Posted on 08/07/2006 10:41:15 AM PDT by SJackson
In the course of a hostile interview on July 30 with Israeli spokesperson Miri Eisen, CNN International anchor Rosemary Church actually charged that Israel could shoot down the Hezbollah Katyusha rockets that have rained down on the country, but has chosen not to try:
ROSEMARY CHURCH: But they’re crude rockets aren’t they, and after all their impact has been minimal compared to the impact of Israeli strikes on Lebanon. Explain something to us, why would you not try to be shooting these missiles, these Katyusha missiles, or rockets, we should say, they’re not missiles at all, they’re rockets. Why would Israel not be trying to shoot them out of the sky? They – they have the capability to do that.
Before dealing with the implications of the CNN anchor’s assertion, let’s first dispose of the technical issue – can Israel shoot down Katyusha rockets?
The answer is unfortunately no. Israel and the United States have been jointly trying to develop such a system known as MTHEL (Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser), and even tested a prototype at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. But according to MTHEL is still only in the development phase, and is not scheduled for deployment until at least 2007.
So Ms. Church was misinformed – at this time neither Israel nor the United States has the ability to shoot down Katyusha rockets on the battlefield.
But far more disturbing than Ms. Church’s perhaps understandable ignorance about missile defense was her implied charge that Israel could shoot down the Katyushas but has chosen not to. Clearly, a country that could defend against Katyusha rockets but instead allows its citizens to be killed by them is capable of anything, no matter how monstrous. Which raises the question of what exactly is the culture in the CNN International newsroom that such extremely hostile and distorted views about Israel can apparently exist? And how heinous would an anti-Israel charge have to be for Ms. Church and her editors to think it worth fact-checking before broadcasting it?
Let's not forget to give thanks to the democRATs for their decades of obstruction to first SDI and now BMD, ensuring that democracies around the globe remain defenseless against most anything ballistically launched into their territory.
More proof that CNN only hires liberal drug addicts with severe STD infections of their CNS system, which makes them spew hatred of Israel and the USA like this bs.
No, they cannot. All that followed your 1st sentence (above) indicates that to be the fact.
Let them feel the love.
If that is the way you want to interpret it...
If you haven't already- you need to see this.
If we start by assuming that this woman thought MTHEL was operational, then her follow-on question makes a great deal of sense -- you or I would ask precisely the same question!
Erm.... "anchor," not "editor."
I hear they have a few land-based Phalanx systems, but these are only good for point-defense. No way to defend even just Haifa with those, you would need dozens, and then there would the the collateral damage problems of all that ammo coming back down.
At that,
you'd have to know about him, his position, exact time he'd pull the trigger, and how good he is at his job.
Can't count on hearing the shot, seeing the bullet, or knowing how close he is to center of mass.
bttt
He figured it out after Hitler invaded Poland, a mere 14 months years after the Munich Agreement.
Our enemies have violated how many agreements and CNN still can't fricking figure it out.
They are "The Crescent Network News". They are dhimmirats..
Hezbollah could target Israeli military bases instead of civilian areasConsidering that they use civilian areas as military bases, I doubt they recognize that there's a difference.
-Eric
nutz.
"Enemy Propaganda" bump!
Actually the Israelis can shoot down rockets. They have the Arrow, the Patriot and a laser system, all capable of shooting down the rockets Hezbollah uses.A Patriot can shoot down a long range ballistic missile like a Scud, but Katyushas have a much shorter range and therefore a much shorter flight time. They can only be shot down by Phalanx systems, which are only good for point defense.
-Eric
Need we mention that many of the northernmost Israeli cities have underground bomb shelters everywhere to protect their valuable citizenry - and that there's a REASON why these are necessary?
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