Title: Officials: U.S. blocked missiles to Hezbollah
Thermopyles - August 18, 2006 09:43 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| By John Diamond, USA TODAY WASHINGTON — The United States blocked an Iranian cargo plane's flight to Syria last month after intelligence analysts concluded it was carrying sophisticated missiles and launchers to resupply Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, two U.S. intelligence officials say. Eight days after Hezbollah's war with Israel began, U.S. diplomats persuaded Turkey and Iraq to deny the plane permission to cross their territory to Damascus, a transfer point for arms to Hezbollah, the officials said. The episode was detailed by one U.S. intelligence official who saw a report on the incident. It was confirmed by a U.S. official from a second intelligence agency and by a diplomat with a foreign government. They did not want their names used because they were not authorized to discuss the incident. HOW MISSILES WERE DETECTED: The science of 'crate-ology' Their account illustrates the quiet support the United States gave Israel during the 34-day war, even enlisting help from Muslim nations where acting on Israel's behalf is politically anathema. Israel and President Bush have accused the Shiite-dominated government of Iran, Hezbollah's primary supplier, of shipping the Shiite militia increasingly sophisticated weapons by way of Syria. ON DEADLINE: Your reaction The Iraq and Turkish governments would not discuss the incident. Iran's United Nations mission denied trying to send Hezbollah weapons. The intelligence officials did not provide reports, satellite photos or other evidence to corroborate the sequence of events. Their account could not be independently verified. The officials described this timeline: •July 15: Three days after the war began, a source tipped off U.S. intelligence about an imminent shipment of missiles from Iran to Hezbollah. •July 19: A spy satellite photographed Iranian crews loading three missile launchers and eight crates, each normally used to carry a Chinese-designed C-802 Noor missile, aboard a transport plane at Mehrabad air base near Tehran. Israel says Hezbollah fired a C-802, a precision-guided anti-ship cruise missile, at an Israeli warship off Lebanon's coast on July 14. •July 20: The Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane left for Damascus, but Iraqi air-traffic controllers denied it permission to enter Iraq's airspace. The Iranian flight crew then requested permission to fly over Turkey. Turkish controllers granted permission — but only if the plane would land for an inspection. The plane returned to Tehran, where the military cargo was unloaded. •July 22: The plane flew humanitarian aid to Damascus after stopping for inspection in Turkey. Though the missiles were not visible in the satellite photos, the launchers and specialized crates with distinctive shapes allowed U.S. analysts to identify the missile type, the intelligence officials said. Asked about the account during an interview Tuesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, "We work on these kinds of things all the time." But she added, "I can't comment on specific cases." |
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-08...es_x.htm?csp=24
Very interesting, with many scenarios being possible if the true... Comments?
saladin - August 19, 2006 01:10 AM (GMT)
http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/dunya/4944559.a...srid=3041&oid=1
According to Hurriyet, here are the list of airplanes intercepted:
July 27, Iranian cargo plane is forced to land at Diyarbakir airport after intelligence from Israel. No weapons found.
August 7: Another Iranian plane is forced to land (the airport is not mentioned but is seems like Diyarbakir). No weapons found.
August 17: Iranian Parsair is force to land. Later it was permitted to take off.
Three more planes (2 iranian, 1 syrian) are said to be landed for inspection. No information is given in the article but one of them could be the one mentioned in Thermopyles' post.
On a site note, the turkish authorities asked for $2,100 for ground services which was refused by the Iranian crew.
ps: Did I mentioned that I love Firefox and Imagebot extention? Just click any image on the web and the extention will upload it to a free server and give you the forum code to paste to your post.
According to Hurriyet, here are the list of airplanes intercepted:
July 27, Iranian cargo plane is forced to land at Diyarbakir airport after intelligence from Israel. No weapons found.
August 7: Another Iranian plane is forced to land (the airport is not mentioned but is seems like Diyarbakir). No weapons found.
August 17: Iranian Parsair is force to land. Later it was permitted to take off.
Three more planes (2 iranian, 1 syrian) are said to be landed for inspection. No information is given in the article but one of them could be the one mentioned in Thermopyles' post.
On a site note, the turkish authorities asked for $2,100 for ground services which was refused by the Iranian crew.
ps: Did I mentioned that I love Firefox and Imagebot extention? Just click any image on the web and the extention will upload it to a free server and give you the forum code to paste to your post.
Thermopyles - August 19, 2006 02:29 AM (GMT)
Yes, looks as one of those flights may be the one. So my questions are:
- Did the TU gov intercept upon request from USA?
- Are they enforcing the will of the USA?
- Does the TU public know about this?
- Why does TU demand money for an inspection of cargo that is not destined for TU, in a flight that only airspace was requested? especially if they did it on the US behalf...
And here are some things that interest me:
-The article leads the reader to beleive that the US got control of the alleged missiles, which is evedently opposite from reality
- The contets of that flight have never been confirmed by anyone. hard to believe they have pictures so good, that they can tell the exact manufacture of guarded chinese box designs, and the location of them being loaded. If this is true, then Iran needs to develope ASAT capabilities before/as well that they fully proceed with any "controversial" programmes. For that matter, there is much less that neccesary done by all countries to develope ASAT capacitys. Future warefare depends on sat's more than even modern does. They are the binoculars of modern warfere, as AWACS/UAV's are the eyes. I would be very impressed to see ex. France develope a good system. The lasers are good but only for LEO, and if there are any planes in the way...
- Does the US position imply that only they have a right to arm factions that are fighting? Because such an argument will have no legitimacy...
- Did the TU gov intercept upon request from USA?
- Are they enforcing the will of the USA?
- Does the TU public know about this?
- Why does TU demand money for an inspection of cargo that is not destined for TU, in a flight that only airspace was requested? especially if they did it on the US behalf...
And here are some things that interest me:
-The article leads the reader to beleive that the US got control of the alleged missiles, which is evedently opposite from reality
- The contets of that flight have never been confirmed by anyone. hard to believe they have pictures so good, that they can tell the exact manufacture of guarded chinese box designs, and the location of them being loaded. If this is true, then Iran needs to develope ASAT capabilities before/as well that they fully proceed with any "controversial" programmes. For that matter, there is much less that neccesary done by all countries to develope ASAT capacitys. Future warefare depends on sat's more than even modern does. They are the binoculars of modern warfere, as AWACS/UAV's are the eyes. I would be very impressed to see ex. France develope a good system. The lasers are good but only for LEO, and if there are any planes in the way...
- Does the US position imply that only they have a right to arm factions that are fighting? Because such an argument will have no legitimacy...