Strategic Hits & Collateral Damage
Hello everybody!
Amid a few complaints that I’m not paying attention at supporting Ukraine any more, I’m going to continue focusing on the Israel’s aggression on Iran. For lots of reasons.
One is of personal nature. Meanwhile, I’ve got two ‘hospital cases’ in the family. Even so, yes, I’m managing to ‘follow, research & write’ - if for no other reasons because I’m often finding myself spending hours in the waiting rooms of different doctors.
The mass is, ‘however’, of professional nature. I’m not ready to ‘look the other way’ while Israel is trying to distract the public attention away from its genocide on Palestinians, through massacring people elsewhere around the Middle East. I’m not going to say ‘oh my, I didn’t know that’ whenever it happens different dickheads in ‘the West’ figure out the sheer scope of Israel-committed atrocities. Furthermore, because the USA are on the brink of becoming Israel’s proxy (if not a ‘subject’), and have already stopped the supply of all military aid, what’s going on there in the Middle East is strongly influencing the outcome in Ukraine – even if this might appear as ‘only indirectly’ (and nope, not because of such myths like ‘Iran now can’t deliver missiles and UAVs to Russia’). As next, I can’t – physically and mentally – cover two highly intensive wars at the same time. Finally, I admit that I’m sick and tired of writing about all the morbid incompetence of the Ukrainian top political and military leadership, and the resulting cost for the ZSU in terms of troops killed and wounded. For me, Syrsky’s intentional sabotage of Drapaty’s (and that of others) conduct of combat operations is no ‘military sciences’, but blanc idiotism, motivated by nothing else than jealousy - and sorry: I’m no psychologist.
Shouldn’t mean I’m going to abandon supporting the ZSU, nor that Don or Benjamin are going to stop following developments in Ukraine. On the contrary, the next update on the ‘Rickshaws’ is about to follow in due course. Another of Ben’s features, too, and Don’s Weekly is to follow every Monday, as usually.
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Now ‘back to the Middle East’ - where it is clear that Israel’s latest air strikes on Iran are little else but a peace initiative. Therefore, it’s not only Iran’s government and top military officials, nuclear installations, military bases, oil industry, police stations, military bases all over western Iran, but also banks, media centres; and – with help of UAVs – emergency responders that are regularly targeted by the Israelis.
When not busy massacring emergency responders, the Israeli Air-Space Force (IASF) flew one big air strike into western central Iran yesterday. Some 30 aircraft were involved: the package was led by F-35s, and covered by at least four F-15C/Ds. Don’t worry, such a composition of Israeli formations is ‘just doctrine’: by no means should it mean that the IASF can’t move freely – all over Iran, of course. On the contrary: they can fly wherever they like, as much as they like… which is why they’re constantly targeting Iranian air defence positions in western Iran, too…
A similar strike package, but this time involving some 60 aircraft, followed the last night. Combined, these two waves have targeted additional nuclear- and weapons production sites in Iran. Those known to have been hit over the last 24 hours (mostly by aero-ballistic missiles and long-range glide bombs) are the construction site of the IR-40 heavy water reactor in Arak (150km south of Tehran), the Fa’th air base of the IRGCASF, outside Karaj, the Khojir Missile Complex (manufacturing anti-tank guided missiles), the Shahid Charaghi Industries (manufacturing rocket propellants), both in Karaj, and the Ya Mahdi Industries Group between Karaj and Qazvin (100km north-west of Tehran).
From this, and from the fact that Israel is all the time running an intensive campaign of UAV strikes in the areas of Tabriz, Kermanshah and Khorramabad, one can deduct the obvious: Israel is now actually focusing on trying to prevent Iran from bringing back into action its shorter-ranged-, but more numerous intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs). Those with a range of 1,300-1,400 kilometres, the majority of which can only be deployed against Israel if positioned about 100-150km inside Iran. This in turn means that, despite all the evidence for ‘mass destruction’ of the IRGCASF’s bases in this part of the country, the local units equipped with IRBMs are still around. Just like their air defences. Of course, they can’t fire very often, but this can quickly change if Israel lessens pressure upon them.
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Early his morning, instead of an unconditional capitulation as demanded by Dumpf, and in yet another case of blatantly unprovoked retaliation, the IRGCASF hit Israel, and then in quite some fashion. Around 07.00hrs, it fired some 20 (according to Israel) of its longest-ranged, heavy IRBMs, and then from central Iran. The weapons in question were primarily old Shahab-3s, but also several Sejjil-2 and/or Qadr-101/110, and at least one of Khorramhshar-1s.
Official Israel first reacted ‘instinctively’: with ‘all missiles intercepted’. Then, when it became obvious that there is a lots of damage, and some of this was ‘in favour of Israel’, it corrected this to ‘four impacts’, i.e. four hits (in turn providing a confirmation for constantly declining intercept rate: from the claimed 95% down to 80%).
As far as is known, at around 07.12hrs local time, one missile hit Ramat Gan, another Holon (both are districts of Tel Aviv), and one hit Beersheba. Israelis didn’t specify what did the fourth do. According to the Israelis, at least one of missiles was carrying a cluster warhead consisting of 20 submunitions: this opened at an altitude of around 7,000 metres, spreading its load over a radius of around 8,000 metres, prompting Israelis to complain about war crimes…
Now, what has the IRGCASF targeted and what has it hit?
One of the missiles has targeted the most sacred site in Israel. A true altar of worship. No, not the mythical David’s Temple (no trace of which was found even 75 years since Israeli archaeologists started digging for it, all over Jerusalem), but: the Israel’s Stock Exchange.
Bloody terrorists!
…this, even more so because, in a desperate attempt of ‘last ditch’ defence, the IASF fired 22 Iron Dome interceptors – which are next to useless against IRBMs - but without success. This missile thus caused extensive damage: not only that a part of the Stock Exchange’s building collapsed, but nearly all the buildings some 300-500 around the impact site have lost their glass facades.
The most is known about the southernmost missile. Because this has hit a kind of target Israel likes to be hit: a hospital. Now, according to official Iranian releases, the IRGCASF was targeting either the Israeli Army Communications and Intelligence Central Command, or the Israel’s Central Information Technology Park (Gav Yam). One of the two was also hit, but the Israelis would not say which, only indicate ‘severe damage on a sensitive object’.
However, this missile also caused extensive damage to the nearby Soroka Medical Centre, where a fire broke out, and dozens were injured…
Now… sigh… of course I can understand ‘military necessity’ of trying to strike major intelligence headquarters. However, this was sheer idiotism on the part of the IRGC. It doesn’t matter how reckless are the Israelis to construct such facilities right next to a major hospital complex; it doesn’t matter if its foremost IDF’s casualties from the fighting in Gaza that are treated there; it doesn’t matter if the hospital is thus a sort of ‘human shield’. In my books, hospitals are sanctuaries, no ‘collateral damage’, and anybody wearing a military uniform while targeting them – intentionally or not – is an unprofessional and incompetent jerk, and a war criminal. Such actions are making me furious and I find that there is absolutely no excuse for such actions.
At most, this is only confirming my conclusion that there is no difference between extremist religious nutjobs in Iran and those in Israel, the USA (and, apparently, in most of the European part of NATO, too).
Of course: nobody needs to care about my ‘opinion’.
But, the responsible idiots in Tehran – who have meanwhile ‘categorically rejected the Zionist false claim of targeting a hospital’ – might want to consider that in this fashion they’re playing straight into the hands of that ‘Zionist entity’, as they’re terming Israel. It’s long since I’ve lost the count of how many times was Khamenei declared for ‘Hitler’ by members of Israel’s government. And Netanyahu was quick on the scene in Beersheba to ‘show the world what kind of Iranian terrorism is Israel facing’. Point is: ‘the West’ is not only ignoring Israel’s genocide on Palestinians, where 100+ civilians (approx.. 50% of them little kids) are massacred every single day, but supporting it. It is ignoring Israeli-US intention to complete the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. It is ignoring Netanyahu’s partnership with Putin. It is ignoring Israel’s aggression on Iran. It is ignoring that Israel’s ‘super-precise’ attacks on Iran have so far massacred over 600 Iranian civilians. All of atrocities and misdeeds committed by Israel every single day (almost every hour) simply do not matter. Now ‘the West’ has a ‘reason more’ for that position….
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Of course, the fighting is going on. As I was writing this, the IRGCASF fired yet another volley of some 10 missiles at Israel: the latter claimed all as ‘intercepted or missing their targets’.
…it’s more likely then, that whatever was there on this site outside Kiryat Ata (northern Israel) spontaneously became an anti-Semite, and began burning…
Apparently, the IRBMs were combined with attack UAVs, but found no reports about the latter, yet.
There is, as yet, zero evidence that Israel is penetrating Iranian airspace with manned aircraft. All targets struck this far within Iran appear to have been done so with missiles, drones, or glide bombs launched from the periphery or Iranian airspace. The preponderance of missile boost stages scattered across Iraq and Syria is evidence of this method.
First and most important at all. Hopefully the medical treatment helps your 2 personal 'hospital cases' and they recover quickly and completely.
Another excellent update, as usual with a lot of unbiased information (nowhere else seen).
Seems as if the AD of Israel gets leaky and yes it is clearly a sign of sheer desperation to use Iron Dome against ballistic missiles. Now even the mainstream (for example BILD) admits those 2 facts.
It could be that the 'bite' might get too big for Israel.
Nothing is decided yet, except that the devastation is constantly growing.