Michael Travis: Baracking the Ummah

Barry McGuire
Eve of Destruction

While we have been justifiably preoccupied with the U.S. elections, events in the Middle-East continue to spiral out of control with scant notice in the North American media.

The Arab Nation or "Ummah", (in particular, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon) feels increasingly humiliated and forlorn by the brazen Israeli commando and air operations within their territory. Not reported in the Western media is the embarrassing fact that the recent U.S. operation in the Syrian village of al Sukkariya (Abu Kamal) , was instigated by intelligence handed to the American forces by forward observation units of the IDF who have operated freely on both sides of the Euphrates for over a decade.

The IDF special units have lists and photographs of Al Qaeda operatives wanted by the Americans and are more than pleased to pinpoint their whereabouts, electronically "illuminate" their positions for U.S. Special Forces , and contain the area while the Americans snatch the bad guys.

The continued Israel operations deep within enemy territory highlight the operational impotence of the Arab Nations whose reliance on outdated Russian and American defence systems have left them hopelessly outclassed in the 21st century battlefield. The Iraqis have modern PAC 3 Patriot Missile Systems and corresponding upgraded Engagement Control Stations (ECS), but these systems are manned by U.S. forces and under U.S. operational command.

It is common knowledge in the region that the Americans:

(1.) have allowed a safe corridor for Israeli helicopters to operate along the Syrian border within Iraq, and

(2.) when U.S. forces finally disengage from Nouri Al Malaki's Shiite Iraq, the advanced air defence systems will be returning to the U.S. also.

These realities foretell even more humiliation for Iraq, Syria and Lebanon as they ensure that any joint attack against Israel (According to regional sources, this is inevitable, and quite irresistible to to the Arab leadership) will be complemented by huge losses suffered by the attacking forces.

While the American people are in the final hours of their election cycle, the enemies of Israel are hurriedly finalising preparations for another clumsy siege of the Jewish State. The fly in the ointment this time is the American presence in Iraq, and uncooperative U.S. command and control operations spread throughout Iraq and Jordan.

An election victory for Barack Obama will change the situation in a matter of months. The Arab Nation will view the election of "one of theirs" as carte blanche to conduct operations against the Jewish State without fear of U.S. interference.

With Obama in the White House, the Ummah can direct it's attention to the "Great Satan".

~ Michael Travis

Lebanon: 12 Israeli jets flew over country

The Lebanese army says 12 Israeli warplanes have violated the country's airspace by flying reconnaissance missions over northern and southern Lebanon.

The army said in a statement carried by the country's official news agency that six Israeli warplanes flew over the border village of Alma al-Shaab and other southern towns and villages for about 30 minutes Friday.

The statement added that six other Israeli warplanes flew over the Mediterranean off the coastal city of Batroun and over other northern towns for about an hour.

There was no immediate statement from the IDF, which usually does not comment on flights over Lebanon.

More than two years after the Second Lebanon War, Israeli-Lebanese tensions remain high. Several weeks ago, IDF Northern Command Chief Gadi Eisenkot told Yedioth Ahronoth that the army would respond in a disproportionate manner against villages from which Hizbullah fires missiles into Israel.

In a later interview published in the United Arab Emirates-based al-Ittihad newspaper, a Hizbullah member said his organization was on the alert. He referred to Israel as "a cardboard country which will be destroyed by resistance fighters, who achieved the grand victory against the entity robbing Palestine's land in the years 2000 and 2006."

The Hizbullah member added that his organization dose not believe Israel will launch an attack against Lebanon. "Israel is frustrated by many internal problems and is incapable of launching a new war against Lebanon," he said.

He went on to say that Major-General Eisenkot's remarks were a "media war."

Syrian 3rd Army moves south from Iraq border to face Lebanon

According to DEBKAfile’s military sources, the removal of Syrian forces is intended to punish the US twice for last Sundays’ commando raid in northern Syria which killed 8 people including Abu Ghadiyah, the Syrian controller of smuggled insurgent fighters and weapons into Iraq. First, the 8th Army’s removal opens the Iraqi border open to the free passage of al Qaeda, Fatah al-Islam and Iraqi insurgents for attacks on US forces in Iraq. Second, Syrian troops are now massed in position to bring military pressure to bear on US allies in South Lebanon and Israel.

These developments have set the stage for more US strikes on Syrian soil to hit back at the jumping-off bases used by terrorists and insurgents to attack US targets. US Homeland Security Minister Michael Chertoff said Friday: “A country should have the right to attack another if it is harboring a potential terrorist threat.”

The Syrian 3rd army, which is composed of two Border Guard brigades and two more of infantry and assault helicopters, began moving south Wednesday, Oct. 29, evacuating the 600 km stretch of Syrian-Iraqi border they manned for the past year under a US-Syrian agreement.

The US embassy in Damascus was shut Thursday over an “increased security risk” as tens of thousands mounted an anti-US protest in the town center. The embassy has warned Americans in Syria to stay on alert.

Lebanon reportedly unmasks "Mossad" network spying also on Syria

The Lebanese army confirms media report Saturday, Nov. 1, that the head of a suspected Mossad spy ring was picked up at his home in the Lebanese Beqaa Valley W. Lebanon, with several family members, after lengthy surveillance in Lebanon and Syria He is not named in the report. They ring is said to have operated since 1980.

According to the report, a search of their Mitsubishi Pajero turned up a long-angle camera for detailed photography of facial features and vehicle number plates. His neighbors reported they had seen his car parked main highways between Shtaura in the Beqaa Valley and the Lebanese-Syrian border terminal at Massena. They said he had been staking out Lebanese, Syrian, and Palestinian movements. In recent months, he allegedly focused on Hizballah forces and leaders.

A state of the art communications gear was found in the suspected ringleader’s home.

Among his activities, the “agent” is suspected of keeping watch on sensitive parts of Damascus and of mapping the high-end Kfar Sousa district where Hizballah’s military chief, Imad Mughniyeh, was killed last February.

Lebanese and Syrian investigators are digging for a direct connection between the alleged Mossad spy ring and the assassination of Mughniyeh and other persons in the two countries.

US raid killed Syrian al Qaeda cell leader

A US counterterrorism official said Monday, Oct. 27, that American special forces killed the head of a Syrian network that funneled fighters, weapons and cash in to Iraq when they raided Abu Kemal 7 km inside Syria Sunday. The unnamed official said the raid targeted the home of Abu Ghadiyah, leader of a key cell of foreign fighters in Iraq. A villager said the US force grabbed two men and took them away by helicopter when they flew back to Iraq.

An American military official said earlier that the cross-border raid by helicopter-borne special forces at al Sukkariya near Abu Kemal in N. Syria Sunday, Oct. 26 targeted "the foreign fighter network" that travels through Syria into Iraq. In the first US comment on the incident, the anonymous spokesman hinted at more cross-border action when he said: "We are taking matters in our own hands."

He spoke shortly after Damascus summoned the US and Iraqi envoys to protest the "serious aggression" in which 8 "civilians, including children" were killed and 14 wounded.

Three days earlier, US commander in western Iraq, Maj. Gen. John Kelly, called the Syrian border "an uncontrolled gateway" for fighters entering Iraq. He described the borders with Saudi Arabia and Jordan as "fairly tight" and referred to US forces' success in shutting down the "rat lines" in Iraq with help from governments in North Africa. "The one piece of the puzzle where we have not shown success on is the nexus in Syria," Gen. Kelly said.

DEBKAfile's counter-terror sources report he was referring to help from the Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian governments, as well as Western Europe countries hosting large North African migrants, in drying up the stream of al Qaeda's recruits for Iraq. However, Syrian president Bashar Assad has

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Lebanon uncovers espionage ring working for Israel

A-Safir: Man arrested on suspicion of employing network of agents working with Israeli intelligence to map out sensitive locations in Lebanon, Syria – including Damascus neighborhood in which Hizbullah leader Mugniyah was killed

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