[AP/Washington Post] Michael Barajas - The Israeli and U.S. militaries were set to begin a major joint air defense exercise Wednesday, testing technology that could be used to defend Israel against an Iranian attack. The maneuver underlines the strong alliance between the U.S. and Israel, despite recent spats over Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. The exercise, codenamed Juniper Cobra 10, will test the two countries' missile defense systems and will include roughly 1,000 U.S. military personnel and a similar number of Israeli troops. The U.S. has deployed 17 warships equipped with radar systems to detect surface-to-surface missiles for the exercise. "This sends a message to Iran, to Hizbullah and to Hamas that the strategic relationship between the United States and Israel remains solid," said Eytan Gilboa, a political scientist at Israel's Bar-Ilan University.
2009-10-21 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive