Syria Test-Fires 3 Scud Missiles, Israelis Say (excerpt)

New York Times ^ | June 3, 2005 | Steven Erlanger

[HAL9000]

Excerpt -

TEL AVIV, June 2 - Syria test-fired three Scud missiles last Friday, including one that broke up over Turkish territory and showered missile parts down onto unsuspecting Turkish farmers, Israeli military officials revealed Thursday.

These were the first such Syrian missile tests since 2001, the Israelis said, and were part of a Syrian missile development project using North Korean technology and designed, the Israelis contend, to deliver air-burst chemical weapons. The missiles included one older Scud B, with a range of about 185 miles, and two Scud D's, the Israelis say they believe, with a range of about 435 miles.

Little was especially startling about the tests, Israeli officials said, except the embarrassment to Turkey - a member of NATO - and the timing, during the Lebanese elections.

[cmsgop]

I feel the need to Poop on Damascus........

[thoughtomator]

Hmm... don't we have a nuke we need to test?

[Dilbert56]

So Turkeys - you with us this time?

[robomurph]

Talk about stupid! Turkey is a NATO ally! This is a pretext to get rough.

[hosepipe]

Syria is gonna fool around and get itself "Borked"..

[TwoDogs]

One of the things I learned in my 1 1/2 years in Turkey is that the Turks hate their neighbors regardless of their religion and love anyone who is their enemy. During the 6 day war (when I was present) they rooted for the Israelis over the Lebanese, Jordanians and Syrians - all of whom are neighbors (and fellow Muslims).

[TwoDogs]

One of the things I learned in my 1 1/2 years in Turkey is that the Turks hate their neighbors regardless of their religion and love anyone who is their enemy. During the 6 day war (when I was present) they rooted for the Israelis over the Lebanese, Jordanians and Syrians - all of whom are neighbors (and fellow Muslims).

[SIDENET]

Syria tries so hard to look tough.

It doesn't work.

[reluctantwarrior]

Yes it is time to throw the poo.

[ARCADIA]

Hmm... don't we have a nuke we need to test?

Perhaps it's time to reduce our arsenal by half-a-dozen or so.

[ASOC]

Hummmm....


I shot an Arrow into the air
what was left landed I don't know where

[GladesGuru]

Sounds like the sand savages are trying to make a missile deliverable mini-MOAB.

Arguably, that is not the thing to throw at some one with real nukes in their ordinance depots.

[Convert from ECUSA]

Ping!

[fight_truth_decay]

One only needs to read these paragraphs and ponder: Timeframe: "last Friday"

"This is really putting your fingers in the eyes of the Americans, saying, 'I'm not dancing to your flute,' " a senior Israeli military official said. "The tests are probably needed for the missile project, but this is Bashir taking a risk here and sending a message."

"Israeli officials, who are familiar with the intelligence but asked that their names or departments not be identified, decided to publicize the tests in part because they were puzzled by the American silence about them, and because Israel sees them as part of a troubling pattern of behavior by Mr. Assad."

"...test was the first time Syria had fired a missile over another country - a member of NATO."

Takes a week for the press to write this story? No eyes witnesses being interviewed, pictures of debris -"shed debris over two villages".

Given the timeframe of this "test" to actual publication of these tests; I find it very odd. I was lax in reading foreign based newspapers this week, but still those stories are picked up by the media in the US...just puzzled over the silence for a week. All eyewitnesses considered. Considering on 01/12/2005 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1319789/posts

"Since Syria has no missile development infrastructure, it is a buyer of the weapons and is especially interested in accurate medium-range missiles that can hit Israel, Israel Aircraft Industries missile experts told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Wednesday."

This was worthy of press, why not the actual "test"? Am I missing something?

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

[adam_az]

I have a good idea! Let's test some of our own over Damascus.