Israel, U.S. To Embark On Largest Joint Exercise In Allies' History

[Purveyor]

By Natasha Mozgovaya Tags:

Israel and the U.S. will embark on the "largest" and "most significant" joint exercise in the allies' history, said Andrew Shapiro, U.S. assistant secretary for political-military affairs, on Saturday.

Speaking to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Shapiro said the exercise will involve more than 5,000 U.S. and Israeli forces, and will simulate Israel's ballistic missile defense.

"Joint exercises allow us to learn from Israel’s experience in urban warfare and counterterrorism," said Shapiro.

"Israeli technology is proving critical to improving our Homeland Security and protecting our troops," he added, explaining that Israeli armor plating technology and the specially designed "Israeli bandage", being used on American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, are proven successes.

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http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-u-s-to-embark-on-largest-joint-exercise-in-allies-history-1.393878

[lumpy]

1. And the beat goes on....

nt

[teddy51]

2. Shock and awe and the drum beats for war! n/t

[xchrom]

3. Increased saber rattling & a joint military exercise.

I'm guessing Iran is 'impressed'.

[Scuba]

4. Sabre rattling. What a great idea! We can make every non-Israeli ...

... from the Mediterranean to Myanmar hate us even more than they do already. Did anyone mention the cost? I thought we were broke?

[walerosco]

5. This quote made me lol

"Joint exercises allow us to learn from Israel’s experience in urban warfare and counterterrorism,"

You would think our 10yrs fighting in Iraqi cities would have taught us all we needed to know about urban warfare.

[jakeXT]

6. 2 exercises in spring 2012, I hope they won't go live like "Southern Mistral" in Libya

Lt.-Gen. Mark Hertling, commander of the US Army in Europe, told The Jerusalem Post that the two armies will hold a massive ground forces exercise in Spring 2012 called “Austere Challenge,” which will seek to increase inter-operability between the IDF and the US Army.

The drill, which is unprecedented in its size, will include the establishment of US command posts in Israel and IDF command posts at EUCOM headquarters in Germany – with the ultimate goal of establishing joint task forces for the event of a future large-scale conflict in the Middle East.

...

Shortly before Austere Challenge, scheduled for May, the EUCOM will also hold the Juniper Cobra missile defense exercise with the IDF, and include the Arrow 2 and Iron Dome as well as America’s THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) and the shipbased Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. The exercise is expected to include the actual launching of interceptors from these systems.

http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=233317

[jakeXT]

7. IAF holds distant-strike exercise

IAF fighter jets have recently concluded a lengthy exercise in Sardinia, Italy, Ynet learned on Wednesday. The maneuvers included several scenarios, including long-distance missions and midair fueling.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4142862,00.html

[classysassy]

8. A country and its people gone awry

Where are the protest,we have homeless and hungry citizens yet we continue such non sense.

[sulphurdunn]

9. Were I

and Iranian I would hope to have nuclear weapons as soon as possible. If they haven't been developing them it looks like they've seriously underestimated the lengths to which the US will go to ensure Israeli hegemony and to control the worlds major proven oil reserves and the dominance of the dollar in global oil transactions.