19 thoughts on “Exclusive: Israel Tests New Jericho ICBM, Rattling Sabers Against Iran – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
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  1. With respect, Jericho missiles (whichever version) are land-based, so lack or availability of submarines is nuncupatory.

    There _are_ SLCM systems that would be impacted by the delivery or lack thereof of subs.

      1. Don’t, for pity’s sake, rely on The Guardian for accuracy on any technical detail at all, let alone military technical details.

  2. Submarine launched ICBMs send a message to potential adversaries that there is no first strike advantage in a nuclear scenario. Thus if Iran pursues the production of nuclear weapons, and is willing and able to launch a first strike that completely obliterates Israel, Israel will still be able to retaliate with devastating and deadly force. It’s merely a replay of the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) that kept nuclear holocaust at bay during the Cold War. No wonder the Israelis had no problem letting the world and Iran know about. Also pretty much everyone near Palmachim base saw the rocket go off. My Cousin, who is a school teacher saw it and even with her limited knowledge of rocketry and unconventional warfare, knew that this was no ordinary missile. Mind you she does have some knowledge gained from the Gaza rockets that landed in or near Ashdod these last few days. Lots of time to contemplate all that what with school cancelled for three days. In any case, it can legitimately be argued that the ICBM is defensive in nature and is meant to cool tempers rather than inflame them. But that’s just my take. I should also add that as an Israeli I’m not getting the sense that there’s a significant mobilization going on in preparation for war – Bibi may be engaged in some strategic saber rattling but the mood in the streets is relatively calm.

    1. Iran isn’t willing to launch a first strike against anyone. It is Israel that is far more likely to do so and the ICBM is not a defensive weapon designed to respond to an Iranian attack. It is very much an offensive weapon & will be used that way. Your theorizing is baseless narischkeit. MAD didn’t keep anyone or anything “at bay.” It brought us ever closer to the possibility of nuclear war, which is what the Jericho III does.

    2. “My Cousin, who is a school teacher saw it and even with her limited knowledge of rocketry and unconventional warfare, knew that this was no ordinary missile. Mind you she does have some knowledge gained from the Gaza rockets that landed in or near Ashdod these last few days”

      Are you serious – comparing an unguided missile lacking a warhead with an intercontinental guided missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead?

      1. Does it really matter if they actually fired/tested an actual ICBM or only looks as though they might have?

        Deterrant works just as well if the other side thinks they might have the weapon, because one hopes that they will never come to actually use it, as was in the Cold War.

        1. I hope so. Better than another 6 million Jews being incinerated, though I would excuse many leftist renegade Jews from that problem. Many of those lefties should have been incinerated 70 years ago.

  3. The first country to commit suicide? I think so. Funny thing about those missing Ukranian nukes, they might have been bought in 2003 right after the US looked like it was ready to attack Iran in full force.

    Iran has been ready for this fight for nearly a decade thanks to Israeli grandstanding.

    One more thing, no one has connected this, but I believe the Israeli wild-fire was started by Iran covertly as a retaliation strategy for the political assassination of a scientist/academic. Look at the timing. I doubt a 14 year old’s hooka could start a fire of that magnitude and spread. This was a message to Israel: you have no clue what you’re messing with, amateurs, and will get caught with your pants down. As I recall, Netanyahu had to beg Turkey to pee down his throat to put out the fire last time. Forget the rocket strike from Sinai, I think Israel is going to be in for a rude awakening when they realize they already have anti-aircraft artillery stationed WITHIN their borders. How will Israel defend its own air superiority when Hezbollah and Hamas are utilizing advanced weapons that are meant to take them out? And not to mention the fact that Iran would already have troops on the ground IN ISRAEL or on its immediate border at the first millisecond of combat.

    This is a desperate move to retain Israeli hegemony in the region and it will be Israel’s true death knell. Iran will sustain atrocious tragedy, but Israel will be committing suicide and never be able to gain the moral high ground before the international community ever again. The information age does not allow Israel to use the media to its advantage. Hence, more people learning the truth.

  4. I seriously doubt this is a message for Iran. If it is, what does it mean? What’s the point?

    More likely, this is a message for the west that Israel is willing to start a war, so the U.S. does it first.

    Perhaps even more likely, this is a message for Israeli voters. Fear! Vote Bibi, Bibi has big bad missiles to defend you!

  5. Holocaust guilt causes Germany to dispense with weapons to Israel that murders mass populations?

    In light of everything else that is absolutely ludicrous about Israel, this makes sense. 🙂

  6. according to front page of The Guardian. The brits are also getting prepared very rapidly should the US decde to attack.
    It seems that everyone is worried with Iran’s bellicose attitude of late and it seems that early spring 2012 is the last before the window closes for an attack. that’s when Iran will have hidden deep inside mountains their nuclear capabilities.
    It seems that there are as of yet no decisions made on this issue but that one will be made sometime around then
    the iaea report of next week will provide fresh ammo for just about everyone to sit down and rationalize that a nuclear Iran is not a safe policy for anyone and everyone
    lord help us all

  7. UK MoD’s emphasis on contingency plans to cooperate with US action is their way of saying it’s not Israel’s call, as America would have to finish anything that Israel started.

    It’s also a way of reminding Israel that the Americans can only tackle Iran (with assorted strategic bombers and bunker-busters) using a base which the UK controls.

    The repeated suggestion that Iran will retaliate against the US for anything that Israel does, in all circumstances, is a grave mistake on Iran’s part, because it denies President Obama the option of leaving Israel to stew in its own juice if it attacks Iran unilaterally and cannot handle the backlash.

    The Israelis are attempting to lead President Obama by the nose. This doesn’t strike me as his favourite thing and he could very easily give them cause to regret this.

    The precedent would be Roosevelt’s deliberate sabotage of Churchill’s plans to liberate Greece before the Nazis had entirely finished their demolition of the Greek economy and agriculture.

    1. Or it could be a leak indicating that the US has begun active war prep. Obama has tightened OpSec, so these days the US doesn’t leak much except when it wants to. But that doesn’t extend to the Brits, who have their own agenda.

      BTW, Diego Garcia is nice to have but there a string of bases in Oman that would work fine for hitting Iran. Also Saudi ones that we’d probably deploy to anyway, if asked. Wait and see. It sure smells like something’s up, though it could be an information operation.

      1. I’ve scrapped sufficient Omani desert dust out of enough avionics modules to have some doubts about operating B1B and B2 bombers from there.

        When you buy a bagless vacuum cleaner, there’s usually a disclaimer in the instructions about expecting it to work for very long after sucking up extremely fine abrasive dust. Much of Oman, and quite a lot of the UAE, appears to be composed of precisely the material the vacuum cleaner manufacturers are warning you about.

  8. Richard: You are totally right! How dumb could I have been to not realize that an ICBM cannot be launched from the relatively modest diesel powered German submarines in Israel’s possession!? I really should have known better… I guess I should have stuck to attributing the Carmel fire to stealthy Iranian agents based on…. or calling the 4th most powerful military in the world a bunch of armatures… etc. Mea Culpa 😉

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