American officials are trying to determine the source of the leak, which describes military drills and weapons placement, and how damaging it might be.

The leak of a pair of highly classified U.S. intelligence documents describing recent satellite images of Israeli military preparations for a potential strike on Iran offers a window into the intense American concerns about Israel’s plans. It also has U.S. officials working to understand the size of the improper disclosure.

The two documents were prepared in recent days by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which is responsible for analyzing images and information collected by American spy satellites. They began circulating on Friday on the Telegram app and were being discussed by largely pro-Iran accounts.

The documents, which offer interpretations of satellite imagery, provide insight into a potential strike by Israel on Iran in the coming days. Such a strike has been anticipated in retaliation for an Iranian assault earlier this month, which was itself a response to an Israeli attack.

MBFC
Archive

  • LostMyRedditLogin@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    75
    arrow-down
    7
    ·
    2 months ago

    Great, another destabilization event in the middle east that the US will have to get mixed in. This shit is so tiring. Fuck off Israel.

    • MrNesser@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      23
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      2 months ago

      You are mixed in it by proxy already. Without the support of the US Israel would not have gone as far as it has.

      Leaks like this are intentional and put out there to give fair warning that they can see what your doing.

      As its a US election year don’t expect action until after November; when Biden either withdraws military support (most likely won’t happen), punches the sanctions button super hard, or pushes for a major change in the dynamic in some way.

      No matter the option the next president inherits a shitshow of a problem.

    • Saleh@feddit.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      16
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      2 months ago

      Israel has to drag the US into another great war before the election.

      But instead of preventing that, the Biden administration stationed some more US soldiers in Israel, so that an escalation can hit some of them and give justification for the US to join in.

      • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        10
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        2 months ago

        Israel has to drag the US into another great war before the election.

        As though we’re being dragged. Given the current administration, we’re joyously frolicking into war along with our best buddy Netanyahu with the Turtles’ “Happy Together” playing in the background.

      • dellish@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        2 months ago

        War always favours the incumbent at election time, so the cynic in me thinks the US is dragging its feet quite purposely.

  • brucethemoose@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    75
    arrow-down
    15
    ·
    edit-2
    2 months ago

    Biden: Please no…

    Netanyahu: Waves eyebrows.

    Ugh, what a toxic relationship. The U.S. bends over backwards for Netanyahu, not Israel, Netanyahu, and he’s going to snipe Biden/Harris at the last second anyway. He could literally cost Harris the election.

    And, you know, lead to tons of death and destruction and literal genocide. But thats a secondary concern in his quest to stay in power.

    • LadyAutumn@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      55
      arrow-down
      6
      ·
      edit-2
      2 months ago

      Do you genuinely think that Joe Biden or Kamala Harris are either one opposed in any way shape or form to the actions of Netanyahu or the Israeli state?

      Kamala Harris has come right out and said that she will always support Israel, literally no matter what. Joe Biden has openly declared himself a zionist for the last 4 decades. They are both overwhelmingly supportive of Israeli colonialism and have both committed to funding and arming the Palestinian genocide. This genocide has been happening with guns and money that the Biden administration provided to them. He has had the entirety of the past year to condemn the Palestinian genocide and to recognize Palestine as a free nation. Instead, him and his administration have chosen hundreds of times to interfere in international processes to end the Palestinian genocide. He is very literally a genocide supporter.

      Can we please stop pretending that this genocide is a controversial bypartisan issue in American politics? The Republicans and the Democrats are both maintaining official party stances of complete and unconditional support of the Palestinian genocide.

    • alcoholicorn
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      30
      arrow-down
      5
      ·
      edit-2
      2 months ago

      I don’t like how the news is trying to lay this entirely at Netanyahu’s feet. This is like trying to blame South Africa’s apartheid on the last president during apartheid, instead of the actual system.

      Israel is a settler colonial project, its national project requires apartheid and ethnic cleansing.

      Any alternative to Netanyahu would be doing the same thing, and if they failed to do so, they would be replaced by someone who would be more competent at it.

      The protests in Israel aren’t against the genocide, they’re at the failure to rescue the hostages. Non-arab Israelis overwhelmingly support the amount of firepower used by the IDF in Gaza and the use of starvation as a weapon.

      This is why there are Israeli “civilians”, sometimes wearing IDF uniforms, who burn aid trucks, and why there was a successful riot to protect Israeli prison guards from being prosecuted for the rape of prisoners.

      • mortimer@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        11
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        2 months ago

        Correct. The whole settler state of Israel is like a spoilt brat that throws the toys out the pram and cries “antisemitism!” every time anyone criticises their evil, sick and twisted behaviour. They can only ride on the back of WWII Holocaust guilt for so long before it gets old. Call me an antisemite all you want, I no longer give a fuck. It makes no sense anyway. “Semitic people” is an obsolete term for people who originate from that part of the world which includes Arabs, Jews, Akkadians, and Phoenicians. Most Jews in Israel today are either of American or European descent. Personally, I hate all religions, but Judaism has got to be the most fucked up and genocidal out of all the monotheistic belief systems. I loved how after Oct 7th 2023 Israel started with the rhetoric “we want our Holocaust survivors back”. Holy smokes! There can’t be many of those left, the Holocaust happened 80 years ago and I doubt many of the survivors would be attending a drug fuelled rave (I mean “music festival”). I don’t like cruelty of any kind, the Holocaust was an appalling event in human history, but it’s not Holocaust surviving Jews that are acting like Nazis. So fuck Israel, fuck Zionism and quite frankly fuck Judaism in general along with all the other monotheistic brainwashing religions that separate us rather than unite us. “We’re all Jock Tamson’s bairns” as we say in Scotland.

        • alcoholicorn
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          6
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          edit-2
          2 months ago

          You understand Israel’s actions have nothing to do with Judaism, right?

          Religion is a justification used after the fact, in the same way the US used Christianity to justify genociding the native americans. There’s nothing in the bible that says “Destroy the native American’s food sources and take their land”, the Americans were going to do that anyway.

          • mortimer@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            3
            ·
            2 months ago

            I would say that a culture’s prominent belief system has everything to do with the way that a culture behaves. The Torah and Old Testament in general is full of cruelty, genocide and elitist ideology. Even their god is described as a jealous sadist.

            • alcoholicorn
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              3
              arrow-down
              2
              ·
              edit-2
              2 months ago

              You’re putting the cart before the horse, when a belief system is incompatible with what the ruling class requires, they change it the way its expressed accordingly.

              • mortimer@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                edit-2
                2 months ago

                And I would suggest that there’s plenty of evidence in the religious belief itself for followers to justify cruelty. The so-called “chosen people” think they’re entitled to the land since it’s promised to them in the Torah. Even taking into account Zionist misinterpretation, this highlights the problem with belief systems in general. People interpret it the way that suits their agenda. I have no time for any of it.

                • alcoholicorn
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  arrow-down
                  1
                  ·
                  2 months ago

                  People interpret it the way that suits their agenda

                  Then you understand it’s not the belief system causing these people’s behavior, their agenda determines the belief system.

                  America doesn’t support Israel because the bible says so, even though some people might come up with some wacky interpretation, we support it because it helps facilitate imperialism throughout the middle east.

                  There’s plenty of jews who don’t interpret their religion that way, but their interpretations aren’t convenient for the ruling class so they’re not promoted. You can observe the same with philosophy, I’d hardly call philosophy bad just because those in power are able to amplify ideologies that serve their material interests.

      • brucethemoose@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        8
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        2 months ago

        I’m no expert, but I remember Netanyahu’s opposition supporting two state solutions and other much more reasonable approaches than the horrible status quo. But it never quite hit critical mass, right?

        And Netanyahu sure seems like the person who clung to power and just barely stopped that opposition from ever taking root.

        • alcoholicorn
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          15
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          2 months ago

          Any 2 state solution was dead on arrival for the last 30 years, as such a Palestine would be effectively dependent on, and always at the mercy of Israel by virtue of Israel having already stolen the best arable land, water sources, and strategic locations.

          If Yassir Arafat had gone back to the Palestinian people with “We’re gonna live forever at their mercy, and none of you will ever return to the homes Israel stole”, the Palestinians would have assassinated him.

          If Ehud Barak had gone back to the Israeli people with “You have to give them back their houses and stop encircling/blockading their settlements”, he’d have been assassinated by the Israelis.

          • brucethemoose@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            3
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            2 months ago

            If Ehud Barak had gone back to the Israeli people with “You have to give them back their houses and stop encircling/blockading their settlements”, he’d have been assassinated by the Israelis.

            Isn’t that the nature of a “winner takes all” knife’s edge political system, though? If the opposition were in power, they would have done something like this, and Israel would hate it, but they’d have to take it just like they took what they didn’t like over the past decades. Maybe they’d lose the next election (and get assassinated), but the deed would already be done.

            …Or maybe I’m totally wrong.

            • Saleh@feddit.org
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              2 months ago

              None of the governments between the Netanyahu governments, his first one started in 1996 after Rabin got assassinated by a Likud fanatic, ever stopped the settlement expansion.

              So while they maybe talked about a two state solution, they continued to steal Palestinian land ,further undermining any possibility of a two state solution.

    • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      26
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 months ago

      he’s going to snipe Biden/Harris at the last second anyway.

      Tbf he’s not sniping them at the last second. His intentions have been very clear since the first few days of the “war”.

      • sorval_the_eeter@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        22
        ·
        2 months ago

        Agreed. I dont think Netenyahu gives a crap about anything or anyone in America except insomuch as it furthers Israeli land grabbing and murder interests.

        Israelis overwhelmingly approve of trump. “58% of Israelis would vote for Donald Trump, while just 25% would vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.” from https://mondoweiss.net/2024/09/the-shift-nearly-60-of-israelis-say-theyd-vote-for-trump/

        So yes, they will cheerfully shank Harris with an October surprise if they can.

        • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          8
          ·
          2 months ago

          I mean they’ve been shanking her for like a month now no? They’re literally either planning or executing an extermination operation in North Gaza right now. I say planning or executing because I don’t know if the ramped up attacks can be interpreted as the elimination operation we’ve been hearing about or not. And to make matters worse they opened up another front with Lebanon and intend to strike Iran. I think we can already call the current situation an October surprise.

          • sorval_the_eeter@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            edit-2
            2 months ago

            Agreed, although in dealing with Israel, things can always get worse. Its all so shameful for Israel, the US, and its western world order servants. Its indicative of massive decline of our ideals and soft power across the globe, which will have second and third order consequences… and for what?
            History will not look kindly on this era of boomer leadership.

    • mc900ftJesus@lemy.lol
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      19
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      edit-2
      2 months ago

      The US bends over for Israel, or do you think Netanyahu was in charge when they sunk the USS Liberty?

      Israel’s problem are deep and cultural, it is not the fault of just one bad man.

  • Guadin@k.fe.derate.me
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    49
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    2 months ago

    Fuck me, I’m tired of this shit. Sure let’s just make a clusterfuck bigger and drag another nuclear capable (?) country further into the conflict. Fuck off you dumb mf’s. Yes the attack on Israel was terrible, but don’t try to hide your (Netanyahu’s) faults by starting wars and killing other people. And don’t let me hear the “they started” argument, you look like fucking childeren.

  • sorval_the_eeter@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    45
    arrow-down
    14
    ·
    2 months ago

    a “leak” of something that they’ve been saying they are going to do for weeks.

    heck of a job, NY times. Way to catch those startling leaks.

    • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      16
      ·
      2 months ago

      I mean it tells us it’s both more than empty rhetoric and going to happen relatively soon. Not the most surprising of information, but not pointless either.

    • Saleh@feddit.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      12
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      2 months ago

      Thea leak is not the “that” it is the “when” and “how”, which in military context are extremely vital information.

      • sorval_the_eeter@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        2 months ago

        I mean, thats not detailed in the article anywhere but you may be right. If you’re adding detail maybe add a link to what you’re asserting?

        • Saleh@feddit.org
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          6
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          2 months ago

          The western articles are deliberately vague, so as to not get into legal trouble.

          https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/19/politics/us-israel-iran-intelligence-documents/index.html

          Another document says it is sourced to the National Security Agency and outlines Israeli air force exercises involving air-to-surface missiles, also believed to be in preparation for a strike on Iran. CNN is not quoting directly from or showing the documents.

          But it is clear, that these leaks must have contained some more detailed information of how strong the strikes are planned to be, which weapon systems are planned to be used and so on.

          For the “when” that is always flexible within reason.

      • alcoholicorn
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        edit-2
        2 months ago

        Yes, but the US’s analysts know they can’t win this type of war with Iran; a generic number required of troops thrown around for an occupation is 2%, though it’s often much higher.

        The US can bomb civilians all they want, but any strategic objective like stopping Iran from sending masses of balsa wood drones to overwhelm Isreal’s defenses can’t be done with airstrikes.

        Iran has 92 million people, that’s almost 2 million troops needed for occupation. Drafting a million Americans to enable an occupation would be political suicide.

        Here’s a whitepaper written by some brookings institute ghouls in 2009.

        Note that when it was written, Iraq’s counterinsurgency was considered a success, drones weren’t a thing, and it assumed Iran wouldn’t close down the strait of Hormuz.

      • Hikermick@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        2 months ago

        The US has nothing to gain by attacking Iran. The younger generation of Iran want change and the older generation that supported the Islamic Revolution are dying off. Attacking them would only consolidate support behind the government

    • PyroNeurosis@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 months ago

      My pessimism leads me to believe that the US wants this, and is using Israel to get it.

      The Israelis seem a bit preoccupied.