While Israel continues to downplay the risks, experts see the recent rounds of attacks on Syria as exceedingly dangerous, threatening to ignite the powderkeg of Syria’s internal civil war into a region-wide conflict.
Syria and Israel have been in a state of war for decades, but haven’t fought seriously in nearly 40 years. The new strikes bring the two sides back to the brink of a war which, despite the rhetoric, both sides have long sought to avoid.
Israel launched two separate attacks over the past several days, with a Friday strike followed up with a round of Sunday strikes causing explosions around the capital city. Casualties were reported, but the details are still unclear.
Israeli officials say that they don’t believe there will be any retaliation for the strikes, though publicly no officials have even gone on the record confirming that the attack took place, leaving everything to anonymous comments in the Israeli press.
Israeli analysts don’t see this as nearly the risk-free attack it’s being made out to be, however, believing that Assad, already weakened by the civil war, is being put in a position to recklessly respond, potentially sucking much of the region into a much bigger conflict.
The attacks are also bringing Syria’s rivals to their defense publicly, with the Arab League and Egypt both blasting the Israeli attacks despite both being on board with the Syrian regime change. The Assad government is hoping to use this sympathy to paint the rebels as Israel-backed, while Western officials are painting Israel’s attack as justification to back the rebels even more, meaning the conflict is escalating on a number of fronts, leaving open the question of whether it will calm down or simply careen out of control.
As far as I know Isrealis violated with their flights the sanctity of two neighboring countries – Lebanon and Syria and caused lost of lives in Syria, without a beep from US or any other so called civilized countries. Where is emergency meeting of UN SC with regard to this. Can Mr. President Obama justify attacks of military superior entity on neighboring countries? Or is this actually new Obama's plan to do a war on Assad by the other means? Is it that Israel attacks Syrian on behalf of US and later on the US will attack Iran on Israel's behalf? Why Lebanon can not just shoot down violating aircraft. It would be completely justified.
War on Vengeance — Let's go for it
People of the Middle-East have near zero affection for each other, most all striving to be enriched upon the misery of a less intelligent other and all failing to realize that God is a pacifist that kills for no man.
Dictator super friendly, that is the oil-rich Middle-East. Just a bunch of money dictatorships, just a matter of bribing the high achievers, slave laboring the low achievers and drone kill the freedom fighters if they look anything like a leader.
Take out the old puppets and make new ones – based on some kind of dubious democratic ideals of course.
Why is Obama not saying a damn thing about Israeli violation of international law? What a wimp!
Syrian rebels have made use of the deadly nerve agent sarin in their war-torn country's conflict, UN human rights investigator Carla del Ponte has said. "According to the testimonies we have gathered, the rebels have used chemical weapons, making use of sarin gas," del Ponte, a former war crimes prosecutor, said in an interview with Swiss radio late on Sunday. According to Lawrence Wilkerson, who was the senior aid to Colin Powell, says that Israel carried out false flag fabrication to attack Syria. Obama, the first black president is responsible for this attack because the dog never dare to attack without Obama’s green light. Is ICC going to charge Israel and US, Obama, with war crimes against humanity? If not, Americans must rise and overthrow the first black zionist puppet who has committed numerous war crimes against humanity, otherwise they are accomplices themselves .http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/syrian-rebels-used-sarin-gas-un-human-rights-investigator.aspx?PageID=238&NID=46302&NewsCatID=352
It is alarming and also nauseating to see Obama turn and look the other way while Israel violate international laws.
As long as we get to hear the sweet sound of Hezbollah and Palestinian missiles raining down on Israel and their coward soldiers whimpering in fear, it's just desserts, for the #1 warmonger in the Middle East. Oops I mean America's Warmongering Proxy tool.
1) The week UN investigators summarize reports from the field/refugee camps, Israel and US usurp via propaganda blitz and forcefully claim chem use by Syrian Republic, although Obama, like usual, hides behind a curtain of misdirection…
1b)then, US makes a big hubbub of pro-rebel allegations of a massacre on Syrian coast.
2) RIGHT around the time information from del Ponte surfaces, Israel attacks Syria.
2a)Insurgents/terrorists appear willing to coordinate ground operations…FSA tweets praise Israel (?!)
One should expect the contra-rebel aspect of the proxy war to take a decisive swing. That should be expected in the US model. Difficult to imagine how long the US can prop up this proxy war much longer without actually having to go in a kill Syrians -and thus, first Christians suffer AGAIN (Imagine all the bible-thumping zealots in the US siding with Zionist over the homeland of Jesus imagine the twisted thinking needed to call for attacks…oops…slight digression).
On the surface, the moment appears to be when Obama can't have his cake and eat it too. but he's a master of theatrics, surely he can skirt the stage better than most politicians.
I wish syria would respond and wipe them off the map but they're too weak.
I disagree. attacking Israel would play into their hand. That's what Bibi-Obama would really like.
instead, Syria is too smart not too weak. Getting drug into a tit for tat and exposing one's only major deterrent -air defense- would cripple Syria to US long range strikes. People who are frustrated by Israeli aggression respond for a desired retribution. Dismiss and disregard Israel. They have always been a fortress state for either the Brits or the Americans. It's always been about the Suez Canal. IF Qatar and KSA get their way and topple Syria, then they can lay a new course of pipe via Jordan and Israel. So falling trap to Israeli aggression risks the ball being changed. And the reality is Syria is doing okay with the civil war…sans the outsider influence. Israel and the US and UK just can't face reality that they are losing. So get Syria to expose its belly and bingo.
that's not weakness, that's strongly playing the cards you hold for the best bet you can make.
If the Arabs were smart they would do to the west what they did to them in the 70's. Place oil sanctions on them. The arabs and the persians should join together, wipe the israelis out, and then neuter the US buy hitting them in their wallets where it hurts.
hey guys, were you expecting something different from Obama?!