Syrian army now at its highest state of alert

Haaretz ^ | Gideon Alon

[kagoots]

Military Intelligence Chief: Syrian army now at its highest state of alert By Gideon Alon, Haaretz Correspondent Syria has placed its military at its highest state of alert in recent years, Israel Defense Forces Intelligence Chief Major General Amos Yadlin told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday. Syrian forces do remain, however, on a defensive rather than offensive alert. Yadlin emphasized that "neither Syria nor Israel are interested in a military clash but the situation is explosive and the events may potentially be incorrectly interpreted. This could entangle Syria up in a battle against us." Hezbollah is interested in opening another front for Israel with Syria, Yadlin said. Hezbollah gunners are firing at the Golan Heights in an effort to embroil Syria in the fighting. Yadlin noted that Syria, together with Iran, was Hezbollah's main weapons supplier during the past years. The missiles that killed Israelis in Haifa came from the Syrian military. The Military Intelligence chief rejected assertions that the IDF was surprised by Hezbollah's level of preparedness in south Lebanon. "There was no element of surprise in Hezbollah's deployment," Yadlin said. "During the past year, we passed intelligence assessments on to the decision-making level, including comprehensive information on long-range missiles supplied to Hezbollah." Committee Chairman MK Tzachi Hanegbi (Kadima) supported Yadlin's assertions and said he was "insulted" during the past several days by media reports indicating Israel was surprised by Hezbollah.

[kjam22]

:)

[humint]

R9ETB: Why August 22nd? What is relevent about that date?

1. That's the day the Iranians say they will respond to the 'offer' by the U.N. on their nuclear program.
2. And August 23rd (1244) is when the Turks retook Jerusalem from the Crusaders.
3. Something must be up: the Iranians probably have the bomb.

August 22--corresponding to the anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad's night journey from al-Aqsa to heaven

[ArrogantBustard]

[MplsSteve]

August 22nd was the night of Mohammad's night flight from Mecca to Jerusalem?

Interesting. I was aware of the story - but didn't know of the date.

Yes, August 22nd could be a busy and unpleasant day. I'm hoping not.

But with a raving a-hole like Ahmadinejad in office, there's strong potential for a lot of brown fecal matter to hit the fan.

[b4its2late]

When the IDF pushes into Syria they will find all of Iraq's WMD that were buried in Syria. Syria will be crushed beyond belief and nobody, not even the nut in Iran will be willing or able to stop them.

[Mo1]

.

[chilepepper]

keep them on alert for about a 10 more days...

...then pull out of lebanon entirely _{and then on to damascus!}

[IamConservative]

How big is Israel's Army? Air Force?

[r9etb]

Thanks for that. More specifically:

Aug. 22 corresponds to Rajab 27 on the Muslim calendar. The date is called Lailat Al Israa, when Mohammed ascended to heaven from the Al Aqsa mosque to receive the five daily prayers. Later, Al Aqsa came to represent Jerusalem.The Muslim commemoration is meant to be a night of struggle, accompanied by thunder and lightening, resembling the story of Moses ascending Mount Sinai to receive the Old Testament.

(Source)

[knews_hound]

I just wrote an article about this yesterday.

You mught be interested in it.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1671853/posts

Cheers,

knewshound

[r9etb]

Corroboration of the above:

An Islamic Calendar is here, and indeed 8/22/2006 corresponds to Rajab 27.

According to IslamOnline, on the significance of Rajab 27:

As far as I know, I am certain that the opinion relating the Prophet’s Night Journey to Rajab 27 is not authenticated; it is just a baseless widespread belief that has been popular among Muslims for centuries. Still, since such a belief has nothing to do with religious deeds and acts of worship, on Rajab 27, a Muslim is not required to perform special Night Vigil Prayer (Tahajjud), nor is he required to fast by day, nor is he enjoined to perform any special act of worship. The Muslims should not give any special importance to that day. They can hold a ceremony on this occasion if the purpose is just to study and contemplate such a great event and its effect on the life of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

Whether or not it's the "real" date, it's highly unlikely for that choice of date to be an accident.

[b4its2late]

Numbers aren't available. The Israeli ground forces are highly mechanized. Their equipment inventory included nearly 4,000 tanks and nearly 11,000 other armored vehicles. Their armored personnel vehicles almost equaled in number those of the combined armies of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. The offensive profile of the army was bolstered significantly by the artillery forces (principally self-propelled and equipped with advanced fire control systems and high-performance munitions). Antitank capabilities had been upgraded with modern rocket launchers and guided missile systems.

Israeli Air Force Inventory

[samadams2000]

Have they closed the screen doors on their submarine?