by Stephen Lendman

Israel is a warrior state - a nation at all times mobilized for war with hundreds of thousands of reservists ready to supplement active duty forces on short notice.

On July 27, three days of large-scale drills began - “testing the (IDF’s) ability to rapidly transition from routine activities to an emergency war footing,” according to the Jerusalem Post.

Hundreds of thousands of reservists got “mock telephone messages” requesting confirmation of receipt. Thousands of others were called up or are on alert to report for duty on command if ordered.

An IDF source said “(t)his is one of the largest reservist telephone call-ups we’ve had in an exercise. We want to ensure that the system is well-oiled and working.”

Northern and Southern commands will test responses to attacks from Syria, Lebanon and Gaza. Why when Israel’s only threats are ones it invents.

It hasn’t been attacked since the 1973 Yom Kippur War. No imminent danger exists now. Large-scale war games intimidate neighbors.

Along with other methods Israel uses (practically from the cradle to the grave), it manipulates public sentiment to accept militarism and belligerence as part of daily life - in lieu of a society prioritizing social, economic and political justice for all its citizens and residents, one opposed to occupying another people’s land.

On July 29, Israel again bombed Syria lawlessly. It’s done it half a dozen or more previous times since Obama launched premeditated proxy aggression in March 2011 - besides other times earlier.

Whether Wednesday’s strike was part of Israel’s emergency readiness testing, IDF commanders will have to explain. Perhaps it’s part of Turkey joining Obama’s air war on Syrian targets. Ankara claiming its striking Islamic State forces is a pretext to attack Syrian and Iraqi Kurds.

On Wednesday, an Israeli drone struck a car in Hader, Syria (in Quneitra governorate) near Israel’s border - reportedly killing two Hezbollah members and three others supporting Syria’s liberating struggle against US-enlisted Islamic State and other takfiri terrorists, imported from scores of countries.

Hader is a largely Druze village - located along the Golan ceasefire line. An IDF spokesperson declined comment.

Lebanon Al-Manar television reported “two members of Syria’s National Defense Forces were killed when an Israeli drone targeted their car at the entrance of Hader in Quneitra province.”

In mid-June, takfiri terrorists surrounded Hader following clashes with loyalist forces. On Tuesday, Syria’s military killed members of what it called a terrorist group in southern Quneitra province.

Islamic State field commander Abu Umar al-Shishani was reported killed - so far unconfirmed. Earlier reports of his death proved false. Whether true now isn’t clear.

In his last Sunday address to officials and members of public organizations, vocational syndicates, as well as industrial, trade, agriculture and tourism groups, Assad vowed to defend Syria’s homeland.

Defeating terrorism, restoring peace and stability are his top priorities. State institutions continue providing whatever help they can despite ongoing conflict requiring maximum use of national resources for homeland defense and liberation.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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