Report: Syria test-fires three Scud missiles, Israelis say

[lovuian]

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/584157.html

Report: Syria test-fires three Scud missiles, Israelis say

By The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Syria test-fired three Scud missiles last Friday, including one that broke up over Turkish territory and showered missile parts down onto unsuspecting Turkish farmers, The New York Times quoted Israeli military officials as saying.

These were the first such Syrian missile tests since 2001, the paper's Web site quoted the Israelis as saying, and were part of a Syrian missile development project using North Korean technology and designed, the Israelis contend, to deliver air-burst chemical weapons.



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The missiles included one older Scud B, with a range of about 300 kilometers, and two Scud D's with a range of about 700 kilometers, the Times' sites said late Thursday, quoting Israeli officials.

Little was especially startling about the tests, Israeli officials said, except the embarrassment to Turkey - a member of NATO - and the timing, during the Lebanese elections, the Times said.

The Israeli military officials quoted by the Times said they interpreted the launchings as a gesture of defiance to the United States and the United Nations by Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has been pushed in a humiliating fashion to remove Syrian troops from Lebanon since the assassination of the anti-Syrian politician, Rafik Hariri

more...

Interesting!!!

[Behind the Aegis]

1. Who's first?

Will it be Lebanon, to re-establish control, or Israel, to see if they can elicit a response?

[wtmusic]

2. There goes another one!

I am SO serious...I just saw another Syrian Scud fly by! ATTACK!

[LynnTheDem]

3. My bet? Bullshit.

Total bullshit.

[Behind the Aegis]

4. Why bullshit?

The Syrian government confirmed it, as did the Turkish government.

[LynnTheDem]

6. For chemical weapons?

BULLSHIT.

[Behind the Aegis]

8. Speculation.

Not like that hasn't happened before. But, it does seem that missiles were fired, and I thought that was what you were calling "bullshit" on; my bad.

[LynnTheDem]

9. Syria's allowed to test-fire missiles.

Israel seems to think they're the only nation in the ME allowed to have any weapons.

Get rid of bushCartel.

Get rid of Sharon.

And then the world would have a chance for peace.

Anyhoo the "chemical weapons" is total bullshit.

[Behind the Aegis]

10. Don't think so.

I don't think Israel thinks it is the only one allowed weapons. It just gets nervous. Syria should be allowed to test weapons.

I agree..get rid of Shrub, Sharon, but get rid of the rest of the malcontents that call for the destruction of the US and Israel as well. THEN, we can look for peace.

As for the 'chemical weapons,' we really don't know.

[LynnTheDem]

12. We can agree to disagree on Israel, and on the US's constant

support of everything and anything Israel does. End of that discussion. ;)

The "malcontents" that call for the end of the US & Israel are the ones US and Israel constantly oppress. If the US were even-handed with Israel and the rest of the ME, we wouldn't have the "malcontents".

Chemical weapons = total bullshit.

Have a great day. :)

[Behind the Aegis]

14. I can agree to that.

I don't think the US supports everything Israel does, and Israel will soon find out how two-faced this administration is.

The malcontents are not all Palestinians. They span the world over. And, it wouldn't matter if the US was fair or not, they will only be happy when Israel no longer exists. The US could kiss that ass of all those nations (some, they already do), and it still wouldn't make any difference.

Chemical weapons = possibility, not worth invasion.

You have a great day too! :)

[burrowowl]

29. Israel has Nukes

to boot.

[alittlelark]

5. No kidding!! It reeks of bullshit.

But we need EXCUSES.

[Behind the Aegis]

7. How so?

From the article; "In Washington, the Turkish ambassador, Osman Faruk Logoglu, told the Times there were no casualties in the incident on May 27. The Syrian ambassador was asked to explain and "said that during a military exercise, there was a technical mishap," the Times quoted Logoglu as saying, "and that the Syrian government was sorry about this."" Seems the Syrians are not denying it. Maybe it was nothing more than a training exercise gone awry, but it happened. Unless the Turkish government is lying, as well.

[tmorelli415]

11. Interesting Timing

Seems like the kind of story that could be whipped into anything the administration wants it to be. So they verified it was true and they are being upfront about testing their defense technology - nobody was threatend or lied to by Syria. So what's wrong with them having weapons just like every other country as long as they are not bothering anyone. When Israel tests a weapon they don't make a big fuss over it, nor do they care when Mexico or Poland (don't forget Poland!) does. It is meant to illicit fear for later cultivation and distraction.

[The Magistrate]

15. To Be Fair, Sir

This is a report in an Israeli paper, and in Israel, sharing a border with Syria, and with a history of hostility between the two countries, such an event is doubtless of some interest. There does not seem to be any "whipping up" over the matter, at least as yet, anywhere else.

[LittleClarkie]

13. In the sweepstakes between Iran and Syria

Syria says "Pick me!"

The suspence is killing me. Which is nothing compared to what it will do to our soldiers.

So how do you send a hollow army to war, anyway?

[shadowknows69]

16. all out war by July 4?

going to be an ugly summer methinks

[Lone_Star_Dem]

17. Link to the NYT article

<snip>
The Israeli officials say they are disturbed by Mr. Assad's recent actions, including the missile tests and the killing of an anti-Syrian journalist, Samir Kassir, in a car bombing on Thursday outside his home in Beirut. Mr. Kassir openly blamed Syria for the death of Mr. Hariri.

Israeli officials say Syria continues to have intelligence agents in Lebanon, even though all uniformed military personnel have left. The officials say Syria continues to support terrorism in Iraq as well as sponsoring Islamic Jihad, which has been trying to smuggle suicide bombers into Israel, including a cell that intended to blow up two buses in Jerusalem on Thursday.

Syria also played host to a May 22 meeting of Farouk Kaddoumi, the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, with the leaders of all the militant Palestinian factions and publicized the meeting, the senior Israeli official said. "Kaddoumi wants to derail Abu Mazen," the common name for the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, who has called for an end to violence against Israeli civilians, the senior official said. "The message from Syria to the Palestinians is not to stop shooting," he said.

Syria is doing all this, he added, "when everyone is trying to tell Syria to stop being out of step in the region, and U.S. messages to Assad are clear."
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/03/international/middleeast/03syria.html?oref=login

[daleo]

22. Who is the senior Israeli official?

And all the other Israeli officials. I thought the corporate media said they would desist with all these unattributed reports.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

26. That was only if the story they were covering was likely to upset the WH

As you can plainly see this goes right along with the propaganda theme and is permitted under WH rules.

[Algomas]

18. "We cant let the smoking gun be a mushroom cloud" now, can we???

[HysteryDiagnosis]

19. Iran was upset too when Iraq was firing test missiles decades ago

no one seemed to care.

Iraq was upset when Iran was firing test missiles decades ago... no one seemed to care.

America was/is upset when Russia test fires its new and improved missiles for which there is no counter, no one seems to care.

Russia and the rest of the world was upset when America built the ridiculously large cache of offensive weapons of mass destruction, (I meant defensive) ever witnessed in the history of the world. Depends where you are I suppose.

[Colorado Blue]

21. Good points. I'm sure, also, the Kurdish people cared when

they were killed by chemical weapons. The Iranians certainly cared, and innocent Iraqis also, when one million people were killed in that war during the eighties.

The Reagan/Bush administration played a major role in that calamity, arming both sides.

And what, I wonder, makes people think chemical weapons don't exist, or that people wouldn't use them?

WAKE UP, people.

[daleo]

23. And encouraging Saddam to start the war.

Iran was Enemy #1 back in 1980, and the U.S. was very keen to have them tied up militarily by Iraq.

[soup]

20. Watching to see how the headlines play out on this one.

Syria Test-Fires Scud Missiles, Israel Worried About Chemical Attacks

By Amy Teibel Associated Press Writer
Published: Jun 3, 2005

JERUSALEM (AP) - Syria test-fired three Scud missiles late last week, reinforcing Israeli worries about Damascus' ability to deliver a missile-borne chemical attack against Israeli civilian targets, Israeli military officials said Friday.
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBUB31AI9E.html

[lovuian]

24. Thanks for the great article!!! I find this article interesting because

of the Ritter prediction of War with Iran and syria in June!!!

It looks like Syria is getting into the Defensive Mode!!!

[alcibiades_mystery]

25. Syria is a sovereign nation and has every right to test its weapon systems

These weapons are not banned or controlled under any international covenant, and there are no binding agreements preventing the Syrians from producing, purchasing, or testing such defense systems.

Now, they shouldn't have put the lives of Turkish farmers at stake, but other than that, I say "So what?"

[Colorado Blue]

27. If you were living in the region, you wouldn't be so sanguine.

The Lebanese are concerned that the Syrians murdered their reporter (not to mention Hariri); the Turks must be concerned that missile parts fell on their country and the Israelis are scared stiff.

Apart from that, no problemo:)

PS, won't it be nice when and if humans evolve to the point that WEAPONS SYSTEMS are neither necessary nor desirable, let alone BIG BUCKS for the weapons peddlers?

[alcibiades_mystery]

28. It would be nice

Since we're not at that point...oh well. Since everybody gets to test their weapons systems, Syria gets to test its weapons systems. How many outraged reports come out about the other nation-states in the region testing their defense systems? Would I be sanguine? Doesn't really matter. It's a question of whether it's allowed.

And it is.

[Colorado Blue]

30. With respect, I didn't get the sense from the Israeli papers

that they were outraged. Just concerned:)

[alcibiades_mystery]

31. Concerned, outraged, whatever: the point is the same

Syria can do what it wants as far as testing its weapons goes. The Israeli government can be as concerned as can be, but it doesn't change the right of a sovereign state to maintain its defenses.

[Colorado Blue]

32. Of course not. But speaking of defenses, here's a map

of the region. I'm sure you're familiar with this geography but others reading might not have a clear picture of the area in their mind's eye. It helps explain why the Israelis get nervous.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Israeli_conflict

Thanks for the conversation.

Peace!

[alcibiades_mystery]

33. You do a public service

.....