The attack on Israelis in Bulgaria has hallmarks of the Iran-sponsored Hezbollah, but some differences as well.
Eighteen years after blowing up the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires -- an attack that killed 85 people -- Hezbollah appears to have struck again, this time in Bulgaria.
While it is difficult to disconnect the two attacks due to the amazing timing, there are some differences, most importantly the chosen target.
In 1994 in Argentina, a van with hundreds of kilograms of explosives rammed into the AMIA center, killing dozens and wounding hundreds. Wednesday's attack appears to have been caused by a bomb planted on the bus.
While the attack is severe, it is not on the scale of what happened in 1994.
The fact that the assault is of a smaller scale demonstrates the difficulty Hezbollah faces today in carrying out large-scale attacks against Israel.
This is due to the world's efforts to crack down on Iran and its terror proxies over the years in addition to Israeli efforts to bolster its intelligence and defense ties with countries that it feared were not taking the threat seriously.
An example of this was in 2010, when then-Mossad chief Meir Dagan visited Sofia and met with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov. The Bulgarians then released a rare photo of the two meeting.
The question now is what Israel will do.
While Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak vowed a "powerful response" to Wednesday's attack, Israel will first need to obtain concrete evidence against the perpetrators and the plotters.
In general, Hezbollah is understood to prefer an attack overseas -- against an embassy, an airplane or a consulate -- rather than one along the northern border, since this would allow it a level of deniability. On Wednesday evening, shortly after the attack, it issued a statement denying it was involved.
Either way, there are officials within the defense establishment who believe that such an attack needs to be met by a fierce response.
A few months ago, for example, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz warned Hezbollah not to test Israel's resolve by perpetrating a terror attack against an Israeli target overseas. If Israel does not respond, it could be perceived as a paper tiger.
Other officials believe Israel should not go to war over just any attack, and the country's reaction would need to depend on the chosen target and of course the outcome, i.e. the number of casualties.
Basically, is the number of Israelis killed in Bulgaria enough to justify a response that could lead to a war?
This is how the attack in Bulgaria connects to another bombing that happened earlier in the day in Damascus ...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat... and wiped out some of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... 's most-senior advisors, including his defense minister and more importantly -- his brother-in-law, the deputy defense minister.
The situation in Syria -- described by one defense official as a massive earthquake -- is extremely unstable right now and Israel's primary concern is the possibility that Hezbollah or another rogue actor will try to get its hands on Assad's chemical weapons.
If this happens, Israel might attack, a move that could easily and fairly quickly develop into a full-scale war and suck in Hezbollah as well.
In addition, while the attack in Bulgaria is severe, it might not be enough to require an immediate response. Instead, the government will likely take time to calculate its moves before striking back.
But, above all, it will first work to create an intelligence dossier to prove to the world that Iran really was behind the bombing.
Continued on Page 47
#3
Der, but how does Nkorea fit in, it's not even in the Middle East!
/stupidoff
Seriously, I'm shocked how almost a decade later those three have held out, and even their connection's proven more thoroughly, to make W's statement true. He might have sounded dumb then, but now it's more like he might have actually known what he was talking about!
Quick, nobody tell Biden or he'll blow the whole thing!
Posted by: Charles ||
07/19/2012 8:42 Comments ||
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The terror attack in Bulgaria was carried out by a suicide bomber who was carrying phony American documents, offcials said.
The terror attack in Bulgaria was carried out by a suicide bomber, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said Thursday morning, as authorities develop a picture of exactly how six Israelis were killed when a bus blew up at Sofia's Sarafovo Airport.
An initial investigation, based on footage captured by surveillance cameras, indicated that the bomber was a Caucasian.
Earlier reports said that the bus had been blown up by an explosive device set off remotely.
The terrorist was carrying a driver's license from Michigan and possibly a passport, Bulgarian officials said, which turned out to be a fake. A report by Bulgarian news agency Novinite said that Bulgarian authorities had contacted the FBI, which had been unable to verify the identity of the terrorist, who was apparently killed in the attack, bringing the death toll to seven. Bulgarian authorities have not yet determined how he entered the country.
A joint international investigation is being conducted by Israeli, U.S., and Bulgarian authorities. Magen David Adom and ZAKA teams flew to Bulgaria overnight Wednesday to deal with the dead and wounded. Thirty one Israelis were injured in the attack, with two in critical condition. Israeli doctors are considering ways to bring them back to Israel for treatment.
Dr. Gaby Barabash, director of Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital, told Army Radio Thursday morning that most of the injured Israelis were lightly wounded, and could be home by Shabbat. "Some of them may need long-term treatment, perhaps for several months, but most of the injuries are not complicated, and none will be (physically) disabled as a result of their experience."
#1
The terrorist was carrying a driver's license from Michigan Most likely not Mormon, Mennonite, or Wiccan. Any chance the driver's license originated in Dearborn?
#2
A report by Bulgarian news agency Novinite said that Bulgarian authorities had contacted the FBI, which had been unable to verify the identity of the terrorist,
Origin or pattern analysis of phony Michigan driver's license? You did have a look at that right?
Israeli doctors are considering ways to bring them back to Israel for treatment.
#3
More like Isreal isn't taking chances when the bomber had "fake" American documents. What's going to be the kicker is if it turns out this person was an illegal out of Dearborn or Detroit. It will have an impact on our election should the fact the guy could have blown up in the US.
Although horrible I look forward in a detached sort of way to the information on this bomber. We might have our first "American" Suicide bomber.
Posted by: Charles ||
07/19/2012 8:30 Comments ||
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#4
If the bomber originated in the US, the standard "lone wolf" tripe-o will be trotted out quickly...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/19/2012 9:02 Comments ||
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#5
...not to be confused with the MSM blitz on the Latino white boy shooting of a poor black youth as a means to broad brush a large portion of the population as RACISTS.
#6
I wonder if the Michigan DL was an out and out counterfeit or a legit one issued by the state in a false ID. Big difference IMHO. Does Michigan have Motor Voter registration?
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
07/19/2012 11:36 Comments ||
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#7
Times of Israel (HT to Weasel Zippers!)
He was an ex-Gitmo detainee: Bulgarian media on Thursday named the suicide bomber who blew up a bus full of Israeli tourists, killing five, in Burgas on Wednesday as Mehdi Ghezali.
There was no independent confirmation of the veracity of the information. The reports surfaced soon after Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had publicly accused Hezbollah, directed by Iran, of responsibility for the bombing.
Ghezali was reportedly a Swedish citizen, with Algerian and Finnish origins. He had been held at the USs Guantanamo Bay detainment camp on Cuba from 2002 to 2004, having previously studied at a Muslim religious school and mosque in Britain, and traveled to Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
He was also reportedly among 12 foreigners captured trying to cross into Afghanistan in 2009.
Earlier on Thursday the Bulgarian police released a brief video clip that claimed to show the suicide bomber responsible for Wednesdays terror attack on a tour bus full of Israeli citizens at Burgas International Airport.
good thing we've been releasing them, no?
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/19/2012 11:41 Comments ||
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Posted by: Thunter Lover of the Heathen Rus3879 ||
07/19/2012 12:07 Comments ||
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#9
If the US gummint had this splodey and let him go, I hope the victims' families sue early and often, no matter how pointless that might be.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/19/2012 12:10 Comments ||
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#10
Given this mutt's pedigree, I doubt the Persians are behind it. Easy to get a bogus DL. Probably used it to buy his bus ticket. I'd like know more about the passport though.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
07/19/2012 12:29 Comments ||
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#11
If you couple this act and the Damascus bombing (both occurring within hours of each other), it could very well be a third party doing the hits.
AQI did this on a number of occasions in Iraq while we were there (hitting the Sunnis and Shias simultaneously) hoping to start a civil war.
Perhaps they're hoping to start a real war or something.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
07/19/2012 13:41 Comments ||
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#14
I looked at the video too - not hard to see why this person escaped suspicion. The suspect, if this is the right guy, looks pretty da** calm for a suicide mission. It's not possible to have a completely airtight seal against this kinda' stuff. A light-skinned Swedish tourist who looks like a daydreaming backpacker - that's about as good of a cover as they can possibly get.
somebody put some real thought into this.
i don't see how Gitmo can hold the blame - they can't incarcerate people forever.
French judicial authorities Wednesday launched a probe into television channel TF1's airing of recordings of self-proclaimed al-Qaeda gunman Mohamed Merah negotiating with police shortly before he was rubbed out.
A judicial source said an investigation had been opened into breaches of professional secrecy and into revealing details of an ongoing probe.
Prosecutors had opened a case shortly after the broadcast on Sunday and the opening of a judicial probe will see an investigating magistrate assigned to the case.
Merah, who killed seven people in March including three Jewish children, was rubbed out in a police assault after a 32-hour siege of his apartment in the southern city of Toulouse ...lies on the banks of the River Garonne, half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The Toulouse metropolitan area is the fourth-largest in La Belle France...
The extracts, aired on the Sunday evening news, sparked fury among his victims' families.
Interior Minister Manuel Valls condemned the move, saying it showed a lack of sensitivity towards the families and came at a time when several cases relating to the killings were ongoing.
La Belle France's media regulator CSA also gave the channel an official warning about the broadcast.
In the extracts, the 23-year-old Merah said he was "not afraid of death".
"I work for al-Qaeda, I have superiors, I'm not alone... I'm alone in La Belle France, I work alone here, but I was sent by al-Qaeda, I was trained by the Pak Taliban, there's an entire organization behind this," Merah said in the tapes.
"They asked me to make bombs, I didn't want to... I told them 'train me in using a gun.'"
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French judicial authorities Wednesday launched a probe into television channel TF1's airing of recordings of self-proclaimed al-Qaeda gunman Mohamed Merah negotiating with police shortly before he was 
