What Assad Chemical Attack Means for Israel

 

Assad still has no respect for President Trump, the new American President, who he expects to be no different than President Obama. He has basically done an ‘in your face’ chemical agent attack on the Syrian people once again testing the nerve and limits President Trump might impose. But what does all of this have to do with Israel? Well, if Bashir al-Assad has so little concern for his own people, fellow Muslims, even if they are Sunni and not Shia, how much concern would he have for the Jews in Israel? The answer is obvious; None! So with this knowledge the question the Israeli leadership should be considering is what, if anything, should they be considering. So, what would we be considering were we in their shoes?

 

The first thing we would do if we were in Prime Minister Netanyahu shoes is make a call of convenience to Russian President Putin. We would ask how’s the family, how’s the weather in Moscow, did you sleep well last night, and then ask, what do you say we talk a little Bashir al-Assad. When Putin says he does not desire to talk about anything to do with Syria the next thing that should be said, would you like to talk or should we simply act? That ought to get Putin’s attention. Then there would come a serious discussion about Putin shortening the leash on his pet dog in Syria or Israel will take care of the problem. Then we would remind Putin that the KGB is not the only Special Forces trash removal specialists in the world. Simply let Putin know that should Bashir al-Assad ever use chemical agents again that it would be one of the final acts of his already too long life. We would then thank Putin for his assistance in advance and tell him to feel free to call should any problems begin to appear that might need discussion and express Israeli willingness to always discuss any problems or difficulties which may present themselves in relations between our two nations. Then we would thank him for his time and express the hope that there would be no further need to discuss Assad in the future.

 

Vladimir Putin and Bashir al-Assad

 

There would be no need to tell the world or to make any threats or rattle any sabers. Such posturing would only act as a challenge to Assad to go ahead and use these weapons again simply to prove that he is not afraid of the Israelis. By engaging the Russians, that path might prove to allow for them to apply soft pressure to prevent any further use of chemical weapons in Syria and also against Israel in any future military confrontation that may arise between Israel and Syria and might even prove to be a warning to Hezballah leader Nasrallah also that such weapons use would result in his being hunted down. Unfortunately, there is no warning which would have any effect on the Iranian leadership as their actions are guided by fanatical religious fever where no amount of threat to the leaders will turn them from their decisions for using any weapons, especially against either Israel or the United States as they feel that they are being commanded by Allah to wipe out both nations and take their place ruling the entire planet. What makes the Iranian leaders even more dangerous is their fanatical belief that should they fall in such efforts they would be rewarded in the afterlife and the next rulers would simply follow with their efforts and eventually their efforts must succeed as Allah has promised such.

 

Trying to deal with Iran is fruitless as they are on a religious quest which they believe was assigned them by Allah and thus their lives are meaningless in comparison to their charge by Allah. Their belief cannot be swayed by reason or threat as to them such would only serve to send them to Paradise in an afterlife filled with unending pleasures in lush environs with rivers and waterfalls and all the physical things they were denied on earth. They believe they are but tools and part of something far greater than themselves which has been predetermined and already set in motion and their part is but a brief role which will more likely to be completed by their successors which is perfectly wonderful as far as they are concerned. Nasrallah is also a religiously inspired individual but also has proven to be very fond of his own life. This has been proven by his spending much of his life hidden in a bunker presumably to prevent any Israeli strike killing him. He more often than not does not appear in person and makes his appearances by video feed or recorded video also presumably for his safety. These actions stand in stark contrast to the Mullahs who almost always appear in person often announced well ahead of time with little if any regard for their safety. They have no apparent fear of an Israeli strike almost as if they expect they have their lives protected by Allah. Bashir al-Assad also has shown actions which point to his valuing his life very much. He had a large security force assigned to one thing, protecting his life. These soldiers were considered elite, well-trained, expert security officers who would be willing to give their lives to protect Bashir al-Assad, similar to the Secret Service in the United States and other similar security forces throughout the world protecting numerous world leaders. Religiously driven leaders who are more concerned with religious fates than their lives do not usually surround themselves with large security forces or use remote video when making speeches or other appearances.

 

The facts pointing to the fact that both Assad and Nasrallah take great concern and care in protecting their own lives means that any warning which is taken seriously by these men could serve to prevent these men from acting in undesired manner. This would also imply that by sending such a serious warning through Russian President Putin to al-Assad with having him alter his actions in the future would imply that he and possibly Nasrallah might now be persuaded against using weapons of mass destruction against Israel. Such a reality could be very precious in future scenarios which may come to fruition where Israel and either the Syrian or Hezballah in a war against Israel. The use of such weapons as part of a war where Israel was engaged with Syria or Hezballah has been a serious concern, for both the people and especially the government. The use by Assad of weapons of mass destruction has sent chills through much of the world and especially many Israelis as anybody using such weapons on his own people would be little concerned with using such against others, especially Israel with whom he considers them mortal enemies. When President Obama backed away from his set ‘red line’ the world should have realized then that Assad was an unstable individual who has no regard for the lives of others. His use of chemical agents, barrel bombs, and other bombings and other attacks on civilian centers relentlessly should have set the world on edge as the fact that Assad was using such weapons without any opposition would allow any other megalomaniac with such weapons, say some leader in North Korea, to also turn to using such weapons expecting no reprisals. That is the reason that Assad needs stopping and as Israel has the most to lose from Assad’s use of such weapons, they should consider an intervention, and using the Russians is probably the most efficient means. Anyway one looks at this recent use of chemical weapons by Assad, the world need make sure that this was the final time and the only considerations should be what means should be utilized in assuring that Assad never again uses such weapons, even never again using any weapons would be preferable.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

What Happens When the World is Warned and Ignores the Warning

 

Well, the United Nations has been informed and their response was a simple, “Ho Hum” and they went on as if nobody had spoken. They claim that the people have not said anything and query, “Would not the people protest such things?” But why would people make any complaint over their own nation having the military place their weapons in their towns as they would be told this was for their protection. But who is protecting what? Are these weapons of war to protect the people of the town or are the people protecting the weapons from attack? This depends on who you ask and their perspective of the entire matter. Those whose weapons are spread amongst the towns and even in homes will claim that the safety of the people and the weapons are all one and the same. They will tell the world that this is necessary because their enemy is likely to attack at any time with no warning and that this at least allows some of the weapons to survive to defend the people. The enemy is one of the most vicious and heinous of enemies in the entire area after all they have been condemned by the United Nations so many times as to be near countless. Their perfidy has been established by the United Nations Human Rights Council at virtually every meeting even requiring special sessions just to address their acts against people across the entire region. Almost every country across much of the nations included in the MENA alliance (Middle East and North Africa) repeatedly bring complaints against Israel to such an extent that they include almost all measures taken for the nation’s defenses. Anyway, the people have volunteered as they are patriotic and know what the risks are and are willing to assist their national military in this attempt to protect the nation as they see this as their patriotic duty. Additionally, they realize that the military will also be in their location which will only serve to make their towns and villages even safer.

 

There are a few things which should probably be added to clarify this picture. The evil entity which requires all this using of civilian homes and locating weapons stores, rocket launchers and the rockets themselves in and around towns and villages is, in case you did not guess, Israel. The claim is being made by the Lebanese Army. The Lebanese Army has another name with which you are likely more familiar with, Hezballah. Recently the Lebanese government, which is heavily influenced if not controlled by Hezballah, merged their military with the forces of Hezballah, a merger where it is difficult to know which one was more heavily armed. The main difference for Hezballah is they will gain some American weaponry and weapon systems. These weapons and weapon systems include, but are not limited to, M-4 assault rifles, M-16 assault rifles, Barrett M82 50 cal. sniper rifle, M-24 7.62 mm, sniper rifle, M249 squad automatic weapon (SAW), M-60 30 cal. machine gun, M-2 (Ma Deuce) 50 cal. machine gun, M-203 grenade launcher, M-72 LAW (light antitank weapon), M-141 bunker defeat munition (BDM), M-40 105mm recoilless rifle, MK-19 40 mm grenade launcher, and BGM-71 TOW (“Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided antitank weapon). These are the firearms, but wait, there’s more. Wait for it, because here are the vehicles they have provided care of the United States. Starting with the tanks they have M60 Patton main battle tank, M48 Patton main battle tank, M1 Abrams main battle tank, Humvees, M113 armored personnel carrier, AIFV-B-C25 Armored Infantry Fighting Vehicle, M109 self-propelled 155mm howitzer, M198 self-propelled 155mm howitzer, M114 155 mm howitzer, M101 and M102 105 mm howitzer plus jeeps and other various military vehicles.

 

The one item which simply screams at you is the M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks which were recently delivered a mere two years ago. The Obama Administration and military personnel, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made a direct query of the Lebanese government as to whether their military was also under or cooperating with the Hezballah terrorist group. From the best we have been able to determine, the question was very likely phrased something like this, “Our friends, the Lebanese government, could you tell us that your military is not aligned in any way and is completely separate from the Hezballah terror group as if it is we could not in good conscience provide you with the A1M1 Abrams main battle tanks.” And somehow the Lebanese government provided the expected guarantees that their military was not aligned in any way and is completely separate from the Hezballah terror group. What a surprise. Who would have ever predicted such an answer? We are surprised as we thought that it was known and understood by even the most casual of observers that Hezballah now ruled Lebanon and had complete control and full access to all military and other such equipment owned or operated by the Lebanese government. We had been under the idea that Hezballah had a majority coalition in the government and had placed their personnel alongside the generals and other command officers within the Lebanese military and that the two had full operational cooperation in all means and measures since immediately after the 2006 Second Lebanon War with Israel as Hezballah realized they required similar weapons systems to the Israelis, particularly when it came to armored fighting vehicles such as main battle tanks, armored personnel carriers, wheeled fighting vehicles and mobile artillery. As Hezballah is not about to be capable of buying such weaponry on the open market because even should some government feel inclined to sell Hezballah such weapons to use against Israel or Islamic State, doing so would place them in a position where they would be considered a pariah amongst nations due to selling weaponry, especially weapons of war, to a known and universally recognized terrorist group.

 

This brings us down to the specific problems. Imagine if Israel were placing their weapons of war inside its towns, cities or villages; placing artillery pieces, rockets and/or missiles as well as their launchers within built up civilian areas and even within people’s homes. Other than the United Nations and the European Union and their member states denouncing Israel, there would be calls universally for weapons embargoes and possibly general trade embargoes and Israel would be excised from the community of nations. But when Israel pointed out to the world that the villages and towns across Lebanon were being utilized by Hezballah to locate their rockets and missiles, their launchers, entrances to their tunnel and bunker systems (which keep their fighters safe but are forbidden to the Lebanese people even including those whose houses hide their entrances), MLRV’s (multiple launch rocket vehicle), fighting and ambush positions, and weapons and ammunitions caches. Hezbollah reportedly has gone so far as to offer reduced-priced-housing to Shiite families who allowed the terrorist group to store rocket launchers in their homes. The Israelis even declassified one of their military maps which had been researched through intelligence and surveillance drones allowing for an accurate and precise location and classification of each location (see map below). Our map only displays the weapons distribution in the Nabatieh region of Lebanon which can be used as a representation of the remainder of Lebanon. This area is also including part of the Bekaa Valley, a Hezballah stronghold, but the entirety of the areas south of the Litani River, which was presumably prevented from Hezballah returning and building up their provisions, weapons stores, rocket and missile launchers and their bunker and tunnel systems by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) which was presumably doubled in size in order to enforce such a return by Hezballah, has now been transformed into an area bristling with offensive weaponry and underground facilities. Their failure was complete enough that one might even suspect they assisted in Hezballah’s efforts in rearming the areas south of the Litani River (see lower map). These was the same identical region from which Hezballah launched their murder and kidnapping raid on an Israeli squad patrolling the border killing eight Israeli soldiers and taking three captive, who they later simply executed.

 

Declassified Map of Hezballah’s Military Infrastructure in Lebanon

 

Southern Lebanon South of Litani River to the Israel Border

 

The reality is that Nasrallah has been threatening Israel rattling sabers and dealing threats. His big threat is that he promises to destroy the huge ammonia storage tank in Haifa, and a nuclear reactor in Dimona. His threats are directly aimed to emphasize high casualty events and declaring the improved accuracy of the Iranian provided missiles which also have far greater range and accuracy than those Hezballah possessed in the 2006 war. He has also expressed that targeting Eilat is within their capabilities which is the southernmost tip of Israel and the furthest from Lebanon. Nasrallah has also warned that when he strikes Israel that it will be due to the Israeli strikes on Hezballah soldiers and innocents in Syria. What he has left out is that the Israeli strikes have been targeting advanced weapons being smuggled into Lebanon which are absolute game changers such as advanced anti-aircraft batteries and heavy weapons. These are legal attacks as Hezballah is a recognized and universally declared terrorist group. Nasrallah is now claiming that these attacks are on Lebanese military stores using the fact that Hezballah has taken control of the Lebanese military absorbing their armaments and the majority of their troops which already consisted of a fairly high overlapping of personnel. The world will soon realize that there is no longer an independent nation of Lebanon but that it has become a simple cover story for Hezballah. The world will likely continue to turn a blind eye to the reality in Lebanon for as long as possible as to do otherwise would create a situation where all travel and trade with Lebanon would become problematic, and the world has sufficient problems and is not seeking another. As far as Europe, the United Nations and likely just about everybody else, the situation in Lebanon will be treated as a purely Israeli problem. The world really does not desire to accept another Syria. What is really sad is that Syria is much of the reason that Hezballah has taken such complete control over Lebanon as Iran simply desired that Lebanon become the final peg in their Shiite Crescent from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea which includes Iran, much of Iraq, Lebanon and they are working on cementing Syria once they retake Syria from Islamic State and the rest of the rebels (see map below). Iran has been working to establish this slash across the Middle East providing them with an opening on the Mediterranean Sea allowing them to become a major player in the Muslim world and as their initial play to bring Shiite Islam into the mainstream and end it being simply the little sideshow playing second fiddle to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the Sunni world. This is why the war in Syria is so important to the Iranians, but a war solely in Syria is becoming hard to sell both for Iran and Hezballah at home.

 

Iranian Crescent Resulting from an Iranian Surge
Retaking Syria for Bashir al-Assad Connecting
Iran to Mediterranean via Iraq, Syria and Lebanon

 

There is a solution to the Syria dilemma, and that solution unfortunately is Israel. If Iran can sell the war in Syria as their next front against Israel, their people would be more willing to accept the losses being taken by Iranian soldiers from the IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) fighting in Syria. They could sell such as further support for Hezballah against Israel claiming that Hezballah also sees the advantage to having another front against Israel through the Golan Heights if they can gain control of Syria. Hezballah has all but completely taken control of Lebanon and one last war with Israel and they can use such to finish their takeover and totally divorce the Christians and other opponents from the public domain. Those who have attempted to rescue Lebanon from Hezballah and keep them from taking complete control have been fighting a slowly losing battle. Lebanon is but a slip and a fall from falling into the graveyard of failed terror controlled states across the MENA expanse. Already there are Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Sudan, South Sudan and Iraq with some even including Afghanistan which is falling inch by inch to the Taliban. Even Iran could be considered to be a nation controlled by a terrorist group commanded by the Mullahs and enforced by the IRGC and religious police. The Middle East is facing the danger of falling to any of a number of terrorist entities including but not limited to the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic State, Hezballah, Taliban, Iran as the IRGC, and other groups such as Boko Harem and smaller groups from Sudan, Somalia and throughout lower Sahara states including Nigeria, Kenya, Niger, Chad and others in what has been called the African Transition Zone (see map below). This is an area currently under threat by Islamist terrorists and considered to now becoming more and more unstable. These are the areas where in the future we will see new failed states in the future. This is an area of the world which, were the West not under threat itself, it would be receiving greater attention but with the world currently so unstable, these nations are going to be left on their own for the immediate future.

 

African Transition Zone

 

The greatest threat looking at the world in the near term future is the area surrounding Syria. Within this area is Lebanon which will soon be lost to the Hezballah terrorists who all but control the area and should there be yet another war started by Hezballah with Israel, part of their reasoning will be that any opposition to their complete control will be more easily destroyed while the world is ignoring their war with Israel and thus not looking at what is happening inside Lebanon beyond what Israel is doing that they can condemn. The United Nations and European Union will both play a large part as they condemn Israel defending herself against Hezballah and their rocket and missile placements within people’s homes, hospitals schools and other public buildings and locations such that they can picture suffering Lebanese victims of Israeli strikes, of course the remains of the rocket launcher in the living room in the bed room will be ignored as that is of little consequence and certainly no reason for a bomb to be dropped on a house. Then there will be the stories of the people who lost everything in the evil Israeli raid and the higher death count than the count in Israel. We will hear all about the disproportionate damage and disproportionate civilian casualties and we will almost hear the question of where are the dead Jews equal to the dead Lebanese. There will be no mention of the obvious difference where the Lebanese are forced to be human shields while Israel provides shelters and defends their civilians keeping them as far as possible from the war, not the first line victims as Hezballah will do. The world will stop turning and all eyes will be on Israel and the lack of casualties by comparison and they will demand to know why so few Israelis have died, why so few, well, do we even need say it?

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Potential Results if Obama Orders Syria as a No-Fly Zone

According to inside the White House officials, President Obama’s White House has asked the Pentagon to draw up plans for a no-fly zone over Syria. The no-fly zone would be enforced by the United States as well as France and Great Britain and other NATO members as the next step in assisting the Syrian rebels against Syrian Dictator Bashir al-Assad. The rebels forces which have presumably been vetted and approved would also receive arms as a part of this new offensive. This was part of the reasoning why Senator John McCain just took an “unscheduled” and “private” trip into Syria to talk with the rebel leaders, the good rebels and not the bad rebels, and get a feeling for level of trust and their needs. There are a few questions which deserve a public debate before such drastic actions are undertaken and perhaps we could start the conversation here.

 

The first item would be to actually enumerate the potential consequences of such an act. We will hear from President Obama as well as Senator McCain and others in his echo chamber how we are allied and have the praise and agreement from the Saudis, Turkey’s leadership, and the members of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council). We will not hear about the opposition and standing threats which exist and have come from Russia’s President Putin, Hezballah’s Leader Nasrallah and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Russian President Putin has made his position exquisitely clear stating that Russia fully backs Syrian President al-Assad in his measures taken to put down the revolution being carried out against him by terrorist entities and Russia will back him against any outside interference by any groups or nation. Hezballah’s Nasrallah has promised that his organization has global reach and has in place assets that can be utilized against anybody found to be interfering in the fighting in Syria or who try to influence things against Hezballah in Lebanon. The Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned that any country which chooses to assist the rebels in their illegal revolution against their ally al-Assad will have their hand and foot cut off on opposing sides, whatever that actually means. Any way you look at these threats, one can be assured that ramification of enforcing a no-fly zone over Syria could very quickly lead to an escalating situation that could very easily get out of control leading to a much greater conflagration than we are presently witnessing.

 

But what are the likely initial and secondary events which would most likely actually follow the placing of a no-fly zone over Syrian airspace and arming the rebels with light and some crew served weapons but not heavy weapons. Some of the response would depend on how the no-fly zone were implemented and enforced. If the rebels were supplied with MANPAD Systems and Stinger Missiles, they would then be capable of providing their own air defenses. This method would allow for a suitable threat to exist on any Syrian air attacks that Bashir al-Assad very well might be very restrictive on his use of his air strike capabilities. This method would allow for only a minimal response from Russia who would likely provide al-Assad with potentially ARMs (anti-radar missiles) with which to counter the new armaments given the rebels thus returning a semblance of balance to the fields of combat. But if President Obama and his allies decide to take the more direct and conventional means of enforcing a no-fly zone over Syrian, this would generate a completely different response all around. The direct method includes initially flying sorties over all Syrian airfields and bases taking out as many aircraft such as helicopters and fighters as can be struck on the ground and bombing the runways to render them unusable. This is followed up by keeping air resources at the ready twenty-four hours a day in order to scramble and take out any aircraft that take to the skies within Syria and attacking those which have threat capability against the rebel forces. This direct approach could lead to some very serious responses. The Russians could deploy the S-300 and S-300M air defense missile systems in Syria and even man them with Russian troops. These are top of the line and very capable systems which could pose a serious threat to any United States or NATO planes sent over Syria. Putin might even go so far as to dispatch Russian fighter jets with Russian pilots to engage the United States and allied aircraft. Russia already has at least one known missile destroyer sitting just off the coast of Syria in addition to the Russian naval base in Tartus, Syria. This is just two of a myriad of responses the Russians could potentially take as a response to a United States applied no-fly zone over Syria, what about Iran and Hezballah?

 

Iran is a completely different story and much more of an unknown enigma. Much of the Iranian weapons capability comes in the form of missiles and rockets. The majority are ground-to-ground types but they also possess capabilities in ground-to-air and both ground-to-ship and ship-to-ship. Their navy consists mostly of fast attack craft armed with ship-to-ship missiles, torpedoes, and automatic cannons or heavy machineguns. The initial threat the Iranians could apply in response would be the closure of the Straits of Hormuz using various anti-ship mines backed up with land-to-sea-missiles already in place along the coastal region, fast attack craft patrolling the waters, longer range missiles stationed inland, and anti-ship artillery placed along the coastal areas. Simultaneously, the Iranians could mount a mass fast attack craft assault on the United States fleet positions with the targeted intent of taking out any aircraft carriers in the area. Such an attack could be coordinated with missile and artillery support from bases throughout Iran as well as anti-ship batteries along the coasts and on the Iranian owned islands in the gulf. Where such an attack may prove suicidal for many of the attacking Iranian ships, the United States would very likely also take some damage with the possibility that such damages could be quite costly and dear. One American warship sunk would likely be more costly than all the Iranian losses in such a confrontation and there would also be the propaganda victory that Iran would claim and would likely be believed and hailed as a sign from Allah across the Muslim World. There is one other unknown about Iran and that is concerning their nuclear program. The Iranians could very well already have a deliverable nuclear weapon, be it an actual twenty kiloton bomb or a smaller yield EMP styled device. Such a weapon might even be deliverable by a missile and could already be in place on a ship off the coasts of the United States or in Venezuela just waiting for the command. This is a potential about which the United States has only rumors and intelligence from satellites and other countries as it is highly doubtful that the United States has any HUMIT placed within Iran.

 

The final piece of the puzzle is an even greater unknown that Iran, that is Hezballah. It is known that Hezballah has infiltrated and is in league with the Mexican drug cartels. What is unknown is how extensive the Hezballah has positioned assets within the United States. The one truth about Hezballah is that until the 9/11 attack by Osama bin Laden, Hezballah had murdered the most American citizens of any terrorist organization. It was Hezballah who blew up the Marine barracks in Lebanon on October 23, 1983. Where Hezballah is not likely to be a significant threat against American military might, they are extremely capable in dispensing terror in a well-planned and systematic manner which would maximize the effects causing the maximum panic. Their style is to use explosions often to kidnap victims and then either hold them for ransom or simply to kill them one by one over an extended period making sure to make each execution as grizzly and horrid as possible while gaining it word-wide publication using both the old media and the internet. Most of the effect of a Hezballah assault would be mental stress, fear, and intimidation. Hezballah does have the capability to use explosive devices of massive effect and has shown the ability to utilize their assets to maximize their impact. A Hezballah assault would be a steady number of attacks likely spread over a prolonged period with varied lengths of time between attacks and seemingly unpredictable locations. Their initial series of attacks would be dispersed and occur in a swarm and they would repeat the use of swarms of attacks in a short period in order to cause trepidation that there would be a series of bombings or attacks to follow any single attack thus maximizing the public’s fears.

 

The main reason not to enter into the Syrian civil war has little to do with the problems that retaliation by Syria, Russia, Hezballah, or Iran might unleash. The reality is there are no good guys on any side in this war. There are no allies of the United States or Europe. We would be backing the least offensive of the sides but they would still be offensive. The other problem would be Bashir al-Assad’s response to the United States imposing a no-fly zone over Syria. Bashir al-Assad would resort to using his missiles of which he has a rather large supply. He would use these missiles against any United States assets in Iraq that were within his range as well as the fleet in the Mediterranean Sea and then also on Jordan, Turkey and of course Israel. Along with al-Assad striking Israel, we could also count on Hezballah unleashing thousands upon tens of thousands of missiles on Israel. The odds are Israel would strike back at Lebanon and leave Syria to Turkey, the United States and NATO. Israel has proven they have no dog in the Syrian civil war. But in Lebanon Israel has interests which simply put is to remove Hezballah from controlling the Lebanese government. There may even be the possibility that Iran may use some of the Iraqi assets and mount an attack on Saudi Arabia while all this was taking up everybody’s attentions. The basic truth is that there is no happy side to entering into the Syrian imbroglio, only heartache and great amounts of loss and pain. This is one fight where the best manner to employ is not to fight. Plan all President Obama wishes but the Congress should be demanding that the United States take a pass on Syria but instead they are egging the President on to engage in this evil and deceptive involvement. Mr. President, Please, just say no.

 

Beyond the Cusp