Posted on 09/15/2002 8:02:06 AM PDT by knighthawk
A possible Iraqi missile strike has citizens feeling on edge
A senior Iraqi official told Israel Friday to expect missile attacks in the event of a US-led war to unseat Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, amid growing apprehension in the Jewish state about the government’s readiness for such an eventuality.
“Israel will suffer a profound and an unforgettable strike if it interferes in the (US-led) war (against Iraq),” Iraqi Trade Minister Mohammed Mahdi Saleh told the Al-Khaleej daily.
Israel’s army chief, Lieutenant General Moshe Yaalon, said this week that the US wanted Israel to stay out of any military operation against Iraq.
“America would be very happy if we are not involved in this attack, at least at this stage,” he said. “Let them do the job alone.” Iraq’s Saleh said a US strike against Iraq would help Israel become stronger in the Middle East.
“The attack will shatter the Arab people and make Israel more strong in the region,” he told the newspaper.
In 1991, four Iraqi Scud missiles struck the Ramat Gan suburb of Tel Aviv, damaging thousands of apartments and killing one person. Eleven years later, the mayor has plans to shift residents to tents in southern Israel in case of a new war.
Most residents of the Tel Aviv suburb are not impressed by Tzvi Bar’s plan to load their cars with supplies and evacuate to a giant tent camp.
But many are certain they do not want to hang around if Iraq does attack as it did during the Gulf War, when 39 Scud missiles were launched at Israel.
At the time, they spent many hours in sealed rooms wearing gas masks. But none of the missiles was loaded with chemical weapons.
“It seems weird. There will be awful traffic jams, and I don’t have a car to leave in. I prefer staying with my friend Rachel in the north,” said Dvora, 62, a Ramat Gan resident “In any case, I’m not going to hang around in my house to see it collapse on me. Last time, it was a question of principle, there was no question of showing we were fleeing. Now I say, forget heroism,” she added. “For nothing in the world would I relive those awful moments.”
Around 10,000 apartments were damaged by missiles in Ramat Gan, including around 100 totally destroyed, the Yediot Ahronot newspaper reported Thursday.
On Aba Hillel Street, a row of modern buildings stand out from the others in the neighborhood, reminding everyone it was here in January 1991 that the missiles landed. It took two years to rebuild them.
Yael Drori, 36, lives in one of the buildings. She was already here in 1991 but does not like to recount those days. She has saved press clippings from the time in a plastic bag.
“This was our place,” said Yael, pointing to a press photo of the flattened top floor of a building, where a cupboard was still somehow standing.
Yael’s new apartment has a reinforced room, like all recent buildings in Israel. At the moment, she uses it to store the childrens’ toys and bicycles. “But soon, we are going to clear it out,” she said.
“I am pessimistic. I have the feeling there is a cross on this building to tell the Scuds where to fall.” In case of war, the Drori family are going to leave immediately, but refuse to follow the mayor’s plan. “Let him go stay in a tent!” said Yael.
On the bottom floor, the Meiman company returned to its offices in 1993. Ironically, it specializes in evaluating damage to buildings.
The plans of his “close friend,” the mayor, amuse him. “I know the plan, he’s been talking about it for a long time, but it is unthinkable,” he said.
“First, we don’t know what is going to happen. And then, imagine the psychological pressure that will be on these people, stuck in the south for days,” Ami added.
Adding to the apprehension in Israel was a report Thursday that the country is short of bomb shelters and stocks of gas marks are running down.
An officer of the army’s Home Front Command said Thursday the command had been complaining about the lack of shelters since it was formed following the Gulf War. However, Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer repeated calls for calm.
“The Iraqi threat should not be exaggerated,” he told an academic conference earlier this week, adding that although Iraq did have chemical and biological capability, it was short of missiles or planes to deliver such weapons.
Ben-Eliezer said that Israel had developed its missile defense system, upgraded protection for its citizens and improved civil defense procedures.
“I truly, sincerely believe that the state of Israel is extremely well-prepared to face an attack,” he said. The Israeli officer said that while stocks of gas masks were enough to meet demand, 600,000 of the masks are past their expiration date and must be replaced.
Yediot Ahronot cited military data as showing that about 37 percent of Israel’s population has no access to bomb shelters in case of attack.
(Welcome back, btw.)
In the past just such a "threat" from the Iraqi toadies would have been justification for the IDF to whack every missle site in Iraq. A deal has been struck or Israeli's are getting real passive . I'm betting on the "deal"..........
Stay Safe !
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