After TV interview with captured arms ship captain, PA stops denying relation to ship

[Natan]

Originally posted by faded glory
Ya, thats what I thought. Of course Saddam has been trying to sneak RPG's in now and then. But this was a huge shipment...almost 100 million dollars worth...

Yeah, the Iraqi istikhabarat (military intelligence) have a special battalion of 300 men in the covert Unit 999 working on Palestine.

Just imagine had those Katuysha's gotten into the wrong hands. There not hard to use...especially the terrorist made ones. Just set up a stand on a grassy hill..aim roughly at a city 10-15 miles away...set the primer, light the match. Kaboom goes a city block.

Sad, reallly.....

Would have been bad, but I figure the katyushas, being mounted on trucks, could easily have been taken out by helicopter or tank minutes after firing - what scared me were the at-3 sagger missiles and the 120mm mortars, which increase the Palestinian capacity to shell cities and mount ambushes with a lesser change of detection.

[Bereta_Eder]

Originally posted by faded glory
Moreover, how can anyone like Arafat who claims to want peace, try to acquire these kind of weapons?

To secure peace is to prepare for war

[faded glory]

No, I saw pictures...those katuysha's were tripod mounted on a flat base. Easy to hide...there only 4 feet long. They come in single mounts and look like //_.


Ready to go, no trucks or mass launchers. Just a single, terrorist package.

Ya I think we found our culprit Nat

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein lashed out at Israel on Monday, saying its seizure of an arms ship was ``criminal piracy'' in breach of international laws, the official Iraqi News Agency reported.

Saddam also accused the United States of threatening to take its anti-terror campaign to Somalia, saying it was a cover ``for the Zionist-American plot to force their full domination over the Red Sea,'' the agency reported, quoting a statement from a Cabinet meeting chaired Saddam.

Israel last week seized a ship in the Red Sea laden with rockets and other weapons it said were destined for Palestinians. The Palestinians denied any connection.

``This is a sheer breach of international navigation laws and a criminal piracy, Saddam was quoted as saying.

The Israelis ``claim it was transporting weapons to Palestinians,'' he said, according to INA. ``The real crime is the breach by the Zionist entity of international laws.''

Regarding Somalia, where the United States has been conducting reconnaissance flights to search for al-Qaida terrorist camps, Saddam said, ``It is hard to separate between the piracy crimes committed by the Zionist entity ... in the Red Sea and the American-Zionist plans against Somalia

Rather angry today I guess

unit999

Really? I thought that was just rumour from the Israeli side. Has it been confirmed?

[WhiteElephants]

Well if these arms are linked to Iraq I think we can safely nail the lid on the coffin of the bleeding heart liberal arguement about the UN embargo being too harsh on Iraq, no? Seems the man would rather buy guns than food for his starving people. Perhaps Iraq is viaing for the number two spot on our military's hit list. Better hold your breath.

[faded glory]

duh, thats what Saddam wants. To become the "Nebuchazzar" of the modern arab world.

So he honestly, I think, would want America to bomb him. He is 76 years old and wont live much longer anyway.

[ravagon]

Originally posted by paiktis22


Never thought AD&D manuals were so expensive

Much to my embarassment I thought that too.

To me this seems like an utterly insane move for the Palestinian Government if they were indeed responsible. Acquiring weapons of this nature would serve as no form of deterrence to the Israelis in those numbers (No matter how many ships have been sent) and to actually use them would be sheer folly. They could be used to kill Israelis but nowhere near enough to seriously hurt Israel itself. The corresponding Israeli counterattack could utterly annihilate any organized opposition and end any Palestinian dreams of Statehood forever.
As far as officially deniable teracts go, movements in and into Israel itself are far more watched than those in almost any other country, and a terrorist action in moving even a single kat-launcher into a firing position would be pretty hazardous.
Likewise launching from within Palestinian territory itself would surely (and justifiably in this case) bring about an Israeli response far beyond anything seen to date (even a full-scale conflict) and could hardly be worth the very limited amount of damage able to be inflicted.

And for an "innocent" bystander Mr Saddam seems to be taking an inordinate amount of interest in the situation ...

I can see him receiving a "gift" of a missile or two before long ...

[Sirotnikov]

Arafat had 2.5 tons of explosives on that ship, ready to deliver to Hamas and Jihad whom he "arrests" these days.

And the mortars and katyushas were to further annoy israel. he gets a kick when israel reacts harshley and gets criticized.

[faded glory]

Well Sirot, the missiles were hardly an annoyance, they were an escalation. They could of done serouis damage. Make the mortars look like fire-crackers.

Like I said, all they need to do is go on a grassy hill. Set up a katuysha, take about 20 minutes, and aim it in a general direction of city 10-15 miles away. Shoot it, and run like hell, hope Israeli army doesnt come looking.

Damage done.

The mortars are only used for the settlements. And the Palestinians have proved they are not too good at aiming those mortar's.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by faded glory
There are always those like KH who defend terrorists

Idiot.

Hey, Natan: I'd gotten the impression that Oslo was sorta beyond salvaging at this point, and I'd say Israel is a hell of a foreign enemy to defend against if you're the PA. The Palestinians are and have always been the underdogs, and I have no urge to see them have to live like that forever. I'd be happy to see Israel actually afraid of Palestine instead of simply occasionally annoyed. Israel can go anywhere it wants to and bomb anything it wants to in the PA (and does, on occasion). Why should I care that the PA wants the same capability? Maybe they'd have to take negotiations seriously instead of simply indulging the leftists occasionally?

[Case]

I wonder how many shipments of weapons Israel has imported in the last few months...

[faded glory]

Originally posted by Case
I wonder how many shipments of weapons Israel has imported in the last few months...

Ya but Israel is surrounded by Blood-thirsty dictators.

[ravagon]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse

I'd be happy to see Israel actually afraid of Palestine instead of simply occasionally annoyed. Israel can go anywhere it wants to and bomb anything it wants to in the PA (and does, on occasion). Why should I care that the PA wants the same capability?

Please tell me you're joking! The Palestinian Authority can't hope to surrepticiously import enough arms to even threaten, let alone take on Israel on any turf. The only thing they could even hope to accomplish is to kill/injure a number of individual Israelis and bring about a full-scale military retaliation courtesy of the IDF - against which they would have no chance whatsoever. None. Israel has never used more than a fraction of its capability against the PA.
For all the rhetoric about the Israeli military "striking back" against the PA recently, in effect, they haven't. If they ever did/do the PA would/will cease to exist. Along with a large portion of the populace.

[Sprayber]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
Funny. In the midst of talks of peace, Israel continues running an army which is big enough to crush the PA 10 times over.

You never heard of Syria or Iraq?

Not every country is as lucky as Canada in that they are bordered by a peaceful country.

[faded glory]

Or atleast think they are being bordered bye a peaceful country...


*evil laugh*

[Sprayber]

I'm afraid that people on both sides just are itching for full confrontation. Except for Arafat maybe. Because lets face it, either way he doesn't live much beyond a full blown arab Israeli war.