A week ago or so I wrote here that given Barack Obama’s expansive interpretation of U.S. interests, which involves massive drone attacks against targets in multiple Middle Eastern and African countries, that it was only a matter of time before Israel did the same. And now it has.
Alon Ben David, Channel 10’s military correspondent reports (at 13:30 of the above video) a drone strike against an Egyptian target 18 miles inside that country’s borders. It assassinated Ibrahim Owida Nasser Madan, a local Bedouin militant, as he was riding a motorcycle. Ben David characterized him vaguely as a follower of “global jihad.” The victim’s sin? He was supposedly involved in a missile attack against Eilat last year in which no one was hurt or injured. Ben David did not explicitly credit the IDF for the attack though he did say no one in Israel “will shed a tear” for his death.
My long-time Israeli source reports that Israel is indeed responsible, saying: “Israel decided that what has worked successfully in Sudan will work in Sinai also.” This refers to Israel’s repeated attacks on alleged Iranian weapons convoys smuggling weapons to Gaza. These attacks have been reported widely in Israel and elsewhere, but Israel has always refused to confirm this.
UPDATE: one of my lamer hasbara critics, David Abitbol, erroneously claims in his cesspool of a blog, that I wrote above that Israel used drones in the Sudan strikes mentioned here. I didn’t actually make that claim as anyone who can read English can tell. But now I will since Haaretz reported precisely this (drone attacks in Sudan) in 2009.
Among the more probing elements of Abitbol’s critique is to call me a “deusional moron.” The Times of Israel has republished Abitbol’s garbage, which goes a long way to telling us about it’s journalistic credibility.
CNN also reports the story though it doesn’t explicitly state that Israel was responsible.
The IDF has denied the Sinai drone attack publicly, though of course the fact that Ben David reported the story indicates the IDF may be speaking from both sides of its mouth with one side contradicting the other. Since it denies it killed him of course it doesn’t have to offer any evidence he was involved in what it claims he was. In one report, the Egyptian military too has denied the attack since to do so would mean losing lots of face. But CNN reported above that an Egyptian source affirmed the attack.
As I’ve written here before, if any Arab nation or militant group invaded Israel’s sovereignty, it would react swiftly and with fury. It seems to believe that its own territory is sacred and sovereign, while the territory of neighbors is Israel-adjacent and subject to the whims of whatever the hell Israel decides to do to it. I don’t know whether Israel had Egypt’s approval in launching such an attack, but I can’t imagine it did, even tacitly.
Israel is playing a very dangerous game. It’s more than happy to take the battle to its neighbors, but what will happen when those neighbors respond in kind? Does Israel think that Egypt will be quiescent for ever? That it will bend over and willingly take the paddling Israel offers?
Is Israel prepared for the level of hatred Pakistanis now feel toward Americans? Not to mention that these killings will only inflame hatred of Israel both in Sinai and Egypt itself. Rather than stopping acts of terror, invading Egyptian sovereignty will spur even more such attacks. And while previous attacks were failures, terrorists will learn from their failures and ensure that future ones will not fail. When that happens Israel will then have to decide whether it bombs Egyptian Sinai, invades, etc. in order to stop these provocations. Shades of Gaza.
If Israel doesn’t want this to happen it better figure out a way to cooperate with Egyptian intelligence and convey to it information so the Egyptians can act and police their own territory. Unless Israel wants its neighbors to treat their borders with Israel as merely suggestive when their interests trump those of Israel. Two, three and even four nations can play at this game (and will). When it happens, Israel will scream bloody murder but will have only itself to blame.
Why this info is important “in which no one was hurt or injured.”?
A terror attack is not measured by the damage done. If no one got killed it is a miracle, but will not decrease the guild and responsibility of the terrorist.
Sorry, but rocket attacks from Gaza have killed 20 Israelis over 8 yrs or so. In the same period, Israel has killed several thousand Palestinian civilians. One side is indeed more guilty than the other. Not to mention that I predicted that the next attack or the one after that would likely be accurate & Israeli might be killed. Then Israel will ratchet up its response accordingly & will then have a new front to fight in its war on terror. All I will say then is you got what you paid for.
> One sides is indeed more guilty than the other.
The side with more bodies wins, Dick ?
My gosh, you are stupid.
I’m not stupid, but you are now moderated & the next stupid insult from you gets you banned.
I agree with you on the insult, such language must be avoided, but I agree with the argument that quantitative measures can be very misleading. You can destabilize a whole country without killing a single person and conversely you can have hundreds killed with little impact – it`s all context-dependent
well in some circles numbers killed /deaths count. should we begin to be a bit concerned at six million killed? Might a conscience be tweaked at this level of carnage- but not under it? The disparity of numbers killed reveals a number of things including who is the superior killer…. the identity of those killed eg which group, whether unarmed civilians[ non combatants- women/children/elderly/disabled] or armed, may also be revealling as to who in the conflict was a stricter observer of international conventions; how, people were killed ie the types of weapons used and their kill capacity, is also revealing [resource and technological superiority not to be confused with moral superiority]…..You cannot have things both ways: superior civilised/moral nation and superior immoral killer who spares no one and respects no laws – unless they are from yuor own group And also agree with your ideology.
Karma: you reap what you sow. Unfortunately, people never learn by their mistakes/by history so they are doomed to repeat it…..If the phrase ‘never again’ is to have any meaning then it must be applied to all- the same standards of justice and equality and humana rights. If one is not safe- none are.
Israel does convey intelligence to Egypt, as was the case a few weeks ago when Sinai terrorists crashed the fence.
If Egypt fails to act, whatever the reason, on the shared intelligence than what’s left for Israel to do?
I have seen no proof that Israel informed Egypt about the terror attack. Your word that it happened is insufficient I’m afraid.
“…what’s left for Israel to do?” Yeah, the “no choice” doctrine, the victim forcing the perp to act. This is familiar territory. Israel could take many other paths but prefers the handy no-choice logic. Every bullet, bomb, missile is ok because, ultimately, they all have the effect of impeding a future holocaust. Isn’t that it, Joel?
Drones, generally, are tempting governments to rewrite and ignore international law. If this leads to the destruction of international law, “who will protect us from the winds that will blow then?”
Does Israel think that Egypt will be quiescent for ever? That it will bend over and willingly take the paddling Israel offers?
Yes.
Israel may expect it, but that doesn’t mean Egypt or any host of other frontline Arab state are going to comply for long.
No.
Israel thinks that Egypt will one day strike back. Then Israel will put on its usual “why us?” act and assume the rest of the world has not been paying attention (they’ll be right in the case of America).
Confronting lawlessness in Sinai is a mutual interest of Egypt & Israel. Rather than creating a conflict their individual actions against that is likely to bring them closer. Morsi shows every sign that he is not interested in looking for excuses to play “anti-Israel”. The huge problems that Egypt faces and the much help it needs plus bitter memories of past wars are enough to ensure that despite natural worries there is little likelihood for any conflagration there, perhaps not even too much rhetoric, in the foreseeable future.
Lebanon Daily Star:
Blast kills man trying to fire rocket into Israel from Egypt
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Aug-27/185774-blast-kills-man-trying-to-fire-rocket-into-israel-from-egypt.ashx#ixzz24ml2dsNK
Not sure what you make of their take on this.
I don’t see how Egypt would lose face confirming an Israeli drone attack on their territory – that is, unless they approved it in advance. If Egypt’s difficulty policing the Sinai is the direct result of the demilitarisation provisions of the peace treaty they can say so, without calling into question the treaty as a whole. Perhaps at this point they may even get away with starting to exercise full sovereignty over all their territory again.
“Perhaps at this point they may even get away with starting to exercise full sovereignty over all their territory again.”
Fiddler, you make an interesting point. Pres. Mursy has proved to be a shrewd and cunning leader who sees opportunities in every crisis (see how he used to recent border attack to get rid of those corrupt old generals).
Like you have alluded to, this incident if true, just might give him the reason to send the 3rd Army into the Sinai – permanently.
On a different note, thank you Richard for letting me post here (my first). You showed up on my radar when you broke the Shamai story – I have read you ever since!
Very sad watching the Jewish State and their Neocon brethren in the U.S adopt the callous aggressive and murderous traits more suited to a fourth Reich than enlightened Jewish thought… Too bad theirs has become the way of the sword… Sadder yet is the sword they inevitably live by is the nuclear sword…. and he who lives by it can only attract the same weapon to their many and counting, enemies….
Though I agree with almost everything in this comment, I’m sensitive about references to Reichs of any kind. Since you’re a new commenter I’ve approved it. But I tend to dislike comparisons between Israel and the Nazis unless they’re very carefully argued & historically based.
I fully agree. People use the Holocaust in such a callous manner. Given what took place there, the scope, the mechanisms, the results, a person who sees himself a guardian of human values is expected to be more sensitive in that regard – after all people who underwent it or their own children (who by living with them are direct emotional participant of their pains) are still around in large numbers and given the depth of the scar are still deeply affected by that. When the very people that trivialize the Holocaust make a huge deal of infinitely smaller issues how does that reflect on their standards? And how seriously their commitment to universal moral norms can be taken? Wouldn`t it not appear as being selective- agendas that are essentially political wrapped in moral terms?
There are arguments for and against employing historical comparisons [eg the Nazi Germany/holocaust versus other acts of mass/systematic murder and ‘cleansing’ of unwanted or inferior members of the human race etc].of the sort here which stimulate debate and/or much angst.
On one level, each historical event and set of conditions is probably unique. We can perhaps never ever fully capture or account for every significant detail and then say, yes, two [ or more] historical events are a complete DNA match- we have a complete comparison. While I agree many throw around loose and probably quite false comparisons of the sort- usually while trying to reap some cheap rhetorical/ political points or claim some illusory moral high ground or more often some immunity and get out of jail free card for themselves, anyone who is really serious and open minded enough, may still uncover certain parallels and similarities between various events in history[ which is just another way of saying the story of people’s experiences] when we look at the [remains of the] historic record. There will be similarities and points in common and dissimilarities between human experiences and events.
I think over time, humanity has not changed so much when it comes to basic urges, d needs and failings. We are I think, basically, the same beasts we ever were hundreds and thousands of years ago. The environment and technological stage may change, but we do not. Then paradoxically, while we may be the same, people are formed of a diverse set of unique individuals.
Many consider that it is possible to learn from history or experience [ of course the lesson often depends on whose history and to what purpose it was written- history: often the story of the winners] eg if people are to ever learn the ‘never again’ lessons, then one must at least assume that similar if not identical events/recurrences must be possible- otherwise why bother to ever learn anything at all? There must be things we each share/have in common and can communicate- otherwise there would have been no civilisation anywhere.
We can perhaps never fully appreciate the trauma of someone who has gone through near death experiences and prolonged extreme stress and torture/fear for their lives – unless perhaps we have gone through such an experience…have a common frame of reference. We should not ever deny the reality of a person’s experience of mistreatment or oppression. How can one quantify the scars/depths of individual suffering and loss? We may quantify external things, but the quality of the impact on individuals is often something only captured by some form of artistic expression.
It is true that many people with axes to grind, like to recall history for all sorts of purposes. Historiography [the study of history writing] is an interesting subject. Leaders often like to condense what is usually a very complex past, into an abbreviated /selective shorthand history [ a partial distortion] in order to convey certain key messages and meanings- reinforcing identity and importantly entitlement- to the group.
Exploitation of the memory of previous genuine suffering and citing of past wrongs, in order to excuse one’s own actions, often crimes against humanity has a history all of its own. Just as playing up ones own suffering while downplaying or ignoring others’, has a long history also. What I have learned, is that while everyone knows that two wrongs do not make a right, yet many still get stuck in perpetuating an injustice because it is an integral part of the fabric of their own existence. They wear blinkers which prevent them from seeing the world as others are seeing and experiencing it. There is no empathy since often there is no recognition of common humanity. Past suffering [particularly the suffering of others rather than ones own direct experience of suffering] does not entitle one to ignore the genuine suffering of others- especially those who suffer because of ones own actions. All victims of oppression are entitled to equal standards of impartial justice- not just a few. In this system all suffering and injustice is acknowledged as valid and matters. Just restitution is made, closing the circle. Without this, there is no closing of the circle.
No one in Israel will shed a tear for a Bedouin killed by a drone strike in Egypt because most Israelis have forgotten the ten commandments. When extra-judicial execution becomes the standard of operations, a country has fallen to its lowest possible level. Being the accuser, judge and jury at the same time speaks well for an advanced society. Israel has reverted to the middle ages.
Reverted? I hadn’t noticed that they had made it out since they drove the Palestinians from their land in the 1940s.
The thing I’ve noticed about drones is that for a weapon system that is supposed to be “pinpoint accurate”, they certainly kill a lot of innocent civilians….I think it’s how the video images look like a video game to the operators which encourages this “shoot first, what questions?” attitude. Armed drones are like dum-dum bullets, weapons of dubious value, and we need to ban them.
There were no innocent civilians killed in this attack.
And you know this how?
How do you know the motorcycle rider wasn’t an “innocent civilian”? It’s not like he was found guilty by any court. You may accept Israel’s word as to his guilt, but I prefer evidence.
Um, I see. So for Israel you’re guilty till proven innocent? If so, then you do concede Israel has stopped being a country ruled by law. Right?
But Strelnikov, don’t you know that being killed by the Israeli or US military qualifies one automatically as “militant”, “terrorist”, “enemy”? For military-age males that’s even official US policy now.
Bob Mann, that’s disingenuous. Even accepting that Ibrahim Owida Nasser Madan was who Alon Ben David says he was, an awful lot of innocent civilians have been killed by drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Sure you aren’t telling us that Israeli drones are magically more capable than their American counterparts to tell between civilians and combatants, or that Israeli drone operators are more scrupulous than American ones? (Please! Not the “most moral army in the world” hogwash again!)
But Strelnikov, don’t you know that being killed by the Israeli or US military qualifies one automatically as “militant”, “terrorist”, “enemy”? For military-age males that’s even official US policy now.
I was referring to US drone policy over Afghanistan, but yes, what this means is the old Vietnam war policy of “every dead Charlie is a Viet Cong” has been in play as long as these machines have had air-to-surface missiles.
There are no moral armies because war is an amoral activity and thus ethically everything the Zahal touches turns to shit, ethically.
So the cancer is spreading once again as it attacks the surrounding tissue. Strong chemotherapy or radiation therapy is indicated.
@Bob Mann..
yes I know they didn’t told you on CNN it was lot of innocent civilians killed in Pakistan in Afganistan..Lot of kids but I am sure you don’t care.When terrorist kill inocent civilians in Israel I call them terrorist and when inocent civilians are killed by USA or Israel I don’t call them collaterel damage but State Terrorisam and USA is now terrorist state.
btw there is pending law suit in US court regarding 2489 inocent civilians killed in Pakistan.Just let you know I come from Balkans where Bill clinton made graveyards.
I wonder who will benefit from insecurity in sinai. It is the only area that the gazan can import and export .
I think that this is another set up by isreali’s so they can isolate gaza strip and close all the gates to the palestinians.
Drones are about depersonalising the war experience. Many soldiers learn to regret the atrocities they personally carried out. Look at the current US suicides rates on returning veterans. To experience murder first hand, to watch someone die at your hand is one thing. To be seated at a terminal thousands of miles away from the murder you are committing is another. You can even take a coffee break and you don’t see the detail nor hear the screams as the human lives on your screen cease to exist. It’s much easier for the human psyche to deal with and of course puts less obstacles in the line between those that give the orders and those that carry them out. A definite win situation for a Government that fears the concept of humanity might win over military conditioning but a definitely loss for human rights and justice….and humanity generally.
I’m sorry – explain to me how the genocide being committed in the name of Zionist apartheid differs from WWII Germany?
No, I won’t. If that’s what you’re looking for you’ll have to go elsewhere to find it.