Friday, November 18, 2011

"Israel beware: China is arming Hezbollah!"

"...During the Second Lebanon War, a Chinese C-802 anti-ship missile struck Israel’s INS Hanit off the Lebanon coast.(Unfortunately only) Four Israeli sailors were killed in the incident ... The casualties could have been much worse....
There could have been a more direct hit on the vessel. The Hanit is a corvette (called a Saar 5 class ship by the Israeli navy), which is substantially smaller than an American frigate or destroyer....Fortuitously for the Hanit, a second C-802 fired at the same time flew over the ship, zeroed in on a small freighter 40 miles away, and sank it. A ship the size of the Hanit could never have taken two missile hits.
There was never any doubt about who fired the missiles. Hezbollah announced the attack first, declaring, “You wanted all-out war - and that is what you will get! You have no idea who you are dealing with!” Israeli officials believe Hezbollah may have had its hand on the lanyard, but Iranian specialists manned the firing batteries, and Lebanon’s military radars provided the guidance for the missile...
The Chinese missile attack on the Hanit came about primarily due to intelligence failures, but it highlighted a tragic blindness in the Israeli military: It simply refused to believe that Chinese authorities would put a dangerous missile system of this magnitude in the hands of a nonstate actor. At the Board of Inquiry, the Israeli navy commander explained that the prospect of Chinese advanced conventional missiles in the hands of Hezbollah seemed “unrealistic and imaginary.”...
The C-802s fired by Hezbollah at the Israeli navy originated in China either as fully manufactured missiles or as kits assembled by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. At any time, the PRC could have told the Iranians not to deliver them to any terrorist organization, but Beijing obviously issued no such instructions. The Chinese Communist Party simply thought the West and certainly the United Nations would never call out China - a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council - on its skullduggery..."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

And, of course, the USA, the UK, France and Israel have never ever supplied weapons to a terrorist organization. Believe that and I have a bridge to sell you.

BTW, at the time, I seem to recall that it was claimed it was an Iranian knock off of a C-802 which makes me question the author's motives.