Prof Michel Chossudovsky: The US Israeli Attack on Gaza

The Western media in chorus has described the Israeli attack on Gaza as an ad hoc IDF led counter terrorism operation, launched on the grounds of "self defense" in response to Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel.While reports acknowledge that president Obama, in the wake of the November 6 elections, had granted a "Green Light" to Tel Aviv, the central issue does not pertain to Washington's support, but rather to the direct involvement of the US government and military in the planning and implementation of the attack on Gaza. There is evidence that Operation "Pillar of Cloud" was implemented in close liaison with Washington in the context of the broader process of allied military planning. Senior US military officials were on location in Israel working with their IDF counterparts in the days leading up to the attack. Operation "Pillar of Cloud" was launched on the 14th of November, exactly one week after the US presidential elections. It was slated to be launched irrespective of the outcome of the US elections. The first action was the targeted assassination of the leader of Hamas' military wing Ahmed Jabari. The operation has since evolved towards a generalized bombing campaign and ground invasion involving the announced deployment of some 75,000 Israeli troops. What is significant in assessing US involvement in Operation "Pillar of Cloud" is the fact that in the month prior to the attacks, the US and Israel were involved in the conduct of the largest joint war games in Israeli history. The objective of the war games was to test Israel's missile air defense system against attacks from far and near, namely from Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas. US Defense Secretary Leon and Israel's Minister of Defense Ehud Barack had established a process of close consultation. Panetta was in Israel in early August. He returned to Tel Aviv two months later on October 3, two weeks before the launching of the US Israeli Austere Challenge 12 exercises. On October 18, the US and Israel launched within Israel the first phase of the joint war games. The military exercises were conducted over four weeks overlapping with the US elections on November 6, and culminating with the commencement of the Gaza bombings on November 14. The joint US Israeli war games, in a sense, "went live" on November 14 with the launching of Operation Pillar of Cloud.