got involved.
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Ironically probably the problem Trump has is that we elected him because he was a fighter. We were tired of losing and he is a winner type. But with a winner type you often get some of the downside, ie. vulgarity a tough style and language. After Biden's wimpy ways we might find Trump more acceptable because his policies are right, his accomplishments were visible and positive.
At CPAC, Trump was his usual upbeat self, his criticism of Biden was factually based, his comments were measured and he left the audience wondering about his presidential intentions thus, keeping those lusting to run off balanced.
Time will tell.
And:
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Israel wastes no time in responding to ship attack:
Israel strikes Iranian targets in Syria, responds to ship attack -
report
The strikes on
Sunday night come just days after an Israeli-owned commercial vessel was
attacked by mines in the Gulf of Oman.
The Syrian army said on Sunday evening that an Israeli airstrike
targeted parts of southern Damascus in escalating attacks that regional
intelligence sources say target Iran-linked assets.
A Syrian Army statement said the attack came from the Golan Heights and that it had downed most of the missiles, in the second such strike in less than a month on the outskirts of the capital.
An Israeli military spokesman declined to comment on the report.The
strikes on Sunday night come just days after an Israeli-owned commercial vessel
was attacked by mines in the Gulf of Oman.
Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi blame the attack on Iran,
although Iran has not officially taken responsibility.
On Sunday morning, an analysis in the Iranian-regime controlled
Kayhan daily, tied to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, referred to the
attack on the Israeli vessel as a response to strikes on Iranian and
pro-Iranian forces in Syria and Iraq.
The analysis stated that there is "no trace" of the
identity of the attackers and claimed that the vessel was flown under the flag
of another country. The paper additionally claimed that the ship was a military
vessel spying in the Persian Gulf and not a commercial vessel.
The Iranian analysis concluded that the ship was "probably
ambushed by one of the branches of the Axis of Resistance," but did not go
as far as explicitly stating that Iran or one of its proxies was responsible
for the incident.
While Israeli media reported that the strikes on Sunday night were an Israeli
response to the attack on the ship, no official government or military
statement was made on the matter. In the past, the IDF has often confirmed when
it responded to specific attacks.
The strikes also come just days after the US targeted Iranian
sites in eastern Syria, killing at least one militant and wounding several
others, in response to a rocket strike blamed on pro-Iranian militias on a
US military base at Erbil International Airport in northern Iraq on February 15
in which a non-American contractor was killed, as well as a series of
additional rocket attacks on other locations in Iraq with US forces, according
to Reuters.
The last alleged Israeli strikes to target the Damascus area were
reported on February 15, reportedly targeting equipment belong to Iranian and
pro-Iranian forces near the Damascus International Airport, as well as other
targets.
The strikes are the seventh in the past two months, with strikes
attributed to Israel reported in eastern, southern and Western Syria in January
and earlier in February.
Israel has struck a wider range of targets than usual since the
start of the year, including a major strike on Iranian-linked strongholds
further east near the Iraqi border.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Friday said Israel was
taking action "almost weekly" to prevent Iranian entrenchment in
Syria.
Regional intelligence sources were quoted in the media saying
that Iran's Quds Force and
militias it backs, whose presence has spread in Syria in recent years, have a
strong presence in the Sayeda Zainab neighborhood of southern Damascus where
Iranian backed militias have a string of underground bases.
Israel has regularly attacked what it says are Iranian-linked
targets in Syria in recent years, and stepped up such strikes this year in what
Western intelligence sources describe as a shadow war to reduce Iran’s
influence.
Kochavi said in December Israel had struck over 500 targets in
2020.
Tensions remain high in the region in the aftermath of the
assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh just east of
Tehran, which Iran blames on Israel, and the one-year anniversary of the US
assassination of former IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in January.
Israel's northern border remains tense as well due to continued threats by the
Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist organization to carry out a revenge attack against
Israel in response to the death of a Hezbollah militant in Damascus in July in
an airstrike blamed on Israel.
Concerns surrounding the Biden administration's intent to return
to the nuclear deal with Iran have also been raised in recent weeks, with
Kochavi stating last month that he had ordered operational plans to strike
Iran’s nuclear program to be ready if necessary.
And:
Does this attack provide Israel with leverage?
Iranian Attack Provides Israel Leverage
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ naval forces have proven their ability to carry out attacks like the one we witnessed on Friday in the Gulf of Oman against an Israeli-owned cargo ship. We can assume it was also responsible for this latest attack. While the attackers could have easily sunk the ship, it seems their goal was to cause damage without incurring any casualties.
The attack didn’t take Israeli officials by surprise. The ayatollahs’
regime has suffered painful blows both across the Middle East and inside Iran
in recent years, and has been seeking revenge for quite some time. Friday’s
attack fits the bill while allowing Tehran to maintain a low profile. Although
the Iranians opted for a civilian and not a military target, it is doubtful
Israel will act to change the status quo.
However, Israel now has an opportunity to leverage the event in the diplomatic arena, in particular with the US administration, which is now busy formulating its policy on Iran. Following an initial month that saw the White House display alarming weakness in the face of Iran, it seems it is now ready to deal with reality. We saw the first signs of this on Thursday night when the Americans hit Iranian targets on Syrian soil in response to an attack by pro-Iranian militias on American targets in Baghdad.
Israel is also interested in restricting Iran’s activities in the
region. This kind of attack on a civilian target could aid in that effort by
blackening Iran’s reputation and demonstrating negative influence on the
region.
The name of the game in this effort is intelligence. Just like with the nuclear program, Israel needs to get to Washington, and other relevant capitals, to present officials with facts and testimonies. There is an abundance of such material on Iran’s nuclear program, its violations and deceptions, and, one can assume, Friday’s attack in the Gulf of Oman as well.
It’s unlikely this diplomatic-intelligence process will thwart
Iranian aggression. Ever since the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal in 2018,
Iran has carried out quite a few acts of aggression, including against Western
maritime targets. Israel must now ensure this is an isolated event and not the
start of a broader campaign. At any rate, it must increase surveillance,
monitoring, and security of Israeli and Israeli-owned vessels.
Israel must now decide whether it wants to retaliate, and if so,
how. At any rate, the Iranian front has been consistently managed across a
variety of sites and various means; despite this most recent event, Israel is
still far in the lead. Moreover, Iran’s latest move seems to have provided
Israel with a significant political opportunity.
Yoav Limor is a veteran Israeli journalist and columnist for
Israel Hayom
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