Report: Israel gives Syria ultimatum

[Freedom_from_Chains]

Report: Israel gives Syria ultimatum

London-based Arabic language newspaper Al-Hayat says Israel gave Syria 72 hours to stop Hizbullah’s activity, bring about release of kidnapped IDF troops. ‘Israel will not end military activity until new situation created that will prevent Syria, Iran from using terror organizations to threaten its security,’ newspaper quotes Pentagon official as saying
Roee Nahmias

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.”

The report said “a senior Pentagon source warned that should the Arab world and international community fail in the efforts to convince
Syria to pressure Hizbullah into releasing the soldiers and halt the current escalation Israel may attack targets in the country.”

Al-Hayat quoted the source as saying that “the US cannot rule out the possibility of an Israeli strike in Syria,” this despite the fact that the Bush administration has asked Israel to “refrain from any military activity that may result in civilian casualties.”

'Hizbullah made the same mistake'

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3275886,00.html

The report also mentioned that President George W. Bush has repeatedly put much of the blame for the recent escalation on Syria.

“It is no coincidence that the Hizbullah operation comes at a time when the international community is working to impose sanctions on Iran due to its nuclear program and settle the score with Syria by establishing an international court to try those behind the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri,” the Pentagon source said.

According to the source, Hizbullah made the same mistake as Hamas when it did not predict the ramifications of its actions and ignored the regional and international changes since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

The source said that Israel has indicated that it “will not end its military activity until a new situation is created that will prevent Syria and Iran from using terror organizations, such as Hamas and Hizbullah, to threaten its security.”

[truthpusher]

1. Israel gives Syria ultimatum (stop in 72 hrs or "disastrous consequences")

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3275886,00.html

Report: Israel gives Syria ultimatum

Roee Nahmias

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.”

The report said “a senior Pentagon source warned that should the Arab world and international community fail in the efforts to convince Syria to pressure Hizbullah into releasing the soldiers and halt the current escalation Israel may attack targets in the country.”

Al-Hayat quoted the source as saying that “the US cannot rule out the possibility of an Israeli strike in Syria,” this despite the fact that the Bush administration has asked Israel to “refrain from any military activity that may result in civilian casualties.”

'Hizbullah made the same mistake'

The report also mentioned that President George W. Bush has repeatedly put much of the blame for the recent escalation on Syria.


(snip)

link: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3275886,00.html

[Freedom_from_Chains]

3. Well hopefully I'll be home in time on Monday evening to see the

kick off.

[VegasWolf]

9. Monday Night Football starting early this year.

:nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke:

[megatherium]

2. Haaretz reports that Israel has denied this.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/738315.html

[Freedom_from_Chains]

4. Well I think it's a given, in the current situation, that Israel would

prefer that Syria takes a pot-shot at them first. But their patience is only so long.

[BillZBubb]

5. "their patience is only so long"

What a crock. Israel provokes an event then uses it as a pretext for aggression.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

6. Uh, that was kind of my point. n/t

[IndianaGreen]

11. "targeting Syria is currently not on Israel's agenda"

Israel has yet to master mendacity as the Bush regime has, but when one says "currently" it sounds an awful close to what Bush used to say before he attacked Iraq.

"We're not a gang that shoots in every direction," the officer said. "It won't be right to bring Syria into the campaign."

[daleo]

13. "There are no plans on my desk"

Yes, there could be some subtle parsing going on here.

[laylah]

17. No, it certainly isn't; however

it is definitely on *dumbass'!

Jenn

[1monster]

7. Israel declares World War III. Is there any high muckety muck in

the middle esat who wears a blue turban?

[ladjf]

8. Unless Syria moves its best airplanes into Iran, out of range of

Israeli fighter bombers, Israel will move in and destroy all military airports and as many planes as possible effecting taking out Syria's most potent retaliatory weapon. (they have over 4,000 tanks. But, they are worthless in the current situation.)

[Solo_in_MD]

12. And they are not particularly current either.

However, Syria does have a decent IADS, having learned their lessons in past conflicts with Israel, and watched how the US destroyed Iraq's IADS twice. While not good for projecting power, it could be expensive for the IAF to operate in Syrian airspace.

[JackNewtown]

14. What is an IAD?

nm

[Solo_in_MD]

16. IADS = Integrated Air Defense System

Its the surveillance radars, the targeting radars, other sensors, the anti-aircraft weapons, command nodes and the communications that link them all together. A well designed one makes life very hard for strike aircraft. Without one, individual anti aircraft units are ineffective and easy targets.


Couple of links I found in a quick search:

Discussion of Desert Storm Iraqi IADS: http://www.fas.org/man/gao/nsiad97134/app_06.htm

USMC Page: http://www.tpub.com/content/USMC/mcwp3222/css/mcwp3222_25.htm

[IndianaGreen]

10. A fellow DUer mentioned "The Guns of August" yesterday

Book Review Occasional notes on interesting books.

Memorial Day, 2001 - For Bill, who marched in the next.

Book: The Guns of August - by Barbara Tuchman

Tuchman carefully analyses the events which led to the outbreak of war, and we are left with a picture of inevitability. Germany, imagining itself betrayed and enveloped by European alliances, had been preparing war plans for over 10 years. France was always Germany’s target. When the Archduke Ferdinand (an Austrian) was assassinated by a Serbian, a compex web of alliances were triggered, but the net result was that Germany marched on France. Moving 7 armies within the tight confines of Europe required plenty of space, and Germany planned to violate Belgium neutrality to move its troops towards Paris. It therefore came about that the opening battles of the war were on Belgium soil against Belgium cities. Tuchman describes the battle of Liege, where the Germans used their huge siege guns against the city’s forts, and then the march through Belgium. The Germans did not expect the Belgiums to resist, but when they came under sniper fire in village after village, the Germans instituted a policy of reprisals against the civilian population. Reports of mass executions in village squares became common, but the event that shocked the world was the burning of Louvain, where the Germans laid waste to the entire city. This event was a wake up call to the world and signaled the beginning of a long brutal war.

http://www.abbottsys.com/reviews.html

[sueragingroz]

15. FYI for those that weren't alive in 1967

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-Day_War

I was... barely... ;)