[b]ISRAEL MILITARY EXERCISE 'DIRECTED AT IRAN'[/b]

This appears to be an opinion piece by the 2 authors, and not one real person is quoted. Only various 'officials' are being used and the information is rehashed and put together for war-mongering.

• Israeli Military Exercizes
  • Israel Exercizes Directed at Iran
  • Demonstrates Israel's Concern Of Iran Nuclear Activities

How about this for a Headline: US DECLARES WORLD WIDE CEASE FIRE AND ORDERS
HER MILITARY TO FIRE THEIR WEAPONS ONLY AT BOTH SIDES OF A GUN FIGHT AND
GIVES THE UNITED NATIONS UP TO THREE MONTHS TO TAKE OVER THIS TASK!

Exercise by Israel Seemed Directed at Iran - Gordon and Schmitt, New York Times

Israel carried out a major military exercise earlier this month that American officials say appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Several American officials said the Israeli exercise appeared to be an effort to develop the military’s capacity to carry out long-range strikes and to demonstrate the seriousness with which Israel views Iran’s nuclear program. More than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighters participated in the maneuvers, which were carried out over the eastern Mediterranean and over Greece during the first week of June, American officials said.

US: Israel Appears to Be Rehearsing Iran Attack

Israeli Officials Won't Confirm or Deny

Israel Flexes Muscles with 'Iran Attack' Drill - Sheera Frenkel, Times of London

Israeli aircraft have conducted a long-range mission designed to prepare for a possible strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities and to send a message to the world that it is ready to take military action if diplomacy fails to halt Tehran’s atomic programme. An Israeli political official familiar with the drill, held early this month, said that the Iranians should “read the writing on the wall... This was a dress rehearsal, and the Iranians should read the script before they continue with their programme for nuclear weapons. If diplomacy does not yield results, Israel will take military steps to halt Tehran’s production of bomb-grade uranium.”

Israel Trains for Possible Iran Strike - Martin Chulov, The Australian

Israeli fighter jets have recently conducted a large-scale training operation that simulated an attack on an Iranian nuclear reactor, US media reports claim. The apparent operation follows months of escalating rhetoric from the Israeli defence establishment and politicians, who insist a military strike against the nascent nuclear capabilities of Iran is on strategists' drawing boards. Up to 100 advanced Israeli combat jets were reported to have taken part in the drill over Greece and other areas of the eastern Mediterranean. The exercise was tailored to prepare for long-range strikes and focused on air-to-air refuelling and target assessment.

War with Iran: Grim "What If?" - Scott Peterson, Christian Science Monitor

Pressure is building on Iran. This week Europe agreed to new sanctions and President Bush again suggested something more serious - possible military strikes - if the Islamic Republic doesn't bend to the will of the international community on its nuclear program. But increasingly military analysts are warning of severe consequences if the US begins a shooting war with Iran. While Iranian forces are no match for American technology on a conventional battlefield, Iran has shown that it can bite back in unconventional ways. Iranian networks in Iraq and Afghanistan could imperil US interests there; American forces throughout the Gulf region could be targeted by asymmetric methods and lethal rocket barrages; and Iranian partners across the region - such as Hezbollah in Lebanon - could be mobilized to engage in an anti-US fight.

Worn-out US Seeks Bargain with Iran - Greg Sheridan, The Australian opinion

The attempted grand bargain between Washington and Tehran, and the collapse of the two-state solution, are profound developments that may take years to unfold, are bafflingly complex and that we will be trying to analyse for a long time to come. The signs of the grand bargain are everywhere. The idea that George W. Bush won't negotiate with Iran is nonsense. The US and Iran regularly meet at ambassadorial level in Iraq and other officials have also held meetings. Rice, in her recent important essay in Foreign Affairs, repeatedly offers full normalisation and a complete change in relations with Iran if it will just desist from illegal nuclear activity. Throughout the Middle East, the US is accommodating core Iranian demands. Iran's terrorist proxy, Hezbollah, has been given a virtual veto over Lebanese government policy. Iran's closest ally, Syria, has been invited to send its President, Bashar al-Assad, to a Mediterranean area summit in France, at which he will share a meeting room with Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Iran's other terror proxy, Hamas, is being relieved of military pressure through the ceasefire.

Darkness at the End of the Tunnel - Gabriel Schoenfeld, Weekly Standard opinion

Israel has just carried out a major aerial exercise, putting a hundred or so F-15s and F-16s into the skies over the eastern Mediterranean, evidently a rehearsal for a strike against Iran's nuclear facilities. The move follows the statement earlier this month by Shaul Mofaz, Israel's deputy prime minister, that an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear program is "unavoidable." Israel almost certainly knows the location of some of the critical nodes in the Iranian program that it must hit if it is to set the Iranian effort back by several years. It also possesses the technology to assure that its bombs will fall close to or on their targets. But would such a strike succeed? We cannot know the answer, and neither can the Israelis. The question calls attention to what might be called the ongoing Counterrevolution in Military Affairs. The Revolution in Military Affairs was based upon silicon, in particular the computer chips that make for precision-guided weapons. In the 1980s, the United States developed the technology to drop munitions near enough to their targets to ensure a high chance of destruction. In World War II, the circular error probable--the radius of a circle into which a projectile will land at least 50 percent of the time--was more than half a mile. Today, thanks to GPS systems and laser- and infrared-guiding devices, the radius is less than two dozen feet. Almost any given target can be knocked out by the use of just one or two conventional bombs.