Saturday, May 4, 2013

President Obama's continued obsession with stopping an Israeli attack on Iran

by Carl in Jerusalem

Friday, May 03, 2013



There are no lengths to which President Hussein Obama will not go to prevent an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. In his latest bid to stop Israel, Obama's defense department has redesigned its bunker busters to be able to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities. But there are two issues here: Will the redesign be effective and can Obama be trusted to actually use the bunker busters if it becomes necessary? The answer to the first question is maybe (at best) and the answer to the second question is almost certainly no. 
U.S. officials see development of the weapon as critical to convincing Israel that the U.S. has the ability to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb if diplomacy fails, and also that Israel's military can't do that on its own.
Several times in recent weeks, American officials, seeking to demonstrate U.S. capabilities, showed Israeli military and civilian leaders secret Air Force video of an earlier version of the bomb hitting its target in high-altitude testing, and explained what had been done to improve it, according to diplomats who were present.
In the video, the weapon can be seen penetrating the ground within inches of its target, followed by a large underground detonation, according to people who have seen the footage.
The newest version of what is the Pentagon's largest conventional bomb, the 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP, has adjusted fuses to maximize its burrowing power, upgraded guidance systems to improve its precision and high-tech equipment intended to allow it to evade Iranian air defenses in order to reach and destroy the Fordow nuclear enrichment complex, which is buried under a mountain near the Iranian city of Qom. The upgraded MOP designed for Fordow hasn't been dropped from a plane yet.
The improvements are meant to address U.S. and Israeli concerns that Fordow couldn't be destroyed from the air. Overcoming that obstacle could also give the West more leverage in diplomatic efforts to convince Iran to curtail its nuclear program.
"Hopefully we never have to use it," said a senior U.S. official familiar with the development of the new version. "But if we had to, it would work."
A few comments. First, the emphasis here continues to be on stopping Israel when the emphasis needs to be on stopping Iran. Obama still doesn't get that.  

Second, who says Fordow is the only underground plant? Given that the US now admits they have no idea where Syria's chemical weapons are, who says that they know where all of Iran's underground nuclear facilities are?

Third, the Obama administration continues to delude itself that Iran can be 'convinced' to 'curtail' its nuclear program when there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that Iran is even considering doing so, when nothing Iran says can be trusted, and when Iran is ruled by an apocalyptic Ayatollah who is willing to send his country and everyone else around it back to the 8th century.
U.S. officials said they believe the enhanced U.S. bunker-busting capability decreases the chances that Israel will launch a unilateral bombing campaign against Iran this year and possibly next year, buying more time for the Obama administration to pursue diplomacy after Iran holds elections in June. Israeli officials declined to comment. Israeli officials maintain they reserve the right to attack Iran.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and other senior American officials have told their Israeli counterparts in recent weeks that the Obama administration will look more closely at military options to deal with Iran's nuclear program after assessing the impact of those elections on Tehran's intentions.
What do Iran's elections matter? The last time I checked, Ayatollah Ali Khameni isn't running and doesn't have to run. Why does anyone believe Obama and Hagel when they make those kinds of comments?
Israeli officials remain skeptical that the Obama administration is prepared to strike Fordow and other nuclear sites, according to current and former U.S. and Israeli officials. That skepticism, officials say, has fueled calls within Israel's government for a unilateral strike on Iran, even if Israel is capable of only setting back the nuclear program by a couple of years.
Israel still thinks its Air Force can do substantial damage to Fordow, according to Israeli and U.S. officials. U.S. intelligence agencies concur with that assessment. Mr. Hagel, during a visit to Israel last week, announced steps to supplement Israel's military capabilities, though it is unclear how soon the new weapons systems and aircraft will arrive.
I wonder why Israeli officials are so skeptical. /sarc.

Read the whole thing.


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Bee's Note"
And we wonder why it has taken over 8 months for the Benghazi witnesses to come forward.
Stay tuned - May 8th - hearing on Benghazi.


Israeli airstrike targets Iranian weapons shipment in Syria


ANNE'S OPINIONS

Smoke billowing from Damascus airport
The New York Times reported today (Shabbat) that Israeli Air Force planes bombed a shipment of advanced Iranian surface-to-surface missiles in Syria, although reports are confused as to whether the air-strike was on Friday or Saturday, and whether it was carried out from Lebanese air-space or over Syria itself:
The airstrike that Israeli warplanes carried out in Syria was directed at a shipment of advanced surface-to-surface missiles from Iran that Israel believed was intended for Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese organization, American officials said Saturday.
It was the second time in four months that Israel had carried out an attack in foreign territory intended to disrupt the pipeline of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah, and the raid was a vivid example of how regional adversaries are looking after their own interests as Syria becomes more chaotic.
Iran and Hezbollah have both backed President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war, now in its third year. But as fighting in Syria escalates, they also have a powerful stake in expediting the delivery of advanced weapons to Hezbollah in case Mr. Assad loses his grip on power.
Israel, for its part, has repeatedly cautioned that it will not allow Hezbollah to receive “game changing” weapons that could threaten the Israeli heartland after a post-Assad government took power.
And as Washington considers how to handle evidence of chemical weapons use by the Syrian government, a development it has described as a “red line,” Israel is clearly showing that it will stand behind the red lines it sets.
The missiles that were the target of the raid had been sent to Syria by Iran and were being stored in a warehouse at Damascus International Airport when they were struck, according to an American official.
Two prominent Israeli defense analysts said military officials had told them that the targeted shipment included Scud Ds, which Syrians have developed from Russian weapons and have a range up to 422 miles — long enough to reach Eilat, in southernmost Israel, from Lebanon.
But an American official, who asked not to be identified because he was discussing intelligence reports, said they were Fateh-110s.
The Fateh-110 is a mobile, accurate, solid-fueled missile that represents a considerable improvement over the liquid-fueled Scud missile. American officials have said it has the range to strike Tel Aviv and much of Israel from southern Lebanon.
[...]
In carrying out the raid, Israeli warplanes did not fly over the Damascus airport. Instead, they fired air-to-ground weapons, apparently using the airspace of neighboring Lebanon.
The Lebanese Army said in a statement that Israeli military aircraft “violated the Lebanese airport” on Thursday night and early Friday morning and were flying in circles over several areas of the country.
[...]
Israel’s official silence reveals the broader dilemma it faces in how to handle Syria’s upheaval. After 40 years of quiet on its northeastern border, Israel is now deeply worried about violence spilling over into its territory and about a post-Assad Syria being a vast, ungoverned area controlled by Islamist or jihadist groups, with no central authority to control militant activity.
But leaders in Jerusalem believe that they have few options beyond the targeted attacks on convoys or warehouses to affect the situation in Syria, seeing any direct action by Israel as likely to backfire by bolstering or uniting anti-Israel forces.
Jonathan Spyer, an expert on Syria and Hezbollah at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel, called Thursday’s strike “extremely significant,” and predicted more such attempts to transfer weapons — and Israeli efforts to stop them — in the coming weeks and months.
“Clearly Hezbollah is hoping to benefit from its engagement in Syria, and clearly Israel is committed to preventing that,” he said. Mr. Spyer said that in striking the warehouse, Israel was taking a “calculated risk” that its limited intervention would provoke a limited response, if any.
Ynet has more details about the raid:
Another question that arose Saturday was whether Israeli jets had invaded Syrian airspace.
Based on initial indications, US officials told CNN they do not believe Israeli warplanes entered Syrian airspace to conduct the strikes. It was estimated the strike was carried out from Lebanon.
According to Reuters, Israel’s air force possesses so-called “standoff” bombs that coast dozens of kilometers (miles) across ground to their targets once fired. That could, in theory, allow Israel to attack Syria from its own turf or from adjacent Lebanon.
Ynet’s defense analyst Ron Ben-Yishai estimates the assault was not conducted from Lebanese airspace but from greater distance, possibly from over the sea. Israel’s Rafael-manufactured “Popeye” system is capable of carrying out such strikes.
Officially Israel is keeping shtum about the raid, although typically there are conflicting opinions:
Senior Defense Ministry official Maj.-Gen. (Res) Amos Gilad denied reports Saturday in the Associated Press and Reuters that Israeli officials had confirmed striking a Hezbollah-bound weapons shipment in Syria overnight Thursday-Friday.
“What do you mean ‘confirm’? Who are these officials? For me, [a confirmation by] the IDF spokesperson’s office is official,” said Gilad at a gathering in Beersheba Saturday, noting that there had been no such official IDF spokesperson’s statement.
[...]
Earlier Saturday, AP and Reuters quoted Israeli officials as confirming that the Israeli Air Force carried out a strike against Syria overnight Thursday-Friday. Israel targeted a shipment of advanced missiles, the reports said. According to Syrian rebels, the IAF struck targets at the Damascus international airport, which Channel 10 suggested might be Scud-D long-range missiles. The Lebanese National News Agency reported Israeli aircraft in the skies over southern Lebanon Saturday morning as well.
Officials reportedly told both news agencies said the shipment was not of chemical arms, but of unspecified “game changing” weapons bound for the terror group Hezbollah. One official said the target was a shipment of advanced, long-range ground-to-ground missiles.
The officials said the attack took place early Friday. It was not immediately clear where the airstrike took place, or whether the air force carried out the strike from Lebanese or Syrian airspace.
Gratifyingly, President Obama backed Israel’s right to take action:
Israel is justified in protecting itself from advanced weapons shipments to Lebanon-based militant group Hizbollah, United States President Barack Obama said Saturday, the AFP news agency reports. Obama spoke following reports that Israel had bombed a weapons shipment bound for Hizbullah.
Obama joined Israeli officials in declining to comment on the reported strike, saying he would let Israel “confirm or deny whatever strikes they have taken.”
“What I have said in the past and I continue to believe is that the Israelis justifiably have to guard against the transfer of advanced weaponry to terrorist organizations like Hizbollah,” the president told Spanish-language Telemundo television during a trip to Mexico and Central America.
“We coordinate closely with the Israelis, recognizing that they are very close to Syria, they are very close to Lebanon.”
Let us hope Israel’s perseverance in preventing the shipment of Iranian missiles to Hezbollah continues to provide deterrence. We also hope that the strong cooperation between Israel and the United States continues and grows. This is the only way to show our enemies realise that our supporters cannot be dissuaded, and that our morale and our will to survive will not be broken.

Boo-Hoo… No One Wants to Bury Terrorist Tamerlan Tsarnaev (Video)


Tamerlan Tsarnaev - Boston Marathon Bomber

Posted by Jim Hoft on Saturday, May 4, 2013, 9:20 AM


Oh, boo-hoo. The funeral home holding the body of terrorist Tamerlan Tsarnaev told the Boston Herald that no one wants to bury the Boston Marathon bomber.


The Boston Herald reported:
A Worcester funeral home director was scrambling last night to find a cemetery that would bury the marathon bombings mastermind, as protesters jeered outside his door demanding that the bomber’s body be shipped out of the United States.
Emotions ran high outside the Graham, Putnam and Mahoney Funeral Parlor, which is handling the unenviable task of burying terrorist Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
“He should burn in hell,” said Ann Mink of Worcester, who was part of the sign-toting crowd.
Added Theresa Noye: “I would put him on a boat and drop him in the ocean with Osama bin 
Laden.”
Funeral home owner Peter Stefan told the Herald he has reached out to four cemeteries where Muslims are buried and so far all have turned him down.

Identity of three Benghazi whistleblowers finally revealed


May 4, 2013 by 
Fox News disclosed Saturday morning the names of three self-described Benghazi whistleblowers who, up to now, have remained a secret to all but a select few. These individuals are expected to testify Wednesday at the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chaired by Darrell Issa, R-Calif.
Eric-Nordstrom
Eric Nordstrom: “For me the Taliban is on the inside of the building.” Photo creditwww.zimbio.com
All three are career State Department officials according to Fox, and include:
Gregory N. Hicks, who served as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Libya at the time of the Benghazi terrorist attacks.
Mark I. Thompson, the deputy coordinator for Operations in the agency’s Counterterrorism Bureau and a former Marine.
Eric Nordstrom, a diplomatic security officer who was the regional security officer in Libya, the top security officer in the country in the months leading up to the attacks.
Nordstrom’s previous testimony before the committee in October created headlines when he detailed that repeated requests for additional security at the U.S. mission in Benghazi resulted in decreased security.
“For me the Taliban is on the inside of the [State Department] building,” Nordstrom angrily told the committee.
Neither of the other two whistleblowers have testified before.
Hicks, who had previously been placed at such diplomatic hot spots as Yemen, Afghanistan and Syria, was in Tripoli on Sept. 11 and was the first to receive word of the attack from the late Amb. Chris Stevens. Hicks, in turn, “immediately called into Washington to trigger all the mechanisms,” Fox reported Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, an oversight committee member as saying.
Of course, although Hicks pulled the trigger, those mechanisms were never implemented.
“The real-life trauma that [Hicks] went through,” Chaffetz told Fox News host Greta Van Susteren, “I mean, I really felt it in his voice. It was hard to listen to. He’s gone through a lot, but he did a great job.”
Thompson “advises senior leadership on operational counterterrorism matters, and ensures that the United States can rapidly respond to global terrorism crises,” according to the State Department.
Read more at Fox News and watch the video below.

Bee's Note:  BENGHAZI UPDATE: Today, Darrell announced the three witnesses who will appear before the Oversight Committee on Wednesday, May 8, to share critical information about what happened in the Benghazi terrorist attack.  The Gateway Pundit has also reported: 

Names of Benghazi Whistle-Blower Witnesses Revealed



Video: 1940 1945 פולין - Poland

Israel jets fly over E. Lebanon, head north over Beirut, after striking targets in Syria



DEBKAfile Special Report May 4, 2013, 12:48 PM (GMT+02:00)
Israeli military activity is reported in Lebanon Saturday, May 4 and not just over Syria.

US sources said earlier Israeli warplanes had struck targets in Syria including a chemical weapons depot outside Damascus, firing missiles remotely from Lebanese air space and the Golan starting Friday and continuing up until early Saturday, May 3. An Israeli spokesman confirmed only an air strike in Syria against a shipment of long-range surface missiles. 

The latest reports from Lebanon point to expanding Israeli military activity inside Lebanon as well.
They describe Israeli warplanes as flying “at a medium altitude over the Eastern and Western Mountain ranges of the Beqaa Valley.”  DEBKAfile: Hizballah strongholds are located in this region which is close to the Syrian border. Other warplanes were described as heading north over Beirut.

One Lebanese source claimed Israeli ground troops had descended from the Mt. Dov-Hermon range, crossed the Lebanese border and entered the Shebaa Farms region.

None of these reports are confirmed by Israel, Lebanon or Syria. ButDEBKAfile notes that if Israeli troops have indeed penetrated Lebanon to a depth of 5-7 kilometers and reached the Shebaa Farms, they have taken up positions opposite the 30 Syrian Shiite villages guarded by incoming Iranian elite Basij militiamen.
DEBKAfile reported exclusively Friday that thousands of Basij militiamenhad just been airlifted from Iran to Syria, establishing an Iranian military presence opposite Israel from Syria as well as Lebanon. They joined a comparable number of Hizballah militiamen fighting for the Bashar regime.

Given the rush of adverse military developments across Israel’s northern borders, its operations in Syria and Lebanon are expected to continue and even expand.

This is also indicated by last week’s mobilization of thousands of reservists for an event termed by the IDF spokesman “a military exercise” beginning Sunday, May 5 along Israel’s borders with Syria and Lebanon.
The spokesman was clearly trying to misdirect attention from Israel’s preparations for an important military operation by announcing a routine drill.

DEBKAfile adds: The initial claim by Syria, Iran and Hizballah of ignorance of any Israeli action is unlikely to hold up for long. They might keep up the act if the Israeli strike turned out to be a one-off against a single target - the picture the “Israeli official” tried to present after the event.

But if there is more to come, Bashar Assad, Ali Khamenei and Hassan Nasrallah will not let Israel go unchallenged. This threesome is undoubtedly on the phone at this moment working on their response.
Some of the earlier reports by US media claimed Israeli jets were seen Saturday before dawn circling over Assad's presidential compound in Damascus before moving on to target a weapons site. The Israeli jets reportedly received fire but returned to base unscathed.

DEBKAfile’s military sources added that the start of the Israeli air force operation could have been fixed precisely by the sirens which went off suddenly over the Golan Friday afternoon and again before dawn Saturday. The IDF spokesman said they were set off by a “technical glitch.” They now prove to have been triggered automatically by Israeli aerial movements. For five days, Lebanon has been reporting Israeli warplane intrusions of its air space.
 

Beck: 'Get Ready For Some More Blood In The Streets, America'



Unraveling the Benghazi cover-up - by Douglas J. Hagmann


ben20123 May 2013:  It will be exactly 40 years ago this May 17th that the Senate Watergate Committee, a special, broad committee convened by the United States Senate, began hearings to investigate the Watergate burglaries and a criminal cover-up of those activities. At the epicenter of those hearings was then-President Richard Nixon. Just over a year later, the committee released its 1,254 page report of findings. When the dust settled, forty administration officials were indicted and several of Nixon’s aides were charged and convicted for obstruction of justice and other crimes.
A cover-up pointed directly to the White House. Facing impeachment proceedings, then-President Richard M. Nixon resigned, assuming his place in American history as the only president ever to resign. It was described as the worst scandal in U.S. history… perhaps until now.
If history tells us anything, it tells us that it’s not just about the crime, it’s also about the cover-up. It’s about seeking the truth but being stonewalled at every turn, and being treated as subjects undeserving of the truth rather than citizens asking reasonable questions but being denied answers.
The same level of inquiries that unraveled the complexities of the Watergate cover-up are required to unravel the ball of lies that surrounds the September 11, 2012 attack in Benghazi that killed four Americans, including a sitting U.S. Ambassador. Within this ball of lies, however, exists not only the covert agenda of an administration, but the fate of the world. Unraveling this ball of lies will reveal official government actions that have been and continue to be performed in our name but without our consent. It will reveal a government agenda that has have spun wildly out of control, leaving no one accountable as we stand at a very critical moment in world history. It’s about a cover-up of monumental proportions that is reminiscent of, but hardly in league with, the cover-up of a generation ago.
Today, the stakes are much higher, as we stand at the precipice of a global conflict because of deeds being done in our name under a level of unprecedented and unchecked deception. Ultimately, it’s about getting the truth, which has been kept from each of us through lies of commission and omission, clever semantics, and outright refusals to provide answers to important questions. We were force-fed a preplanned lie from day one, much like the thinly veiled cover story of the Watergate burglary, but with much greater consequences.
All investigations, however, must have a beginning. On May 8, 2013, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will conduct a single, day-long hearing on the events that took place in Benghazi that killed four Americans, including a U.S. ambassador.  Interestingly, the hearing is being conducted under the title Benghazi: Exposing Failure and Recognizing Courage.
This one day hearing is being convened to “examine evidence that Obama Administration officials have attempted to suppress information about errors and reckless misjudgments,” and will include some witness testimony. That seems to be a fairly ambitious agenda for a single day of investigation in Washington. It is, however, a start, and an opportunity for all Americans to see just how deep the lies go.
Demanding answers
The hearing is a result, in part, of the “interim progress report” released by the House committee on Benghazi last week. Clearly, the information contained in this and other reports illustrates that there is a much deeper, much larger, and much more sinister plan that is being covered up by administration officials.
Forty years ago the cover-up of the motives behind a burglary produced some 319 hours of televised testimony. By comparison, one day of testimony is hardly enough time to conduct a serious investigation, considering what is at stake for our nation.
The events in Benghazi must be understood in the context in which they occurred. A thorough, in-depth investigation will reveal that attack was the result of our broader foreign policy of taking down the leadership of other nations, especially in this case, Libya and Syria. An agenda that has ignited the fuse for World War III. An agenda of militarization of the diplomatic-military-industrial complex that puts us on the road to Damascus at excessive speeds and with reckless abandon.
Given the significance of events, a broader investigation is needed, much like a generation ago. The reason a broader investigation is necessary must also be understood. So too must the limitations of a single day of hearings.
The big picture
We know that the operations in Benghazi and throughout Libya were coordinated by a number of different government agencies and sub-agencies. Coordination of the activities of these agencies most likely occurred at the behest of persons outside of any individual agencies at an administration security council level. This results in compartmentalization, where one individual, group or agency only has information specific to their part in the operation.
Additionally, the money for the contractors involved in the operations taking place in Libya might have come from one agency or program, although the administration of the contractors might have been directed by officers or agents of yet another agency. When understood in this context, we see that there can be little accountability of the larger operation, especially within the limitations of a single day of testimony.
Due to this operational compartmentalization, various individuals involved in Benghazi have only a single piece of a much larger puzzle. While they might want or feel the need to come forward, they are hamstrung by not having the complete operational picture. Coming forward in a limited venue, without the benefit of inter-agency operational plans, would prevent the pieces of the larger puzzle from being connected. Given such limitations, the testimony of such witnesses could be improperly questioned or even impeached.
To be certain, this administration is very well aware of this compartmentalization and will fight any call for a broader inquiry of all the agencies involved.  A broader investigation, or the seating of a Select Committee on the attacks and subsequent handling of Benghazi, would provide a proper venue where all agencies can be assembled and questioned so that the components of the bigger picture can be gathered.
Tugging at the ball of lies: Some questions requiring answers
What are some of the questions that need to be asked and answered in this hearing? To fully understand the nature of these questions, it is important to understand that Benghazi served as a logistics hub for weapons transfers out of Libya and into the hands of anti-Assad terrorists. Weapons were collected under a buyback program of sorts, to remove them from the hands of the terrorists. Is that what really happened? Important background about Benghazi can be found in the compendium of articles listed at the end of this report.
Meanwhile, here are but a few important questions that need to be asked and completely answered:
What purposes did the five-(5) Saudi/Qatari owned warehouses situated in and around Benghazi serve?
What was the disposition of the arms collected in Libya? Where did they go? Were the aforementioned warehouses used for arms storage, and if so, why?
Exactly who at the U.S. State Department was supervising this arms “buyback” program?
What is the relationship between the U.S. government and the shipping company that brought Ambassador Stevens to Libya, along with CIA assets?
At any time, were there weapons transferred between boats located about 12 miles offshore of Libya? If so, under what circumstances and conditions?
Were there any violation of international arms agreements committed?
This administration would be well advised to keep in mind the fact that lawyers in a courtroom setting know better than to never to ask questions to which they don’t already know the answers.
Where’s the media?
Forty years ago, investigative reporters and journalists sensed blood in the water and chased the blood trail until the bitter end. They operated with less information than today. Yet today, investigating exactly what transpired in Benghazi seems to be limited to the intrepid nature of Adam Housley and Jennifer Griffen, both of Fox News, and perhaps a few others. They are leading the pack, however, and seem to be the only modern day investigative journalists who could unravel the cover-up that is Benghazi, rivaling those who broke the Watergate cover-up a generation ago.
The differences between Watergate and Benghazi are as many as the years that separate the two events, and even more significant. The fate of not only our nation, but of all nations, hangs in the balance.
Compendium of reports
5 October 2012: Diplomatic Deception
1 November 2012: Abandoning America’s honor
2 December 2012: Behind the lies of Benghazi

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Two TV Stations in US Broadcast Hamas and Hezbollah Incitement


Hamas/Palestinian terrorist organization/Gaza

Two TV Stations in US Broadcast Hamas and Hezbollah Incitement
The US outlaws the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups. That has not 
stopped two TV stations, one on each coast, to air their programs urging suicide bombings. The Muslim Mideast comes to the USA.

Israel Defense Forces - Patriotic Tribute "Liberty" - videos



A prayer for the I.D.F soldiers



Israel Defense Forces - Patriotic Tribute "Liberty"






Sources: U.S. believes Israel has conducted an airstrike into Syria

CNN
By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent
updated 8:32 PM EDT, Fri May 3, 2013
CNN) -- The United States believes Israel has conducted an airstrike into Syria, two U.S. officials tell CNN.
U.S. and Western intelligence agencies are reviewing classified data showing Israel most likely conducted a strike in the Thursday-Friday time frame, according to both officials. This is the same time frame that the U.S. collected additional data showing Israel was flying a high number of warplanes over Lebanon.
One official said the United States had limited information so far and could not yet confirm those are the specific warplanes that conducted a strike. Based on initial indications, the U.S. does not believe Israeli warplanes entered Syrian airspace to conduct the strikes.
Both officials said there is no reason to believe Israel struck at a chemical weapons storage facilities. The Israelis have long said they would strike at any targets that prove to be the transfer of any kinds of weapons to Hezbollah or other terrorist groups, as well as at any effort to smuggle Syrian weapons into Lebanon that could threaten Israel.
The Lebanese army website listed 16 flights by Israeli warplanes penetrating Lebanon's airspace from Thursday evening through Friday afternoon local time.
The Israeli military had no comment. But a source in the Israeli defense establishment told CNN's Sara Sidner, "We will do whatever is necessary to stop the transfer of weapons from Syria to terrorist organizations. We have done it in the past and we will do it if necessary the future."

                                                #   #   #

Bee's Note:
On April 29th, Weasel Zippers reported the following: Report: Israeli Jets Bombs Syrian Chemical Weapons Site Near Damascus…

If Israeli jets bombed a chemical weapons site last week, the report this evening is a second strike by Israeli Air Force.  It is evident that Israel will do whatever is necessary to keep weapons out of the hands of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations.

Thank you, Israel, for your courage and strength.