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New and unknown deadly weapons used by Israeli forces

'Direct energy' weapons, chemical and/or biological agents, in a macabre experiment of future warfare

By Professor Paola Manduca

By now there are countless reports, from hospitals, witnesses, armament experts and journalists that strongly suggest that in the present offensive of Israeli forces against Lebanon and Gaza 'new weapons' are being used.

New and strange symptoms are reported amongst the wounded and the dead.

Bodies with dead tissues and no apparent wounds; 'shrunken' corpses; civilians with heavy damage to lower limbs that require amputation, which is nevertheless followed by unstoppable necrosis and death; descriptions of extensive internal wounds with no trace of shrapnel, corpses blackened but not burnt, and others heavily wounded that did not bleed.

Many of these descriptions suggest the possibility that the new weapons used include 'direct energy' weapons, and chemical and/or biological agents, in a sort of macabre experiment of future warfare, where there is no respect for anything: International rules (from the Geneva Convention to the treaties on biological and chemical weapons), refugees, hospitals and the Red Cross, not to mention the people, their future, their children, the environment, which is poisoned through dissemination of Depleted Uranium and toxic substances released after oil and chemical depots are bombed.

Right now, the Lebanese and Palestinian people have many urgent and impellent problems, yet many people believe that these episodes cannot and must not pass ignored. In fact several appeals have been launched to scientists and experts with a view to investigating the issue.

With the intent of responding to such appeals, we have set up a team to investigate the testimonies, the images, and possibly the material evidence that delegations and NGOs will be able to bring from the affected areas. We want to offer support to the health institutions of Lebanon and Palestine, which ask constantly for help and external verification and monitoring, and we are examining all available materials in order to formulate hypotheses which can be verified or disproved.

We ask for the active participation of our (Italian) scientific institutions, and, following the request from medical personnel in the conflict area, we are requesting that the UN set up an international independent verification and investigation committee, with a view to facilitating entry into the conflict zone, as well as collecting material and testimonies directly in the field, and undertaking inquries and verifications concerning the various claims regarding these new kinds of weapons of mass destruction being used by Israeli forces in Lebanon. We request that such investigating teams be set up immediately, and that procedures be defined and implemented with a view to supporting future investigations. Of particular concern is the issue of how to collect and store samples from the different theatres, with a view to preserving important information regarding the various impacts of these weapons.

We ask that the international committee have access to all sources of information, that it be fully operational, while abiding by relevant investigative procedures, including cross-checking of information between different laboratories. The international committee is to report to the competent authorities, including the Human Rights tribunals and international courts, if appropriate..

As people and as scientists, we are offering our time and expertise in order to reach an understanding of the underlying facts, in the belief that a perspective of justice, equity and peace among people can be reached only with the respect of the rules defined up to now within the international community of nations. The issue pertains to the behavior of the parties in an armed conflict.

We ask that the respect of these rules be verified in the context of the present conflict.

We invite scientists to contribute to this effort by offering their specific competences. In particular we seek collaboration of toxicology experts, pharmacologists, anatomy pathologists, doctors with an expertise in trauma and burns, chemists.

They can reach the working group at the E-mail address: nuovearmi@gmail.com Paola Manduca, Professor of.Genetics, University of Genova, Italy.

© Copyright Paola Manduca, GlobalResearch.ca, 2006

Israeli army blunders through war

By Declan Power

Moves by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) to broaden their forces and objectives are entirely typical of their military posture over the years.

As the prospect of a UN resolution and some sort of ceasefire starts to take shape, the IDF is intent on reaching its objective of pushing Hezbollah forces back as far as the Litani river.

The idea is to create a buffer zone of 30km from the Israeli border which Israeli troops can patrol, and deny Hezbollah the ability to launch missiles into Israel. So far, despite rhetoric to the contrary, Hezbollah has yet to demonstrate a missile with the capability of penetrating any further into Israel than 30km.

Israeli military manoeuvres are based on clearing the villages of south Lebanon of Hezbollah manpower. They were unable to do this purely by firepower from either the air, sea or artillery.

Now Israelis have opted for large-scale conventional infantry penetration into south Lebanon.

While the IDF has a myriad of special forces operatives, it relies largely on the likes of crack mainstream infantry units such as the Golani Brigade.

Units like these have been to the fore of many of Israel’s pivotal battles in the past. Indeed, this indicates further how Israel perceives the current combat in Lebanon as part of its ongoing struggle for survival.

Added to this is the ongoing mobilisation of reservists. Israel cannot sustain any kind of large-scale military operation without recourse to its pool of reserve manpower. They have always been an integral part of any military planning.

With the failure of the air and artillery bombardment to silence the Hezbollah rocket attacks into Israel, the IDF was faced with two options - the full-scale combat in which it is now engaged, or a more surgical approach.

The surgical approach would have involved the Shin Bet, the shadowy IDF military intelligence organisation, and the Sayeret Matkal, known as the General Staff Reconnaissance Force.

It was Shin Bet, also known as Shabak, which was responsible for recruiting and running agents in hostile Arab territories.

Unlike Mossad, the national intelligence service, Shin Bet has an Arab Affairs sub-section, which would have a number of stay-behind agents in south Lebanon after the Israelis pulled out in 2000.

These Shin Bet agents would have routinely reported to their handlers on Hezbollah deployments, armaments and potential strategies that would affect Israel.

It seems likely that these Shin Bet agents may not have been as useful as thought and may have had too limited a mindset in being able to furnish their Israeli masters with a useful appreciation of the situation on the ground in south Lebanon.

Had this not been the case, then it is unlikely Israel would now be committing such an extensive ground force. Another indication of the failings of Israeli tactical intelligence has been the targeting of civilians.

Debate can still rage amongst moralists and politicians, but there is a number of basic points. We have seen the high level of fire-direction technology used by the IDF airforce and artillery.

There is no real doubt of ineptitude there, but military forces still must rely on human-gathered intelligence to be sure that they’re targeting their opponents. This is especially true in a war where Hezbollah are avoiding full-scale confrontation.

While the Israelis have deployed the forces in away similar to past conflicts, this is not the Six Day War of 1967 or Yom Kippur in 1973. These are not the massed armies of Egypt or Syria.

The IDF are applying symmetric solutions to what is now asymmetric warfare. The truth is, Israel was always better able to fight brilliantly when hugely outnumbered. It could deal with multiple assaults by nation states.

The difficulty now is in confronting non-state forces that can fight efficiently in low-intensity conflict and cause Israel to shoot itself in the foot when it attempts to escalate the conflict.

If Shin Bet had been providing more efficient intelligence, then it is likely the Sayeret Matkal may have been deployed.

This is a strategic commando unit, responsible to the General Staff of the IDF.

They first achieved fame just over 30 years ago when, in an audacious and daring operation, they crept into Entebbe in Uganda to successfully rescue 256 hostages from under the nose of Idi Amin.

Thirty years ago, this unit caused the Western world to cheer Israel and see it as a bastion of liberalism against Islamic fundamentalists.

However, in the years after, the Sayeret became used in the increasingly dirty war of assassination and kidnap.

It was used extensively against the PLO leadership and was often accused of murder and other illegal acts.

However, it was the Shin Bet and the Sayeret that were most successful in bringing about the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel that has recently broken down. Rather than using a heavy hammer, Shin Bet intelligence identified and monitored the leadership of Hamas for the Sayeret to assassinate.

The result was much less civilian carnage and an acceptance of Hamas of the need to agree to a ceasefire before their entire leadership was annihilated.

Of course, this tactic has limited longevity unless part of a political and diplomatic strategy. Again, the key to initial success was good tactical intelligence.

Israel finds it has blundered into Lebanon like the proverbial bull in a china shop. Its intelligence failures meant it had no choice, as once confronted with the missiles, it had to go the distance to stop them.

A more detailed intelligence profile that showed the extent of Iran’s rocket arming and training programme might have made the Israelis hesitate and decide on a different strategy.

It might have been worthwhile to mix tactical and strategic intelligence gathering to put Iran in the spotlight for its role in arming and prodding Hezbollah into action, rather than engaging in an all-out fight.

The problem here is the emotional quotient in the relationship with Israel and its military. The notion that Israel pursues a psychological war with Hezbollah and its Iranian masters while actual rockets are dropping into Israeli towns and cities is anathema to the Israeli psyche.

No Israeli leader, be he civilian or soldier, has ever forgotten the public opprobrium for Israel being caught off-guard in the Yom Kippur war. World vilification or domestic condemnation, it’s always been an easy choice for Israeli leaders.

Declan Power is an independent security and defence analyst.

US/Israel Selecting Targets For Cruise Missile Attack

Multiple military sources have told the Global Network that Pentagon personnel responsible for selecting targets for cruise missile first strike attacks have been sent to Israel.

This indicates that US and Israeli military strategists are now likely meeting to plan a join attack on Syria and/or Iran.

The Persian Gulf war and the 2003 US invasion of Iraq both began with cruise missile attacks by the US from Naval ships.

It would be wise to recognize that Bush has decided to expand the current war and chaos into the entire Middle East region. The implications for the US will be enormous.

Israel's recent bombing of Lebanon near the Syrian border indicate to me that they are trying to draw a response from Syria. So far Syria has not responded. Look for more such efforts by Israel and the US to provoke Syria.

I would highly recommend local peace groups call on their members of Congress and ask them to speak out against a further widening of this already insane war.

More and larger public protests should be organized immediately.

Understand The War

Israel's Criminal Accomplice


Oren Ben-Dor: Who are the real terrorists in the Middle East?

The neocons' next war

Hizbullah's attacks stem from Israeli incursions into Lebanon

Distorted Logics vs Blurred Realities

A fellow journalist said to me last week that Hizbollah was to be blamed for the death of civilians in south Lebanon. He argued that Israel just did what it had to in dealing with such threats to its security.

He said Hizbollah fighters shouldn't have hid behind the civilians. He also stressed that Lebanon was not an Islamic country for more than 40% were non Muslims and it wasn't right to impose religious fervor into the crisis. On the Palestinian issue, he said the Israelis had been living in the Promised Land for ages. In other words, it's their land.

I must admit that there are some truths to the logic. But the harsh reality is far off from the logic. It's not about claims of rocket firings from positions within the cities but the brutal bombardments from land, air and sea on the cities and their citizens. Too often the smart bombs hit civilian targets, killing mostly women and children. Even the Red Cross sign on the roof of an ambulance became the bull eye for the Israeli missile.

Nothing rivals the destruction of the excessive bombardment on the cities, not even a high magnitude earthquake. As if all the destructions, deaths and sufferings were not enough, escape routes as well as humanitarian aids routes were destroyed on the pretext of eliminating Hizbollah's supply routes. Yet US military cargo planes flew in to supply the Israelis with more powerful bombs to rain on the Lebanese.

As for the Palestinians, it seems that they have to suffer what they ought to. After all the Palestinians and the rest of us are goyims to the Zionists. For them we're nothing more than animals that should be butchered. Forget about the biblical or quranic stories about how the Israelis had been damned. What matters are the claims that they are the chosen race and God promised the land to them.

Interestingly, a friend of mine who happens to be the deputy president of a political party touched on the story in his Friday sermon today. He said Bani Israel was a respectful reference to the followers of the Prophet Yakob (Jacob). But the community was later referred as Yahudi Laknatullah after it defied God's commands, altered the Torah and murdered several prophets.

He cited the prophet's saying about how one day even the rocks and trees except a type of tree would tell and ask Muslims to kill the Yahudis that were hiding behind them. He said some ulamas interpreted it as the whole world condemning the Yahudis for their atrocities, just like what they are doing in Lebanon and Palestine now, but one community, just like what the US and Britain and are doing now, would defend them.

I must say that it's an interesting interpretation but I prefer the one commonly accepted. It would be very interesting to hear rocks and trees talking. Furthermore, the Muslims today had yet to advance towards Israel to fight the Yahudis.

And while we are debating the matter, the Yahudis continue to kill our fellow Muslims. If we take into account the same fate that fellow Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq or even in Chechen and some would include southern Thailand and Philippine too, are facing, we couldn't help but to think that a systematic killing of Muslims are taking place.

It's like the Muslims are against the rest of the world. It seems that a final war between good and evil is taking place. Unlike the evil, the good or the truth can't be in many forms. So what is the logic and reality?

Israel gets another week to kill Lebanese civilians

Britain continued to argue that immediate ceasefire in south Lebanon couldn't be put in place just yet as both the warring sides must agreed to it.

British PM Tony Blair, in an hour-long press conference in London just now, also outlined a long-term solution to the crisis in Lebanon. He said all threats to the security of Israel must be removed so that Tel Aviv wouldn't have to retaliate.

But when pointed out by an Arabic paper's reporter that Lebanon was never offered the ceasefire and Hizbollah had called for the ceasefire, Blair just mumbled and went for the next question.

Blair also hit out at Iran for calling the destruction of Israel, arguing such statement hindered peace. But he said there would be no military action against Iran and Syria as long as the two countries didn't intervene in the conflict. He also called on international community to help rebuilding Lebanon later.

It seems that Britain and US just want Israel to continue to kill the Lebanese and Palestinians under the pretext of self-defense.

In another development, Saudi Arabia brushed aside the idea of using of oil sanctions against countries supporting Israel's latest crime against humanity.

OIC meanwhile issued two separates statements in Putrajaya with one calling for immediate ceasefire. Expect another week of violence and death in Lebanon.

Komando Israel Gempur Hospital

Sepasukan komando Israel menggempur hospital di bandar di utara Lubnan dengan tiga helikopter. Mereka mendarat dan memasuki hospital di bandar Baalbeck kira-kira 90km ke utara sempadannya.

Askar Zionis itu dilaporkan mengepung dan memeriksa kakitangan hospital itu. Pertempuran dilaporkan sebelum mereka meninggalkan Baalbeck.

Misi sebenar mereka belum dapat dipastikan tetapi dipercayai untuk menculik pemimpin Hizbullah di hospital yang dibiayai Iran itu.

Israel dilaporkan mula mengerah bala tentera di sempadan Lubnan untuk serangan darat besar-besaran.