Studies show that US coverage is Israeli-centric. The main bureaus for CNN, Associated Press, Time, etc. are located in Israel and often staffed by Israelis. The son of the NY Times bureau chief is in the Israeli army;"pundit" Jeffrey Goldberg served in the IDF; Wolf Blitzer worked for AIPAC. Because the U.S. gives Israel over $8 million/day - more than to any other nation - we feel it is essential that we be fully informed on this region. Below are news reports to augment mainstream coverage.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Report: Israeli troops training for new Gaza war

Ma'an
Israeli forces completed a large-scale military drill in the Negev, the country's Channel 10 news reported, preparing troops for a military offensive against the Gaza Strip.

The report, aired Tuesday evening, speculated that the training could even be seen as preparation for a re-occupation of the area.

Drills during the training reportedly focused on re-training around military mistakes that occurred during the last war on Gaza in December and January last year. Nine Israeli soldiers were killed in the war, which saw 1,400 Palestinians perish, and reports at the time said six of the deaths were the result of "friendly fire." At least one of those incidents involved fire on a kidnapped soldier.

According to Channel 10, training saw soldiers educated in the use of a new digital device on Merkava Tanks, the largest of the armored vehicles, which allows soldiers in the units to track troops on the ground in densely-populated areas. It is intended to prevent "friendly fire" incidents. Full story
at 1/07/2010 06:30:00 AM