Syria's Assad warns Israel on air strikes and Golan

[Eugene]

Source: BBC

30 May 2013 Last updated at 23:04 GMT

Syria's Assad warns Israel on air strikes and Golan

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has warned Israel that it will respond in kind to any future air strikes.

In an interview with a Lebanese TV channel, he said there was "popular pressure" to open a military front against Israel in the Golan Heights.

He also suggested Syria may have received the first shipment of an advanced Russian air defence system.

Israel has warned it would regard the Russian missiles as a serious threat to its security.

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Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22725334

[PDJane]

1. Israel is determined to start a war. I hope her neighbours and supporters aren't that stupid.

[railsback]

2. I don't know of any countries who are willing to engage Israel

Hezbollah and Assad stand alone. A turkey shoot.

[Purveyor]

4. "We" are...

[aranthus]

5. A war?

With who? Syria? Why would the Israelis do that?

[Scootaloo]

6. "Why would the Israelis do that?"

That's the sort of question that usually gets asked after Israel does something.

Before then, the question is mostly "how would Israel do that?"

[aranthus]

7. They wouldn't.

They have no intention of starting a war with Syria. It does them no good to do that. But the biased anti-Zionist crowd say whatever negative thing they can say about Israel. See, it doesn't take a lot of thought to write "Israel intends to start a war." But when I ask the obvious question about why they would in the first place, then what I get is evasion and diversion like yours, or it's just ignored. Because there's no meat behind the accusation.

[Scootaloo]

8. Funny way of showing no intention...

Given their illegal annexation of Syrian territory, their repeated airstrikes against Syria, their armed patrols past the armistice line, their constant threatening of Syria... If this were an Arab nation doing the same thing to Israel, you would call it a war. You wouldn't be glibly brushing it off as something inconsequential, and you certainly wouldn't be chiding the people calling it a war.

Israel isn't starting the war, of course. That happened two years ago without any Israeli involvement. However, odds are Israel will end up getting involved - not because of any real risk to Israel from Syria (after all, two damn years is a good run, why step in now?). This will not turn out well for Israel and is probably very much against the best interests of Israel. But Israel will do it anyway, because Israel is prone to making really bad fucking decisions. Twenty years in Lebanon, for example. Funding and arming Hamas, for example. All sorts of stuff.

Why? Israel has two things pointing in this direction; "defense" and "land grab." I can't read minds so i can't say which is which... but the two seem to nest together nicely in Israeli policy so I'll just take them both.

First, honestly Syria is on the verge of dissolving. I would not for a moment blame Israel for being in a "heightened state of security" with regards to that at all. Thing is, like I said, Israel tends to make bad decisions, and this means "heightened security" becomes "threatening to blow up the people you say you don't want a war with, after blowing some of them up and sending your soldiers into their territory."

Second... well, like I said, "defense" and "land grab" go hand in hand where Israel is concerned; see how Israeli towns and "settlements" are all through the 100% unquestionably Syrian territory of the Golan? Israel sees a productive patch of territory that is currently in a state of anarchy and it seeks to capitalize on that by establishing an extension of the Golan "buffer zone" - which will eventually have a bunch of Israelis living in trailers, which will then get connected to the Israeli grid, and so on and so forth.

"defense" - the 'necessity' of attacking Syria to protect Israel - creates a 'need' for an extended buffer zone which, much as with the Palestinian Territories, Golan, and the Sinai and Southern Lebanon, will become regarded as territory Israel is entitled to.

But you go on thinking that Israel is a harmless blameless kitten and that anyone who says anything to the contrary is a stupid ol' meanie poopie-head. That'll learn us.

[John2]

3. Assad didn't

just threaten Israel in that interview, but he made several interesting comments directed at the West, Arab countries and the opposition. He claims the Syrian Army is winning and he expects to regain complete control of his country. He claims, people in Syria that were deceived by Foreign Powers are now turning against the opposition.

He claims people are raising such a fuss about Hezbullah but they only have 4,000 fighters fighting with hundreds of thousands Syrian soldiers. He claims it is silly for the opposition with 100n000 forces to claim they are getting whipped by 4000 fighters. He says it is a excuse by them to deceive what's really going on.

He also claims they are worried about a small town with only 30,000 people when they should be worried about what is going to happen to them in Aleppo. He also claims who does the opposition represent in Syria, when they are all living in Hotels in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar? He claims that is why they are scared of an election. He claims they are just slaves of their Foreign backers, funding them. He claims when the U.S. finds the Syrian people in Syria backing the Foreign opposition let him know. He claims isn't it obvious, they don't even know who is representing them in Geneva. I just thought that interview was amusing.