This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Israel warns of ‘significantly widening’ the ground operation in Gaza
- Russia blows off US accusation of complicity in shooting down airliner
Israel warns of ‘significantly widening’ the ground operation in Gaza
On Friday, thousands of Israeli troops accompanied by tanks rolled intoGaza. The military said that it hit at least 150 targets, includingrocket launchers and tunnels used for raids and for moving andstoring weapons. Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said thatoperation could expand:
Since it is impossible to deal with the tunnels onlyby aerial means, our troops are also dealing with it on theground. Here as well, there are no guarantees for total success,but we will do the utmost to achieve the best result. Myinstructions to the IDF are to prepare for the possibility ofsignificantly widening the ground operation, and the chief ofstaff and the military are prepared accordingly.
Israel has called up more than 53,000 reservists over the pastweek.
Israeli actions are the targets of protests in many countries,including Bangladesh, Jordan, South Africa, Venezuela, and Turkey because of the Palestinian casualties. International officials aredemanding a cease-fire and a peace agreement. Jerusalem Post and PBS and ABC News
Russia blows off US accusation of complicity in shooting down airliner
On Friday, the United States all but accused Russia of pushing thebutton that launched the missile that shot down flight MH17.President Obama made this statement:
Evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by asurface-to-air missile that was launched from an area that iscontrolled by Russian-backed separatists inside of Ukraine. Wealso know that this is not the first time a plane has been shotdown in eastern Ukraine. Over the last several weeks,Russian-backed separatists have shot down a Ukrainian transportplane and a Ukrainian helicopter, and they claimed responsibilityfor shooting down a Ukrainian fighter jet. Moreover, we know thatthese separatists have received a steady flow of support fromRussia. This includes arms and training. It includes heavyweapons, and it includes anti-aircraft weapons.
At a meeting on the United Nations Security Council, US ambassadorSamantha Power more explicitly accused Russia of complicity:
We assess Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 carryingthese 298 people from Amsterdam to Kuala-Lumpur was likely downedby a surface-to-air missile, a SA-11 operated from aseparatist-held location in eastern Ukraine…
Only SA-11, SA-20 and SA-22 are capable of hitting an aircraft atthis flight’s altitude of 33,000 ft.
Separatists were spotted hours before the incident with the SA-11system at the location close to the sight where the plane camedown. Because of the technical complexity of the SA-11 it isunlikely they could effectively operate the system withoutassistance from knowledgeable personnel. Thus we can’t rule outtechnical assistance from Russian personnel in operating thesystems.
Interestingly, Russia’s UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin didn’t attempt torefute these charges, except for the perfunctory claim, “We didn’t doit.”
Instead, Churkin blamed Ukraine’s government for allowing passengerairlines in that airspace. Russia’s president Vladimir Putin made asimilar statement.
Furthermore, Russian separatists in Ukraine are preventingresearchers from investigating the crash. The wreckage hasalready been substantially contaminated.
So the visceral message conveyed by Russia’s attitude is: “We don’treally care that you think we shot down an airliner. Weannexed Crimea and got away with it, and now we’ll get away with this,and you’re not going to do a single thing about it.”
However, there may still be blowback on Russia. Hundreds ofpassengers were killed from numerous countries, including dozens ofpassengers from Holland and Germany, and some countries may, at theleast, demand compensation at the International Court of Justice.
There may also be blowback in another form. This atrocity may forcethe Ukraine government to escalate its military action against thepro-Russia separatists in east Ukraine. At the same time, reportsindicate that Russian troops are massing on the Ukraine border,suggesting that there may be a larger battle to come. White House and Russia Todayand The Conversation
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Israel, Gaza, Benjamin Netanyahu,Russia, Ukraine, Samantha Power, Vitaly Churkin, Vladimir Putin
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