Arms ship? What arms ship?

What's an arms ship? We don't know any arms ships!

According to the Associated Press, "Israeli officials tallied up hundreds of tons of weapons seized from a commandeered ship Thursday as Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas denied Israeli claims that the arms were meant for them."


Everything wasn't "ship-shape"

Hezbollah has, of course, denied any connection. Of course.

Israel accused Iran of violating a UN arms embargo by hiding 36 containers filled with a wide range of weapons among hundreds of containers of civilian cargo on a ship heading to Syria.

"The bulk of the shipment included rockets intended to hurt Israelis and kill as many civilians as possible," said Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "This constitutes a war crime. The UN General Assembly should have investigated and condemned this crime and the UN Security Council should have convened a special session to debate this incident. Iran intends to commit this war crime again in the future."

According to a very reliable source, he was "told that the ship was not unique; most of the arms have been tagged for Beirut and Syria and then redirected. I asked why now?" He didn't get an answer...but is expecting one, soon.

"Israel accused Iran on Thursday of violating a U.N. arms embargo by hiding 36 containers filled with a wide range of weapons among hundreds of containers of civilian cargo on a ship heading to Syria."

"The bulk of the shipment included rockets intended to hurt Israelis and kill as many civilians as possible. This constitutes a war crime. The UN General Assembly should have investigated and condemned this crime and the UN Security Council should have convened a special session to debate this incident," Netanyahu said. "Iran intends to commit this war crime again in the future.

But there are two solid bets as to "why now?"

1.) Iran fears Israel (and/or the U.S.) could try and put an end to its nuclear weapons program. The Obama administration has been trying to get Russia to take Iran's uranium, but that effort has gone nowhere. Meanwhile, the Iranian "street" is getting restless - further worrying the Imams - and Iranian Baluchs are setting off bombs with or without the help of (pick one): the CIA, the Mossad, Pakistan, that cranky old man down the street. The internal chaos is only fueling the urgency of the Mullahs' desires/efforts to develop nukes - which they've promised to rain down on (pick one): the infidels, the Jews, that cranky old man down the street. "Arming-up" might signal that the Iranian leadership thinks its final battle is drawing closer.

2.) Iran plans to draw attention away from its nuke efforts (thus buying more time) by supplying arms throughout the Middle East, but particularly in Lebanon where another Hezbollah offensive against Israel would kick into high gear in coming months. In addition to serving as a diversion, it also would be a key test of the new administration's resolve - and ties with Israel.

Either way, this is a signal we should all be paying attention to - closely.



According to JTA, "The German-owned ship operated by a Cypriot company was en route from Iran to Syria with a planned stop in Beirut, according to Israel's Foreign Ministry. It carried arms including Katyusha rockets, assault rifles, grenades and mortar shells, as well as an advanced anti-aircraft platform, Israel Radio reported."