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September 10, 2007
Israel v. Syria
I don't know much about any of this, but read Daniel Levy's hypotheses on Israel's recent military actions in Syria, the nature of which neither Israel nor Syria have seen fit to disclose, save that israel dropped live ammunition. No Israeli politicians or military leaders have been allowed to speak to the press, and Syria hasn't divulged the target of the bombings. Weird, and possibly quite dangerous.
September 10, 2007 | Permalink
Comments
Half-hearted Israeli provocations to make Cheney happy? Nah....
To broaden the scope of the issue, just WHY does the US instruct Israel that it can't have discussions with Syria and refuse to agree with 3-way diplomacy (Israel, Syria, US) as the Syrians desire and require to move ahead?
The only answer to that question that makes sense to me is that the US doesn't want diplomatic progress with Syria, but instead is intent on ratcheting up the confrontation.
Its a sorry day when the only explanation of your governments position that makes sense almost requires that you believe we are governed by madmen.
The North Korean thing is certainly an interesting speculation, but maybe is just Cheney/Bolton/NeoCons trying to undermine the diplomatic progress on nuclear disarmament made by the negotiators in regard to N. Korea. Which is another WHY question worth thinking about.
Posted by: JimPortlandOR | Sep 10, 2007 5:40:23 PM
The only answer to that question that makes sense to me is that the US doesn't want diplomatic progress with Syria, but instead is intent on ratcheting up the confrontation. - JimPortlandOR
Moreover, because we're bogged down in Iraq (not to mention Syria has the goods on us outsourcing torture to them), the neo-cons can't get their war on with Syria, so they've been doing what they can to egg Israel on to do so.
Look at the proxy war we fought with Syria by egging on Israel in Lebanon recently.
The so-called pro-Israeli types are really dangerous for Israel. I dunno who their real masters are, but they certainly don't do Israel any good.
In my more paranoid moments I wonder if all this chest thumping about Iran isn't some sort of ploy. Look at who these Team B leftovers are -- old time Iran/Contra hacks! And their biggest "accomplishment" is toppling Iran-foe Saddam Hussein? I dunno what kinda game they are playing in Syria, but I wouldn't be surprised if in my dotage 50 years from now, someone will uncover that during the early part of the 21st century, Iranian spies managed to infiltrate key aspects of the Israeli and American government (as well as some Jewish agencies). Of course, it could be the influence of the Christian Zionists trying to get their apocolypse on.
Posted by: DAS | Sep 10, 2007 5:50:26 PM
My favorite part of this entire episode was the Drudge banner headline that ran after Israeli planes entered Syrian airspace:
Syria Fires On Israeli Planes!
One would imagine that on September 1, 1939 Drudge would have had a headline:
Poland Opens Fire On German Troops!
Posted by: Petey | Sep 10, 2007 6:32:27 PM
Hey Ezra, first time commenter, just wanted to say that I actually appreciate your international/foreign policy related posts the most. Your views are the sanest and most sensible of any I've read, and I think it's because you haven't been corrupted by the Very Serious folks and assorted crazies that pass for experts. You're better than Matt even! Please keep it up.
Posted by: randomkid | Sep 10, 2007 10:57:42 PM
Well,Daniel forgets (or omits?) that there have been news about exterior fuel tanks from Israeli jets that have been found on turkish soil. So, the F15s (if at least this info is right) were forced to make high g maneuvers, and this supports the suspicion that Syria was indeed using its new missiles. But this also leads to the conclusion that, in a combat mission, those jets would have to drop their bomb ordnance to avoid destruction. So, even though the revamped syrian air defense might be unable to shoot down fighters, at least it seems to be effective in prohibiting bombing raids. Not exactly a development that the IDF will be interested in making public. This might explain the silence on the Israeli side.
Posted by: Gray | Sep 11, 2007 8:19:53 AM
Sry, it's a bit late, but I can't resist:
I told you so!
"Mr Jaafari said the planes had come under Syrian anti-aircraft fire.
"They were fleeing and in order to speed up the planes they dropped the munitions," he said, quoted by the Associated Press news agency."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6989961.stm
Posted by: Gray | Sep 12, 2007 3:01:17 AM
