Good Evening & Greetings

First an introduction.

My name is William Stroock. The boss graciously invited me to blog here. I am a civilian writer specializing in history and military history magazine articles. Here's a link to an article I have in the current issue of Military Heritage Magazine if you want to get a feel for what I do.

Also I have recently published a novel, A Line Through the Desert, currently available at Amazon. Briefly, A Line Through the Desert follows a young Sgt. in the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment during the First Gulf War, culminating with the Battle of 73 Easting, 26 February, 1991.

Now, what do I here? I'm going to provide round ups and commentary on war news from all over the world, specifically, the War on Terror, but other areas as needed. So, what does the badly named War on Terror encompass? Obviously Iraq and Afghanistan, but also Somalia, where Islamist militants are battling a weak western backed government and Israel which fights both Hamas (in Gaza) and Hezbollah (in Lebanon) two terrorist groups supported by Iran. Other areas include the Philippines and Pakistan.

With that in mind, lets take a look at the big news.

Today Israel conducted a nationwide drill simulating a massive terrorist attack, presumably a missile attack from Iran. This is very interesting as for more than a year, the Israelis have given every indication that they are going to launch a massive strike on Iran's nuclear program.

Let's consider the facts.

-In the fall of 2007 the IAF destroyed a Syrian nuclear reactor built with Iranian and North Korean help.

-Last spring, the IAF conducted an exercise off the coast of Greece, simulating an attack on several targets. Greece is about the same distance as Iran is from Israel. Greece also operates the Russian made S-300 SAM system, which Iran has purchased. This exercise involved more than 100 jets and helicopters.

-The opening move of Operation Cast Lead, Israel's incursion into the Gaza Strip last December/January, saw more than 100 Israeli aircraft hit Hamas positions in two waves, with the first wave of 60 aircraft each hitting their targets in a well coordinated simultaneous strike.

To really damage Iran's nuclear program, the Israelis have to take out three main sites, the Uranium enrichment facility in Nataz (in Central Iran), the reactor at Bushehr (on the Persian Gulf) and the research center in the city of Esphahan.

A large, coordinated strike, like the one the Israelis seem to be rehearsing for, would be the only feasible way to do so from the air. Destroying Bushehr would necessarily alert Nataz.

Of course, that's if the Israelis aren't cooking up something else altogether...