Israel has attacked Gaza Flotilla (dead and wounded)

[Helen Reyes]

Had not heard she was sailing under the flag of Cameroon. I hear she has turned off her radio locator to make it harder for the Israelis to find her. The following might shed a little light. It sounds like Ireland is warning Israel there will be dire consequences for attacking Irish citizens.

http://rachelcorriepgpo.wordpress.com/20...l-warning/

Israel warning
In News and Updates on June 2, 2010 at 5:19 am
MV Rachel Corrie avoided capture during flotilla raid but Israeli lieutenant says ‘we will be ready’

“Medical supplies being loaded into the MV Rachel Corrie, which was named after a 23-year-old American killed in Gaza in 2003. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA”

The final boat in the Gaza aid flotilla was sailing at full speed towards the territory’s coast tonight despite warnings that it would be intercepted by Israeli forces.

The MV Rachel Corrie, a 40-year-old cargo ship bought by the Irish arm of the Free Gaza Movement, was delayed and avoided capture during Monday night’s assault. Tonight it was still in international waters about two days from Gaza, carrying a consignment of aid and 19 activists and crew, among them five Irish nationals, the organisation said.

The Irish taoiseach, Brian Cowen, warned Israel tonight that he expected no violence against those on the Rachel Corrie.

“If any harm comes to any of our citizens it will have the most serious consequences,” he said, calling on Israel to guarantee the vessel safe passage through the military blockade of Gaza.

The ship, named after the 23-year-old American killed in Gaza in 2003 while trying to prevent an Israeli bulldozer demolishing a Palestinian home, had halted in the Mediterranean following the assault while those on board – among them the Nobel peace laureate Máiread Maguire and Denis Halliday, a retired senior UN diplomat – discussed whether they should continue.

It was now carrying as a “second wave” of the flotilla, said Niamh Moloughney, who organised the sailing in Ireland.

“I’d say the mood on board is resilient and steadfast. When people signed up to this they knew what might happen,” said Moloughney. “We expected we would be confronted and there would be a stand-off, but no one expected this. But there’s never really been a question of the boat turning back.”

As well as the Irish nationals, the 1,200-tonne boat is carrying six Malaysians and eight crew of varying nationalities.

All those on board had received training in non-violent resistance before the sailing and had pledged not to fight back if the boat was boarded, Moloughney added.

Speaking on the boat’s satellite phone, Maguire said she was determined the boat should continue on its course.

“We’re not frightened, no, we hope the Israeli government will allow us to go freely in and we know the international community are calling for our safe passage,” she said.

Halliday said he had spoken to Ireland’s foreign minister, Micheál Martin. “He was very reassuring that the government was behind us and he gave us a complete green light to do what we’re doing and he’ll protect us as much as he can,” Halliday said.

Martin himself told parliament: “We will be watching this situation very closely – as indeed will the world – and it is imperative that Israel avoid any action which leads to further bloodshed.”

It appeared clear, however, that Israel planned to stop the ship.

The country’s military was carrying out “professional investigations” into what happened in Monday’s raid, an Israeli marine lieutenant, who was not identified, told Israel’s Army Radio. He added: “And we will also be ready for the Rachel Corrie.”The boat, which was bought at auction by the Free Gaza Movement after being impounded a year before in Dundalk, is carrying a consignment including medical equipment, wheelchairs, school supplies and cement, according to the organisation.

On Bibi, he always seems to form these coalition govts with extreme ultranationalists with a bare minimum of Knesset representation. Regarding possible war with Turkey: the internal dialogue in Israel is basically a case of mass psychosis right now, but the belligerents are either old, infirm, prohibited by their beliefs from actually fighting or not preparing to fight themselves, but plenty ready to act as cheer leaders. The real state of the IDF is highly demoralized, that's why Israel stopped the Lebanon war, not just because of outside pressure.

This scenario would start as a naval war, Lebanon and Syria would likely shoot at Israeli planes and miss them, as they do now. Turkish forces could overwhelm Israel in a conventional battle and their would be high morale on the Turkish side. That only leaves Israel with the possibility of strafing, bombing and harrying Turkish territory from the air, and probably mainly sparsely inhabited eastern Turkey, aka Kurdistan. Israel's big ace up their sleeve would be the nukes, but they'd become total outcasts then and would probably end up losing anyway, because it would piss people off so much and others could join in against Israel, despite Israel's now-dwindling supply of atom bombs. The nuclear war would be limited because Israel's supply is limited. They could nuke Mecca and/or Medina, but that would just stir up the hornet's nest against them. What are the other targets, national capitals? Damascus would be easy to take out, but ... if the "traditional" corrupt and malleable regimes in the Middle East and the Islamic world start to fall, the situation could become even more bellicose and the war against Israel could enjoy even more popular support.

That leaves the US and UK as Israel's fall-back position if they get pushed up against a wall. Except that both US and UK are obligated under NATO to come to Turkey's aid against Israel. What a mess. Sorry, just thinking out loud again.

Oh, and I heard the Turkish leader escaped an assassination attempt by Mossad a year ago, and is not really happy they tried to kill him. There's the NATO stay-behind network in Turkey recently uncovered, possibly this is the same organization that tried to kill him, I haven't followed it. I think if their priority is to kill him now, they've already sort of missed the boat, they failed, and he's mad as hell.