Joint US-Israeli military exercises begin
Pastor Dale Morgan
Monday June 11, 8:28 AM
*Joint US-Israeli military exercises begin*
American and Israeli air forces on Sunday began week-long joint
exercises in southern Israel, simulating dog-fights and bombing targets
on the ground, the army said.
Dozens of aircraft are taking part in the exercises in the southern
Negev desert, it said.
Army radio said the exercises were taking place in the context of recent
discussions between Israel and its main ally on the controversial
nuclear programme of the Jewish state's arch-foe Iran.
But an Israeli military source told AFP that the exercises were "planned
two years ago and are not linked to the situation in any country."
Washington, Israel and many Western countries fear that Iran's nuclear
programme is a guise for developping atomic weapons. Tehran says it is
meant for civilian uses only.
Israel, widely believed to be the sole if undeclared nuclear power in
the Middle East, considers the Islamic Republic its arch-foe after
repeated statements by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the Jewish
state should be wiped off the map.