Syria in the Gunsights

NewsMax ^ | Monday, April 26, 2004 | Jack Wheeler

[ThermoNuclearWarrior]

Syria in the Gunsights

Jack Wheeler

Monday, April 26, 2004

The argument for taking out the government of Syria is growing by the day. The only things holding back the Marines from seizing downtown Damascus and imprisoning Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad as a war criminal are (a) the lack of manpower to prevent the place from collapsing into anarchic chaos before a transitional government can be set up, and (b) the literally hysterical objections of the State Department. Consider these justifications, any one of which would be reason alone to rid Syria of the al-Assad pestilence:

Syria has a 600-mile border with Iraq. Al-Assad is orchestrating the insertion of thousands of Al Qaeda, Hizbollah, and other Jihadi terrorists into Iraq, arming them, and letting them come back to Syria and resupply. It is these foreign terrorists that are primarily responsible for the atrocities in Fallujah and elsewhere, killing US and Coalition soldiers as well as innocent Iraqis.

As arms inspector David Kay has noted, Saddam’s “missing WMD” were shipped to Syria before the war began. Starting in January 2004, Al-Assad began flying shipments of WMD components to Sudan to hide them in warehouses in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital. Afraid of the US response, Sudan’s leader Omar Bashir is now having second thoughts, and is ordering that Syria take back its Scud-C and Scud-D ballistic missiles and chemical weapons components.

On April 17, Jordanian police seized an amount of WMD chemicals being carried into Jordan from Syria by Al Qaeda terrorists. Three booby-trapped pickups were loaded with explosives and VX poison gas containers. Jordan’s King Abdullah and his intelligence chief General Kheir publicly announced that if the terrorists had succeeded in their confessed plan to detonate the VX in Amman near the American Embassy, over 20,000 people would have been massacred.

The evidence is becoming overwhelming that the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad provided the hiding place for Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction, that it has begun providing them to Al Qaeda terrorists, and that it is waging a proxy guerrilla war upon the U.S. and the Coalition military in Iraq.

Sanctions, such as those authorized by Congress last December in the Syrian Accountability Act, and other forms of political and economic pressure, are very rapidly becoming far-too-little-far-too-late solutions, and very dangerously so.

Twenty thousand human beings were almost slaughtered in Jordan this month. Whatever anarchic chaos occurs in Syria after a B2 strike obliterates the Presidential Palace in Damascus, it is preferable to al-Assad-backed terrorists succeeding in their next VX attempt.

Syria is leaving President Bush with little else than the military option. The sooner he exercises that option, the more lives will be saved, American, Jordanian, and Iraqi.

Jack Wheeler is the Publisher and Editor of To The Point at www.tothepointnews.com.

© 2004, To The Point, Inc.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/4/23/143043.shtml

[demsux]

Israel will take it upon themselves (with or without our permission) to take out any Iranian nuke threat (because they believe the threat will be directly towards them). They have done it before and they will do it again

I agree 100%...AND they should.

I personally think Iran is the next target, just as W listed them...in order...Iraq, Iran and North Korea.

My question is, at this point, will our lawyers allow us to assassinate foreign leaders...Kim Jong?

[No Blue States]

"We don't have to depend on "would," do we? Either it was made or it wasn't.

Dont get smart just because you missed the point. Thanks.

[Anti-Bubba182]

Not anywhere else that I know of. They embellished earlier reports.

Jordan Says It Thwarted Chemical Attack (Jordan)

".. King Abdullah said last Wednesday that security forces had saved thousands of lives by preventing a terrorist group from attacking public places.

"Terrorists planned to bomb government agencies and strike civilian institutions" with explosives-packed cars, he said. Had they succeeded "we would not have witnessed anything like it before," he added, without giving further details. .."

The above and other reports mention a "chemical attack" but not VX.

Correction to my earlier post the VX stuff is a Loftus and Newsmax production, not loftus and WND.

[MamaLucci]

We have every troops stationed somewhere. You people are all dreamming.

And YOU are apparently drinking.
Military action does not always involve troops.

[Licensed-To-Carry]

See post #4

[John Lenin]

Oh sure we will just bomb them and stir up the hornets nest meanwhile they 1.5 billion people to fight agaisnt us. You are dreamming hon. The military is 40,000 men short in Iraq right now. I suggest you pick up a gun and back up your statements.

[MamaLucci]

I did, and I agree with you 100%.

[First_Salute]

Neither Syria nor Iran will be invaded by U.S. troops.

[Azzurri]

I've done exhaustive searching and have yet to find a source other than those posted here, listing VX gas as the chemical. So, I'm as skeptical as you are until we hear new info.

[Mr. Mojo]

We need threaten Syria with a massive Nuclear strike. We should use the powerful weapons we have when it will save American lives. Why should we invade and occupy that POS nation while getting attacked by countless homicide bombers?

I agree completely. Hopefully the occupation nonsense in Iraq taught us a valuable lesson and from now on we'll just bomb our enemies to oblivion - carpet bombing, MOABs, Daisy Cutters, cruise missiles, etc - to soften them up and then send in the Army, Marines, and Spec Ops to clean up the mess. Then after their business is complete they'd get the hell outta there -- they're not policemen, they're warriors. Any trouble after that can be easily be eliminated by more bombing. .....and perhaps even nukes.

"Winning hearts and minds" is a near-impossiblity with our Islamist enemies.....especially since the vast majority of them possess neither.

[demsux]

Neither Syria nor Iran will be invaded by U.S. troops.

I have to disagree, I think Iran is next. It is be-twix and be-tween two countries that we control...can't have a cancer in the middle.

It won't take much to topple the mullahs, at least less than Saddam.

[KriegerGeist]

The "Prophecy Against Damascus" in Isaiah 17 may come to pass sooner than we thought...

1. The burden against Damascus.
"Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city,
And it will be a ruinous heap.
2. The cities of Aroer are forsaken;
They will be for flocks [that is, unihabitable by people]
Which lie down, and no one will make them afraid.
3. The fortress also will cease from Ephraim,
The kingdom from Damascus,
And the remnant of Syria;
They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,"
Says the LORD of hosts.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Why should we invade and occupy that POS nation while getting attacked by countless homicide bombers?

Spank them with a massive nuclear response? Why not you say?

Because that country is filled with innocent people who are no more responsible for their leader's actions than you are for what George Bush does in your name every day. Innocent people like you and me who would be seared from this world simply because you want the evil ones to pay? Not smart.
In fact, if it were to happen, and Damascus was turned into a glass parking lot...the lives of almost every American civilian abroad wouldn't be worth spit. Would you want that on your conscience?

I'm as much of a hawk as the most rabid here...but a preemptive nuclear strike on Syria? Not smart.

[dsc]

"Dont get smart just because you missed the point. Thanks."

What's your problem? You're the one who brought up tin foil.

[EQAndyBuzz]

"I am loathe to agree with you, but I think you are right on the money. I do not believe the USA can negotiate with these non-humans called Arab Muslims. We are going to have to resort to our nuclear weapons if the USA is to survive."

Hate to say this but "are you nuts?"

A northern wind will cause fallout into Turkey. Southbound winds will harm Israel, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan.

Playing with nukes is never the right answer. Now ebola at rush hour in the market place is a more effective weapon and definitely one of terror. Imagine a bio weapon left at a HAMAS rally in gaza and Israel seals off the border. In one week, without firing a shot you have gained some good real estate. Just firebomb the dead and plant olive trees.

Not that I profess this, but nukes aren't the solution. Well actually it is, but it is pretty extreme.

[MamaLucci]

I suggest you learn how to spell a common word like "dreaming" if you want to be taken seriously around here. I am not a member of the military, and have never learned to shoot my husband's guns, so I will leave that to the trained professionals, thanks.

[Ronaldus Magnus]

Sounds to me like Damascus may be in jeopardy of losing its record as the longest continually occupied city.

[texasflower]

After I posted that, I realized that he may not have said it was VX nerve gas specifically.

If you find it, would you mind pinging me?

I know he commmented on the projected death toll and all of that, I'm just not sure if he identified the substance.

[John Lenin]

Nice comeback, you have no answer to the troop shortage we have right now and you want to start a second war front. Right hon, I'm glad you are a civilian and not a general.

[ThermoNuclearWarrior]

Does anyone else agree with using nukes on Syria? I know we could take over Syria without going to that extreme, but the death toll would be a lot higher on our side. Syria would more than likely use Chemical weapons and possibly Biological weapons. I also think their would be a lot more suicide bombers in Syria than what we are seeing in Iraq. I have a feeling Syria would be a tougher war than Iraq, even though their Military is far from anything special.

We would have to put a lot of troops in Iraq and Syria to keep order and be prepared for an all out attack from Iran. If Iran sees there is no way to stop us from coming after them they could try to surprise us with something. I think they would be very unpredictable in that situation. The Iranian leadership has been receiving a lot of pressure recently from us and the majority of the Iranian people.

We would be venerable to something happening with North Korea or China by having so many of our resources in the Middle East. If we have to go into Syria and Iran while still responsible for most of the security in Iraq we are going to have a lot of troops in that area if we want to keep it stable. If North Korea or China wanted to start something with South Korea or Taiwan, that would be the time.

I think there would be even more violence against our troops in Syria than there is in Iraq. I think there is a lot more support for America in Iraq than there is in Syria. We would probably have to deal with suicide bombing the entire time we occupied that country. How do you guys see a war and occupation of Syria turning out?

I think Iran would be the easiest nation to build a respected pro American government in. The majority of Persians are really pro American unlike many of the two-faced Arabs in Iraq.

What do you guys think should happen with Syria and Iran? What do you think WILL happen?