B-Man Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Israel strikes a Syrian target and lays down a marker As Syria descends into war and chaos, Israel has entered the fray, reportedly striking a target in the surburbs northwest of Damascus where the Syrians apparently had placed a new SA-17 antiaircraft missile battery. The Israeli attack on the SA-17 missiles was first reported Wednesday by the Associated Press. What’s intriguing is that the same area that was hit — the Jamraya research center in the suburb known as Dummar, northwest of Damascus — is also a center for chemical weapons research. This led some Syrian opposition sources to believe that the Israelis’ real target was the chemical weapons center. According to Syrian opposition sources, the Israeli jets struck the Jamraya research center in the suburbs north of Damascus at about 1 a.m. Wednesday, local time. The Syrian opposition sources supplemented their account with a cell phone video of what they said was an explosion at the facility overnight and an eyewitness account from a Syrian living in the area, relayed through a Syrian who spoke with me. {snip} The real significance of Wednesday’s attack, to me, is that the Israelis have laid down a marker. This is the first time their jets are known to have staged combat operations inside Syria since a 2007 raid on a nuclear reactor, a preemptive strike which to this day Israel officially refuses to confirm. The Israelis have now shown that they are prepared to strike if they see evidence of weapons that might threaten them — such as the advanced SA-17 missiles or, down the road, chemical weapons that are on the move. The Jamraya facility has an interesting history. Syrian opposition sources told me in December that this facility was personally overseen by Maher al-Assad, the brother of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. They added that two senior Syrian officers involved in Jamraya (whose names were confirmed by western sources) had transported about 100 kilograms of chemical weapons materials from their base last year, destination unknown. As has been the case in the past with operations involving Syria, the Israeli military made no public statement Wednesday, letting Israeli arms do the talking. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2013/01/30/israel-strikes-a-syrian-target/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UConn James Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 On another front in the same region.... Mystery over 'explosion' at Iran's Fordow nuclear facility http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9831282/Mystery-over-explosion-at-Irans-Fordow-nuclear-site.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-Man Posted January 31, 2013 Author Share Posted January 31, 2013 A Mitzvah for Obama President Obama owes Israel a big thank-you for yesterday’s airstrike on a convoy of Russian-made missiles along the Syrian-Lebanese border. News dispatches from the region say that sophisticated SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles were being shipped to Hezbollah terrorists. With Syria coming apart and Islamists taking the lead among the anti-government rebels, the Israelis did the only sensible thing with the convoy: They took it out. In acting yesterday, Israel sent a healthy message not just to Hezbollah but to its sponsors in Tehran: Its red lines for military intervention are real. Jerusalem’s fear is that Islamist groups plan to take advantage of the chaos in Syria to get their hands on President Bashar al-Assad’s arsenal — including chemical weapons. Certainly that would make the neighborhood more dangerous for Israel. But it would also strengthen Iran’s hand — and guarantee more instability throughout the entire Middle East. That’s not something that Obama could want. Unfortunately, the president’s tough rhetoric about Iran hasn’t been matched with resolute action. Indeed, this week we are reading about his administration’s failure to counter the Islamist influence among anti-Syrian rebels by trying to unite them under military councils. That’s the price you pay for leading from behind. And if you are unwilling to step up yourself, you have an obligation at least to support those who do. The coming days will likely bring any number of occasions testing American support for Israel — whether it comes in the form of a European Union sanction, a UN Security Council resolution or a Hezbollah counterattack. Thus far the White House has remained silent. We encourage the president to let the Israelis know the US has their backs on this one — and prove it. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meazza Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 (edited) This is an act of war /JTSP /lybob Edited January 31, 2013 by meazza Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truth on hold Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Failure to counter? Its worse, our policy on Syria SUPPORTED the rise of islamic radicals there, including Al Qaeda. Yet another stunning example of how our attempts at nation building overseas lead to stunningly bad outcomes for US and the region. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicot Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 This is an act of war /JTSP /lybob Of course it's an act of war. What the hell else can a bombing raid on another country's territory be described as? Not that it makes any difference. The Syrians have neither the capability nor the will to respond, even at the best of times, and these are not exactly the best of times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meazza Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Of course it's an act of war. What the hell else can a bombing raid on another country's territory be described as? Not that it makes any difference. The Syrians have neither the capability nor the will to respond, even at the best of times, and these are not exactly the best of times. As far as I know, Syria and Israel never signed a peace treaty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdnlng Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Well, there seems to be a lot of acts of war in that area of the world and Syria and Iran have done their share towards Israel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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