Israel strikes Syria: targeted Iranian missiles
Il Giornale, May 5th, 2013
Hezbollah-controlled store near Damascus hit. Netanyahu goes for a preemptive blitz to prevent “dirty” attacks
Obama may very well exercise all the caution he deems appropriate when talking about Syria, but the risk is that while checking out the lie of the land, he might totally lose ground. An anonymous Israeli official confirmed, although later, as customary, Amos Gilad, head of the Defense Ministry’s diplomatic security bureau, followed suit by denying it: a convoy carrying weaponry, possibly extremely dangerous, considered that Assad possesses a vast arsenal of chemical weapons, was likely hit by the Jewish State. Yesterday in the morning CNN had reported that in the Thursday-Friday time frame the IDF had hit a secret Syrian chemical weapons storage facility, and this intelligence came from the opposition forces, and that the attacks had probably been launched from Lebanon’s airspace. Israel is now playing it down, leaking that no Syrian facility would have been targeted, but admitted to bombing dangerous provisions for Hezbollah. Where did the jets possibly come from?
The so-called “standoff bombs” can coast dozens of kilometers to their targets once fired. Michel Suleiman, the Lebanese President, has denounced heavy presence of Israeli flights over Beirut, and according to rumors in Jerusalem sixteen war- jets took off in few hours and the previous night Netanyahu had called his Cabinet for a closed meeting. Suleiman accuses Israel to aim to reverse the situation with these flights. The subversion threat is on the contrary connected to the participation of Hezbollah in the Syrian war. The militia of God supplied by Iran within an economic and strategic axis, holding together the Shiite forces, i.e. the Ayatollahs, Assad and Nasrallah, helped the Syrian rais to claim those seventy thousand casualties who are a scandal and grief for the whole world. They fought all over, with weapons, henchmen, and training. Yesterday Nasrallah’s deputy, Naim Qassem reiterated: “We have the duty to arm the citizens who live in Qussair region” i.e. Shiites, who live at the border with Lebanon. This means that the already dreadful mayhem imported into Lebanon by the huge figures of Syrian refugees (apparently 336 thousand) is further complicated by armed clashes between Shiites and Sunnis while all other ethnic and religious conflicts which devastated the region for decades, are reigniting. And Syria’s presence, difficultly chased away is imported back from the conflict where Hezbollah are partners. Nasrallah lost men, money, and local political grip due to this war, and he has no other option now but escalating the conflict.
That’s why just on Thursday a drone, perhaps his own, was shot down by Israelis near the city of Haifa and Nasrallah stated “If you think we are weakened because of the Syrian conflict, you are so wrong”. Hezbollah basically is threateningly suggesting the Lebanese to let him carry out his plan, i.e. postpone elections, so that his current participation in the government is not questioned. Meanwhile he is working at embroiling the whole country in the war in order to save both Assad and himself. Of course Iran pulls the strings.
Evidently, Israel has no qualms in confronting Hezbollah if like this time they are about to come into possession of strategic weaponry, like missiles carrying chemical heads, that apparently were bombed on the targeted convoy. Therefore, it will act in every situation of danger, trying not to take sides for the one or the other political party. This last move shows they have no ideological problems, only practical ones. It is a clear warning to Iran: even though Obama does not act, IDF won’t hesitate, if necessary and wherever necessary, for instance against Ayatollah’s nuclear facilities. Moreover, Netanyahu, not having hesitated in hitting Assad and Hezbollah, would clearly be in favor of destroying the Iranian axis, which in case can also come handy for his enemies. Obama instead is still lingering in his ideological dilemma since it became evident that Assad crossed the famous “red line” of chemical weapons. He actually has two dilemmas: his doctrine prevents him from a bellicose intervention, that he rejects by principle.
But, at the same time, he has to save the lives of a population slaughtered by an evil dictator, as human rights are his tenet. On the other hand, information on extremist Islamism of the militias in conflict with Assad gets uglier every day, and Obama, who in the past deceived himself about the Muslim Brotherhood coming to power, does not want to repeat another even worse performance by welcoming Al Qaeda affiliates as friends.