Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Syrian M-600s are the true threat Hezbollah poses to Israel... while, Israel's missile defense systems are far from adequate

"Fateh, M600, ... Tomato, tomaatow ..."
"... aside from the new Scud-D variant, the missiles are not very accurate. But this is not what's most important: Hezbollah's very possession of Scuds attests to its murderous intentions...
That same day, the military censor, after months of delay, finally permitted publication of the fact that Hezbollah now has Syrian M-600 rockets - which carry smaller warheads than Scuds, but are much more accurate. With enough M-600s, Hezbollah could systematically bombard Israel's most strategic sites.

Moreover, unlike the Scuds, M-600s can be launched quickly, and Hezbollah has undoubtedly concealed them in urban neighborhoods to make them harder to locate. Thus M-600s are the true threat Hezbollah poses to Israel.

Israel's missile defense systems, meanwhile, are far from adequate. The army has ordered only two experimental Iron Dome systems against short-range rockets..... Israel's enemies have massively increased their missile stockpiles. And it is far from clear that the IDF has a good answer for a situation in which massive, accurate rocket fire shuts down ports and airports, impedes the operation of air force bases and forces the reserves to convene under heavy fire - or whether the home front, and the politicians, will have the stamina to hold out until an offensive produces substantive military gains. Therefore, unless the IDF starts bolstering its defensive capabilities - and not just its offensive ones - it risks being prepared for the most convenient scenario, rather than one that is actually likely to happen."

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