was still engaged in heavy fighting further north against Islamic units supported by Ankara-Tehran in a war NATO tried to ignore. With the war there nearly over Russia is now ready to turn its attention further south even to Turkey-Iran's border and with remnants of the NATO alliance confined with the heavy fighting in the Balkans they have no choice but to acknowledge Moscow's success. A success the West will share through the Strategic Working Group co-chaired by former U. S. Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger and former Russia Premier Yevgeny Primakov. Kissinger arrived in Moscow in late April 2007 as reported on crossfirewar.com at the time.
Night Watch Information Service
www.crossfirewar.com
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