Syria says supports Hizbollah against Israel

Reuters ^ | July 14, 2006 | Reuters News Alert

[Turbo Pig]

... but right here we have Syria saying it's going to do that. "Our full support" implies military support.

Which is exactly why Israel, with US support, should punch Syria right in the mouth, as hard as possible; right now.

They are the proverbial paper tiger in the region. Israel would roll them up in short order. Iran can't risk a direct confrontation with the US, at this time. We would kick their a$$e$, and the mullahs know it. What they can do is sacrifice Syria, in hopes of bringing the rest of the dysfunctional Islamic world into the fray.

IMO, Assad is a mere shadow of his father, and has little hope of walking a political tight rope on this one. The only way he gets off easy is if the US and Israel let him. Again, IMO, this would be a huge mistake, because the Arab world would see it a a sign of weakness. Come to think of it, so would I.

[RDTF]

lol! Don't know where you've been, but you are in the minority on that one pal

[river rat]

"In a normal SANE world, this would immediately broaden the conflict to include Syria.

Semper Fi

[NinoFan]

Doubt they would invite direct armed conflict with Israel,

But that's exactly what they are inviting with this statement. Before, if the Israelis had attacked because Syria was helping the terrorists, Syria could have whined and lied that they weren't doing anything and the international community could have plausibly gone along with Syria's lies. This statement on its own gives Israel justification to go after Syria. If it wasn't intended to spark a direct conflict between the two, it was an incredibly stupid move.

[NinoFan]

If they weren't ready to fight, they wouldn't have come out with a statement that gives Israel every justification to attack Syria. That's my take on it.

[griffin]

Yeah...this time drop a load O'Ordnance

[NinoFan]

This statement gives them complete justification

Bingo. That's why if this does NOT mean that Syria is ready to do war, then it was an incredibly stupid movie on its part because they may just get war one way or the other now.

[Alouette]

Whenever someone says "IAF" Assad drops a load--in his pants.

[NinoFan]

movie=move

[SAJ]

INterestingly enough, the number of Iranian tourists in Lebanon seems to have roughly tripled in the past 90 days.

Bunch of harmless cedar fanciers, right?

Were I able to place a wager, I think we'll see Syria commit some forces if when Scuzzbollah become hard-pressed. Say in 10 days' time...if it lasts that long, of course.

;^)

[Jorge]

Terrific news. Hope they are ready to die next.

Yes, talk about tempting fate.

[livius]

Probably. When the muzzies in Spain started to get moderate (after years of contact with Spanish Jews and Christians), muzzies from North Africa invaded and put most of them to the sword because the Spanish muzzies (mostly from what is now Iraq, btw) were no longer true followers of the Muslim "prophet," aka Mad Mo.

[CougarGA7]

And while you're at it, take note that Syria isn't mobilizing its Reserves.

Link?

I'd be interested to know the status of the 18k or so Syrian troops in Lebanon per the last paragraph of this assessment from globalsecurity.com also if you have solid information.

Syrian Army

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

Time to give asshead one final Israeli airshow

[RightWhale]

Does the Baath Party speak for Syria? Where is the Dictator President?

[JHBowden]

[Fitzcarraldo]

02:32 U.S. State Department says Americans should consider leaving Lebanon (AP)

02:03 Family of U.S. professor arrested in Israel requests information on his detention (AP)

02:00 Syria issues statement declaring support for Hezbollah and Lebanon (Reuters)

[ohioWfan]

I don't believe that rational, observant folks are 'in the minority' on this forum.

You may want us to think that we are, but we know better. :)

Nice try.

[NinoFan]

The Baath party is pretty much it in Syria. The Syrian Constitution guarantees the Party the main role in the government. This was from the "national command" of the Party which is the highest thing there is in the Baath Party, and they wouldn't be doing this unless they and the President were on the same page. Not having it be by the President allows him a little wiggle-room when he lies, I mean talks, to other foreign leaders, but trust me, he approves of this.

[NinoFan]

Southack has been quite rude and short on every thread involving this topic recently. It gets a little annoying to those of who do believe that Syria (and most likely Iran) are going to be directly involved in this war soon.