US: IDF can't man Negev radar system

[Fonzworth]

US: IDF can't man Negev radar system


Interestingly, though the radar is being deployed here, the US decided - as was reported exclusively in The Jerusalem Post on Monday - not to allow IDF personnel to operate it.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017409653&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull





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In addition to bolstering the US presence in the region, the radar deployment is being viewed as a set of "golden handcuffs," meant to convey the message that while the Bush administration is willing to help Israel protect itself, it is opposed to an Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear installations.

The IDF, defense officials stressed this week, never even asked for the radar, although it had expressed interest in its capabilities.

The radar's arrival is not just meant to improve defense capabilities against Iran, defense officials noted this week. It is also America's way of bolstering its presence in the region in the face of a growing Russian presence in Syria.

Moscow is renovating the Syrian port of Tartus, which will be used to house a permanent Russian naval presence in the Mediterranean. President Bashar Assad visited Moscow last month, and told the Russian daily Kommersant that Damascus was "ready to cooperate with Russia in any way," including discussing deploying missile defense systems on Syrian territory.

-related News taken from: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017443063&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull