So … did anything happen over the weekend?
Sirens blared across Israel on Saturday night as hundreds of drones and missiles launched from Iran reached Israel. Drones and missiles were also reportedly launched from Yemen and other countries around the region.
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The IDF has updated that the full Iranian attack consisted of over 300 threats, of which 100 were ballistic missiles launched from Iran. Another 30 cruise missiles were launched from the Islamic Republic, along with drones. There were also two rounds of rockets, around 40 total, fired on Israel from Lebanon, with Israel responding with counterattacks in close to real-time.
None of the drones or cruise missiles entered Israeli airspace. IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari noted that only a small number of ballistic missiles penetrated the Jewish state’s airspace.
Almost all interceptions have been by aircraft, David’s Sling, or the Arrow missile systems. The Iron Dome, which defends well against Hamas and Hezbollah’s simple rockets, is less relevant for drones and fancier long-range missiles.
Fortunately Israel, along with her partners including the U.S., Great Britain, France, and other unnamed parties, were able to defend against “99%” of the hostile projectiles launched against the Middle East’s only democracy.
Israel managed to shoot down 99% of the 300 deadly suicide drones and missiles that Iran launched at the Jewish state on Saturday night using an advanced air defense system known as David’s Sling — in addition to an array of other anti-missile capabilities.
Israel also had help from the US, the UK and an unlikely Arab ally.
Not a single drone or cruise missile fired by Iran and its proxies made it through, according to Israeli media. And only a few of Iran’s more advanced ballistic missiles struck Israel.
Despite facing a direct attack from Iran for the first time in modern history, Israel appears to have suffered very little damage, and only one casualty is known so far — a 7-year-old Bedouin girl.
What we’re looking at is one of the most advanced defensive arrays in world history. Israel, because of its existential imperative to survive in the lion’s den of the Middle East, has developed one of the most impressive defensive military systems in the world; even better, perhaps, than what the U.S. can field.
The attack is a response to the killing of top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the death of whom Iran blames Israel.
More importantly, the attack is a direct result of the Biden junta’s jumbled messaging about Israel’s right to self defense and their idiotic pacification of Iran. Of course, they don’t see it that way. They blame—wait for it—Donald J. Trump.
Bream pressed Kirby about the Biden administration’s policies to permit waivers on sanctions and unfreezing assets vis-à-vis Iran. Last month, the Biden administration re-approved a sanctions waiver to permit Iraq to purchase energy from Iran, effectively allowing the state-sponsor of terrorism to access $10 billion. Kirby had said at the time the money would not go to its “mullahs.”
“Could this administration have been tougher on Iran? Did it sense an opening?” Bream asked.
“It’s hard to take a look at what President Biden has done and say that we have somehow gone soft on Iran,” Kirby responded. “It was the previous administration that decided to get us out of the Iran deal. And now Iran is so much dramatically closer to a potential nuclear weapon capability than they were before Mr. Trump was elected.”
That Donald Trump, guys. Out of office for almost four years, and the impact he’s had on this administration. I mean, he’s made it so hard for them to govern.
It’s not hard to believe that this gang of incompetent wokesters hastens to blame the prior administration which has been out of power since January 2020. Blame-shifting is their go-to tactic, especially since all Brandon can do is wag his finger and cough up “don’t” as though Iran has any respect for him at all. He’s all pose and no substance, one of the weakest “leaders” we’ve ever had at the helm of this nation.
Bream pressed Kirby again on whether the White House was soft on Iran, and he again blamed Trump’s foreign policy.
“Is it not fair to say, though, that there have been moves by this administration that have opened up cash and other opportunities for them, which we know are fungible in ways that are not helping the Iranian people but are benefiting the elites and people there who chant ‘Death to America?,'” Bream asked.
Kirby responded by saying, “The additional funds that have been made available to Iran due to the sanctions relief program that the Trump administration put in place, can only be used for humanitarian goods. It doesn’t go to the regime. And the idea that the regime was somehow felt like they were freed up to support these proxies because of that. It just doesn’t comport with the fact that they have been supporting these proxies for years.”
For now Israel has withheld a retaliatory response, influenced in part by a call that Biden had with Netanyahu. But there are calls for Israel to attack Iran directly. One publicationn called for Israel to go on the offensive.
The IDF spokesperson said rightly when referring to those who use ballistic missiles as not planning a “moderate attack,” but intending to hit hard. Ballistic missiles, after all, are like a declaration of war.
This could be the run up to World War III. It’s clear that power centers are shifting and the mullahs are growing bolder. They know what is true about any attack, even against an enemy as well prepared defensively as is Israel: the target has to be lucky all the time. Terrorists only have to be lucky once.