Assad just jumped the shark.
His father's old advisors must be pulling their hair out, watching the young "doctor" put Syria's butt in a sling.
What an idiot...not just to do it, but to get caught.
Posted on 02/28/2005 5:47:51 PM PST by Dog
As the March 1 London conference devoted to the re-building of the Palestinian Authority approaches, Israel has launched an informational "hasbara" campaign to shed light on Syria's involvement in terror orchestration.
Delegations from the Israeli defense establishment embarked Monday to Washington, Paris and London, in order to present intelligence information which Israel has collected against Syria revealing its role in the deadly bombing in Tel Aviv Friday night, which killed five people.
Israel said Sunday that it would use intelligence information to prove Syria was behind Friday night's suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told the cabinet Sunday.
What the two called irrefutable evidence to this effect has been sent to the US and select European allies. The evidence, based on intelligence information, will be presented by IDF Intelligence chief Aharon Ze'evi Farkash in a briefing on Monday at the Foreign Ministry for ambassadors from European Union countries and the UN Security Council.
Sharon's associates said the goal of releasing the information is to pressure the Syrians ahead of Tuesday's summit on building the Palestinian Authority in London. Foreign Ministry officials said they hope the Security Council will condemn the attack and perhaps even censure Syria on Monday.
"We have intelligence information that the orders came from the Islamic Jihad in Syria," a senior source close to Sharon said. "We know where the orders for the attack were issued, we know where they were sent, and we know Syrian intelligence was involved and provided logistical support."
Mofaz told the cabinet that an Islamic Jihad cell in Jenin recruited the bomber from Tulkarm under orders from Damascus. Mofaz said that Israel had arrested Islamic Jihad operatives in Tulkarm, but both Mofaz and Sharon emphasized that the PA had taken no action yet against the group, even though Israel had given the PA names of wanted Islamic Jihad operatives.
"Although we know for a certainty that the orders came from Islamic Jihad elements in Syria, that fact is not enough to absolve the PA of its responsibility for the departure of the terrorist and of its obligation to act against his partners in the crime," Sharon said.
A meeting between Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres and PA Civilian Affairs Minister Muhammad Dahlan that had been set for Sunday was delayed to Monday morning. Sources close to Sharon said the prime minister hoped the world would reward Israel for its restraint in the aftermath of the attack by pressuring the Palestinians to break their cease-fire with the terrorist organizations and fight them instead.
"The State of Israel has been showing restraint in order to facilitate diplomatic progress, but it is clear that if the Palestinians do not begin to take vigorous action against terrorism, Israel will be compelled to step up military activity that is designed to protect the lives of Israeli citizens," Sharon said.
Sharon told US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas had not taken any practical measures against terror. He said that without active steps on the part of the Palestinians, there would be no transition towards implementing the first stage of the road map.
Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Avi Dichter told the cabinet that the timing of the attack was set by Islamic Jihad officials in Syria to send a message to Abbas's new government. He said intelligence officials had enough information about the bombing even to know where the bomb was made.
Fyi..
I'd say we take the subsequent PA response as indicative...
Man, Geraldo had this last night!
Watch this story explode tomorrow..
Assad just jumped the shark.
His father's old advisors must be pulling their hair out, watching the young "doctor" put Syria's butt in a sling.
What an idiot...not just to do it, but to get caught.
Syria is making a whole lot of trouble for itself....
I'm guessing they don't really intent to withdraw peacefully from Lebanon.
I suspect that we can oblige them if necessary. After all, I've yet to see a physical force capable of stopping either an American armored division on the rampage or of stopping an American Carrier Air wing, much less both at once.
Heck, we're already deployed over there. If they insist upon dying en masse, then who am I to say no?!
wow. this is big.
So this Gambit was to keep the attacks going on Israel ( presumably by the Palestinians, to keep Israel fighting that battle) so they could hang in there an do what they need to do (suppression ) in Lebanon.
If France buys this intelligence story , then this can be moved right onto the Security Council and ....and some really good pressure can be applied.
Now Iran maybe could buy off France once again...or Russia. This is just getting real interesting!!!
I understood it to be the opposite -- that Lebanon is feeding Syrian coffers. I've seen estimates of 600,000 to 1 million Syrians work in Lebanon at menial labor and send money home.
And Syria takes away est 2 billion more per year in smuggled goods and bogus imports.
Syria is in big economic trouble.
I'll certainly be waiting to see if this story grows legs. It definitely is not a good week to be a Syrian.
There's a lot of money being squeezed out, but Syria is bleeding itself to death because of its occupation of Lebanon. If Assad carried out reforms, such as withdrawing from Lebanon, exiling quasi-independent terrorist groups, getting rid of compulsory national service, cutting military spending (what on Earth does Syria need a topheavy military for? In case Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq, or Jordan invades? Obviously it's around for Baathist expansionism), and concentrated on defoliation, irrigation, and agricultural problems, he could transform Syria.
Syria lost the Golan because of its own provocations against Israel, plus an undermotivated and undertalented military. It has failed to regain it due to its own political idiocies, such as demanding an unconditional return of the Golan as a requirement to engage in talks with Israel. The above reforms should be insisted on by outside powers such as the US and the EU.
What will happen instead is, the Assad/Baathist regime will dig in even more, and continue to deteriorate, along with Syria itself. It's a no-lose situation for the rest of the world, provided Syria doesn't develop nukes. Israel keeps a sharp eye on all military developments there, so not much chance of the latter.
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