Jul 15 2006
Damascus In The Cross-Hairs
I am all for forcing Syria to control Hizbollah and getting them to free the two Israeli soldiers – or face the Israeli reprisals.
The London-based Arabic language newspaper Al-Hayat reported Saturday that “Washington has information according to which Israel gave Damascus 72 hours to stop Hizbullah’s activity along the Lebanon-Israel border and bring about the release the two kidnapped IDF soldiers or it would launch an offensive with disastrous consequences.â€
I only wish American and EU forces would provide some support to demonstrate where we stand on ending this cycle of violence once and for all. The cancer that is terrorism needs to be removed. It would be best removed by Syrian and Jordan and Egyptian and Saudi forces. But if it must be done first by Western forces then so be it. There is no way anyone can back down now. If Israel or the West buckles, the jolt of success in the Islamo Fascist movement will bring wave after wave after wave of kidnapping, snuff films and demands. There is no way to back out of this mess. It is forward to success or retreat towards a long, bloddy and painful defeat.
Iran has for a while and annihilate Israel if the West if challenged and is right now led by a suicidal maniac hell bent in dying as he lights the world afire in death and destruction. This is identical to when Bin Laden declared war on us and we ignored it until 9-11 demonstrated the threat was no bluff. Iran’s threats are coming to pass as the worst case scenarios predicted months past. Why is anyone surprised? Granted, we should be disappointed we could not deflect Iran and their terror brigades from their goals, but if they want to die for their cause it is fast coming to be the time we help them get there as fast as possible and with as few of us as possible. They want to die martyrs. Are only job now is to let them die alone, without us.
I’m not the only one who thinks taking on the two best military forces in the world, the US and Israel, is a stupid idea, not the only one who thinks Israel is softening up Iran for a nuclear take out.
*****That does not mean the IDF is now committed to attack Bushehr and Natanz, the two most likely nuclear targets in Iran. But if it can cripple the threat from Hezbollah and Hamas for some time to come, it is clearing a strategic space to strike at Iran itself.
So far there have been some astonishingly supportive noises from Arab sources – historically unprecedented ones. The Saudis have publicly tut-tutted—- against Hezbollah (!) (which is Shiite and supported by Saudi Arabia’s biggest existential threat across the Gulf). Lebanese newspapers have voiced public hatred of Hezbollah and its Syrian allies, and little criticism of Israel’s actions. Most surprisingly, the Iranians have drawn a line in the sand, but so as to exclude their allies in Lebanon. Ahmadinejad just told the world that Israel must not attack Syria, but he has said nothing about Hezbollah, now under fierce and systematic attack. In public, at least, Iran has already retreated.
For the United States, worried about nukes in the hands of a creature like Ahmadinejad, Israel is also acting as a proxy. The US is now going through the UN rituals needed to make a diplomatic case against a medieval throwback theocracy armed with strategic weapons. If Condi Rice succeeds at the UN, there will be a civilized alliance against the common danger; but it’s not likely to happen as long as Uncle Sam will do it (and be blamed for it, too). The administration will wants to make its public case, to the extent possible. The US cannot act militarily at this time.
Israel is therefore sending America’s message by striking hard against the Syria-Iran alliance. Two weeks ago the IDF overflew Syrian President Bashir Assad’s summer home, the second time it has sent jet fighters buzzing Assad’s personal residences in the last few years. Syria’s anti-aircraft batteries were eloquently silent. The Arab world took quiet notice. *********
http://americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5672
For those who have the time to follow the breaking news a good site that has an bunch of links to bloggers covering all sides of the issue is here at
http://truthlaidbear.com/mideastcrisis.php
Links to blogs of most of the countries involved, lots of good reads
There’s easily 100,000 nationals from other countries (US, British, and French), who are about to be rescued out of Lebanon. Per a site called STRATFOR. That has an analysis someone posted up in the comment’s section at LITTLE GREEN FOOTBALLS.