Two policemen stand next to a Syrian-made 302 mm rocket that had previously been fired from Lebanon at Afula, during a press conference in Kiyrat Shmona, Friday.
Posted on 10/09/2006 12:09:41 PM PDT by SmithL
One thing is for sure: Israel's response to a Syrian attack will be nothing like its reaction to the July 12 kidnapping of reservists Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser in a cross-border Hizbullah attack. The retaliation, defense officials interviewed for this article warned, would be harsher, fiercer and far deadlier.
The first difference would be the bank of targets. On the night of July 12, hours after the kidnapping, the cabinet convened to approve a list of targets for the IAF to strike. None of them included government or Lebanese armed forces sites. The closest the IAF got to striking at the Lebanese government during the month-long war in Lebanon was the bombing of the runway at Beirut International Airport.
The Syrian bank of targets would be different. It would not only include military infrastructure, such as bases, rocket launchers and silos, but also government buildings, headquarters, power plants, electricity grids and water reservoirs.
"We will shut down the entire country" was how one defense official described the potential response.
While most officials claim there is a slim possibility for a war with Syria, Israel is still preparing just in case. Military Intelligence assessments for 2007 presented recently to the General Staff indicated that war with Syria is closer than it was in 2006.
Israel is concerned that Syria might consider adopting the Egyptian model from the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Then, Egypt launched a surprise attack against Israel and, while it lost the war, obtained a major diplomatic victory. The war led to peace talks between the two countries and the eventual return of the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.
Syria, officials warn, might be thinking it can do the same. While aware he will lose the war, President Bashar Assad might be thinking that even a loss would force Israel into peace talks and the eventual return of the Golan Heights, captured during the Six Day War in 1967. On the other hand, officials say Assad's warlike and threatening comments should not be taken at face value. They could just be attempts to grab the world's attention and force Israel into peace talks despite strong American opposition.
While Israel has uncontested air superiority over Syria - the IAF boasts F-16s and F-15s while the Syrian air force's newest jet is the MiG-29 from 1987 - the Syrian military has built up a strong array of missiles including some that are capable of carrying warheads filled with nerve gas, such as Sarin and VX. Damascus is currently in a race to build up its army and has recently drastically increased its defense budget after some $14 billion in loans it owed were erased.
According to the Middle East Military Balance, published by the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, Syria has several hundred Scud missiles, some of which it received in 2002, and close to 100 ballistic missile launchers.
On the ground, the IDF infantry and Armored Corps would face 12 Syrian ground divisions, equipped with 3,700 Russian tanks, including 122 T-72s upgraded by an Italian firm in 2003. Syria also has more military personnel than Israel - 290,00 soldiers compared to almost 180,000.
At the moment, the IDF is at a heightened state of alert along the border with Syria and has deployed additional forces in the North in case of a surprise attack.
Israel will have to prepare for the possibility that the IAF will not succeed in destroying all of Syria's ballistic missiles and that some might get through. In that case, as a first line of defense, the IAF has the Patriot 3 and the Arrow anti-ballistic missile defense systems that are supposed to intercept the incoming threats. If, however, those don't function, it will be up to Home Front Command to ensure citizens of northern and central Israel have the necessary means of protection.
Sooner or later, someone will have to get syrias in the war on terror.
Syria will wait until Israel's hands are tied elsewhere before any attack.
I thought they were merging with XM radio......
Hey Damascus, can you say "Samson Option"?
How about "smoking crater"?
Looks more like a giraffe, imo.
Black-footed ferret, actually.
Syria may have a numberical advantage over Israel (tanks, troops, etc) but that numerical advantage is gonna go out the window if the Israelis have to open up a can of whoop-ass.
Iraq
Iran
North Korea
Other countries often included:
Libya
Syria
Iraq is being dealt with. Libya has seen the light.
North Korea is providing provocation.
Syria is providing provocation.
Iran has been providing provocation.
I say Israel and the US should team up and just put the Axis of Evil to bed.
Was the NK test a test or a sales demo? Is Syria planning to pile on after the Islamic nuke goes off? Otherwise, an attack by Syria makes no sense whatsoever.
Without control of the air this isn't going to do them much good and they know it.
Did the Israelis ever get back the kidnapped soldiers?
And if they use even one of these, we can predict the speech announcing the reponse from Israel. "Syria has launched a nerve gas attack against Tel Aviv. Never again will Jews be gassed. We have retaliated by..."
North Korea acts just in time to take eyes off of the Middle East. Syrian attacks will happen very soon I feel. (Then will follow the prophesied and yet unfulfilled destruction of Damascus. -- just throwing that in for the Biblical public.)
Are the syrians into suicide?
A babe? LOL...what's that saying...beauty is only skin deep...I say beauty starts from the inside first...if that's not there forget the rest...
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