Plotting the Next Mideast War

Wall Street Journal ^

[jhpigott]

Syria's alleged transfer of Scuds to Hezbollah could spark an uncontrollable chain reaction.

In the matter of Syria's alleged shipments of Scud missiles to Hezbollah, it bears noting how often the fate of the Middle East has turned on seemingly trivial or nearly imperceptible events. There's a simple explanation for this: That which cannot be seen or understood at first can rarely be contained in time.

It was not the Israeli government's intention to leak intelligence that Syria had transferred the missiles, which can hit every city in Israel with a one-ton payload. The Israeli defense establishment was particularly keen to keep the matter quiet to protect its sources and methods. But in the way these things often happen in Israel, President Shimon Peres decided for reasons of his own that the issue belonged in the public domain. There it is now, raising a number of interesting questions.

In 1967, a series of seemingly minor events, tactical misjudgments, and particularly an Arab perception that the West would not honor its international commitments or come to Israel's defense triggered a war the consequences of which have defined the Middle East ever since. We are adrift in those same waters today.

[jhpigott]

ping

[screaminsunshine]

It should be clear to Israel that Obama will not help stop Iran unless it becomes nessessary to Wag the Dog for political purposes. They have to go it alone. How shameful. Obam is trying to turn the USA in to one big giant “Hog Farm” like the one in Taos in the 60’s.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Peres should make it clear; a missile from Lebanon will mean retaliation for Damascus.

[babygene]

“Peres should make it clear; a missile from Lebanon will mean retaliation for Damascus.”

I thought he already did...

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"Peres should make it clear; a missile from Lebanon will mean retaliation for Damascus."

Syria plays this game of waging a proxy war and never receives the consequences of war directly. I agree with you. Any acts done by Hezbolla should be considered an act by Syria and dealt with appropriately.

[pastorbillrandles]

Joel 3 and Isaiah 17 come to mind as well as Psalm 83-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unyDYxwPf50

[WmCraven_Wk]

‘Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.’ Isaiah 17:1

[Eric in the Ozarks]

He needs to repeat it.

[throwback]

Thanks for posting this. Read it this morning. I've been trying to think of how the SCUDs would be used. Thought they might be launched in concert with Iran going nuclear, but I didn't think of the Syrian angle. They'd like another Hezbollah rocket/missile shower to goad Israel into a conflict that Syria could use as a pretext to re-invade Lebanon. Looks like the Turks are now joining the anti-Israel crowd. Syria will be sitting on the throat of Lebanon again. This must what the regime considers progress.

[Sender]

The SCUDs don’t have to carry any WMD to be very dangerous, and I doubt that governments would want to risk the repercussions of using WMDs. They can carry a ton of explosives. That’s one big firecracker. What would a ton of explosives do to a city block? And then imagine dozens of them.

[nolongerademocrat]

We would have mid-east peace right now if our muslim POSIC had assisted the Iranian people when they were trying to break free. Nope, he stood silently by and helped A-jad stay in power. A free Iran - Hezbollah and Hamas go broke. Israel - safer.

[nolongerademocrat]

OMG, I’ve started talking like Sarah Palin! haha

[throwback]

True, that's a definite upgrade in destructiveness, and they can now reach every part of the country. I was trying to think of what the advantage of another air assault would be, though, since it still would not lead to a final solution. We'd see the same movie from 2006 with Israelis having to invade and wipe out the sites again. What's the point of waging an endless war that you never win? When you throw in the Syrians wanting to get their hand back in Lebanon, though, the futile attack makes sense.

[throwback]

And I understood you, so Palin-speak must be a valid dialect now.

[The Great RJ]

Israel has a missile defense capability, but whether it could handle a barrage of SCUDS remains to be seen. The wild card is Iran’s impending nuclear weapons. Iran could threaten nuclear retaliation against Israel for invading or attacking its Syrian puppet state. In any event, Israel cannot depend on the US for support as long as Obama is in the White House.

[nolongerademocrat]

I guess so. LOL

[MississippiMan]

jh, I’m unable to access the whole article. I know WSJ provides a “temp link” for non-subscribers, and maybe some threshold of viewers has been hit?

MM (in TX)

[Psalm 73]

"Any acts done by Hezbolla should be considered an act by Syria and dealt with appropriately."

We may soon find out the final destination of Iraqi Chemical and/or Biological weapons that were trucked into Syria on the eve of the war......

[MississippiMan]

"We will return Syria to the Stone Age by crippling its power stations, ports, fuel storage and every bit of strategic infrastructure if Hizbullah dare to launch ballistic missiles against us."

That's from an "anonymous minister" a couple days ago.

MM (in TX)