THE JUNIPER COBRA DRILL by Alf Mendes

As described in my previous article “A Week To Remember”, the US Juniper Cobra exercises now play a disquietingly crucial role in the current Middle East impasse - which again receives minimal coverage from our media (certainly no headlines). Hence the following exposure of this ‘veil-of-secrecy’ on their part.

And where better to start than with the United Press International Inc. (UPI) press release on October 6th ’09, which confirms that US air defense systems, with warships, had arrived in Israeli waters to carry out its Juniper Cobra exercises in one week’s time with the cooperation of Israel - adding that “The pending arrival of a top US Army General to oversee the joint exercise signifies its importance”.

Here it is necessary to recall certain events of pertinence to this subject, keeping in mind that it is an indisputable fact that the US government was aware of the oncoming 9/11 bombing, which resulted, unsurprisingly, in its subsequent invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. (In other words ‘a bombing of convenience’). More surprisingly, the Americans had started holding anti-missile system exercises/drills, since 2001: (a) the biannual joint US/Israel Juniper Cobra drills; and (b) the annual Anatolian Eagle exercises with US/NATO, Turkey & Israel. Intriguingly, Israel & Turkish air forces have flown together over each others’ territory since forming a bilateral defense alliance in 1996!

Now, as reported by the Jerusalem Post in October ’09, Turkey unexpectedly withdrew from the Anatolian Eagle exercise due to be held in Ankara the following week, claiming that Israel would be using planes which they had used to attack Turkey’s fellow muslims in the Gaza Strip earlier that year. This led to: (a) the US/NATO threat to cancel the exercise; and (b) Israel postponing the imminent Juniper Cobra exercise - which, as revealed by the Jerusalem-based military intelligence website DEBKAfile noted that 17 US naval ships with Patriot missile interceptors and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-ballistic missile defense systems (THAAD) were already in place - adding that 1000 personnel would be participating in what was to be the biggest joint Juniper Cobra drill/exercise. NB: as noted in my article “A week To Remember”, in 1988, the US had deployed their X-Band mobile radar station (used for detecting incoming ballistic missiles) in Israel’s Negev desert and we are thus justified in assuming that this will be part of the Juniper exercise .

The above problem remains unresolved for now - but as the Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said on the radio at the time ..the incident must be looked into accurately without bowing our heads." Israel is "better off in a coalition of NATO countries led by the US, who will negotiate with the Turks, because [the country's decision to back out of participating in the joint drill] also harms European and American interests" - adding - "Turkey was and remains a very important strategic anchor in the Middle East". Obviously, America is going to ensure that the Juniper exercise will take place - sooner than later.

And as if this was not perplexing enough, on October 14th “09, the French Le Canard Enchainé reported that Israel is preparing to bomb Iranian nuclear sites and pro-Iranian targets across the Middle East after December 2009. The Israeli Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi had met secretly in France with US armed forces Chief of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen and French Chief of Staff Gen. Jean-Louis Georgelin, informing them that Israel plans to attack Iran after December, when it became clear to the rest of the world what is already obvious to Israel: that talks between the six powers and Tehran will not produce any benefit” - thus echoing the remarks of former Israeli deputy defense minister, Efraim Sneh, who commented to US and British media in the past week that if the US fails to deliver tough sanctions against Iran by Christmas, Israel will have no choice but to attack its nuclear facilities.

The foregoing leads to the following conclusion: With Obama as president, Capitalist America will continue to embark on their road to global domination - regardless of whether-or-not their methods are at times somewhat ineffective!

This does not augur well for us earthlings - mid-east Arabs in particular!