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

[Light Speed]

Its possible that Al Qeada or some group like Hizbullah could have VX.

Syria has a large arsenal of VX warheads for their Scud C/D program...
Israel says they have it..I believe their intel.
and Debka has nothing to do with this info : )

Syria has had 2 major explosions at their underground Missile assembly sites...one event occured at Homs..which is one of their main Missile command bases in their firechain.
Syria has deep layered underground facilities.
MEIB [Middle East Intelligence Bulletin]..notes that after Gulf War 1..Syria used and built upon the success of some of Saddams Euro built facilities which U.S. ordinance failed to penatrate..[Top levels collapsed leaving lower intact]

In connection to this information..finds the U.S. and Israeli's networking in development of *Tunneling Micro boosted nukes...said to be online today for both nations arsenals.

One detonation event occured when Bashar Assad was in Lebanon for the Saudi lead Beruit Summit..his first trip into the Lebanon.

The Summit was a disaster for Bashar,
He tried to show how powerfull he was..in one instance..he forgave a giant Electricity debt owed by Lebanon to Syria.
The Saudi's refused to acknowledge him..he was shunted to the smokey back room..playing no part in the summit.
Then a VX Scud assembly facility went up.
Monterry Strategic,Stratfor and Janes Intel marked a joint Israeli/U.S. special forces operation.
The event killed many North Korean technitions sent to assemble and train the Syrians.
Days later..North Korea requested a summit with the U.S...a 180 turn around from their previous stance.

Syria has a large Scud arsenal..spread out in sectors...some are roll out launch from mountain sides.
Syria having seen its failure at Mechanized warfare with Israel..and Air combat,put their time and resources into the Scud c/d series which is North Koreas's knock off Soviet copies.

[JLAGRAYFOX]

No dreams here! Simple, turn a few Arab cities into glass through air power! We should not waste another American life fighting a holding action against these animals. Take out a few cities in total, and see what victory and power bring forth. War is hell, so when a nation goes to war it better go to win as quickly as it can. Our present course now will lead to the prolonged killing of our military and major attacks on American cities, our economy and our civilian population. Any idiot American that believes John Kerry and Kofi Annan will save the USA is smoking reefer! Shoot, I'm upset that GW Bush and Rumsfeld are acting like weak sisters. Let's get the job done and let the Arab animals fight and kill among themselves. If we don't do it, the Israeli's will. And....if the Israeli's don't nuke these bastards, and they destroy the USA and Israel, they will try to take over the world. However, the Chinese and Indians will not be weak like we are. They will kill every Arab and Muslim on the face of the earth, women and children included. See, they clearly understand power and the will to protect their society. We don't!

[Anti-Bubba182]

I dug up some other searches that mention chemical attack but no VX other than Newsmax and Loftus.

link

It would be huge if true because the trucks came from Syria and the Syrians were not known to produce VX, but the Iraqis were. That would suggest that the VX came from supplies shipped to Syria by Iraq before the War.

I will add that not only is VX not mentioned, neither is any other specific type of chemical weapon by other sources.

[White Eagle]

We need threaten Syria with a massive Nuclear strike

Where's Harry Truman when you need him?

[John Lenin]

And what about Pakistans nukes ? Do you think they are just going to sit there once nukes start flying ? We are in over our head in Iraq right now and the world community is laughing their ass off at us and rooting against us. Suicide is not an option in my book.

[MamaLucci]

I haven't been talking about troops, hon, you have. Most of your comments to me have been non sequiturs. I have no idea how we will deal with Syria's perfidy, I just happen to believe that they WILL be dealt with.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Nuclear weapons are out of the question and would never be used in such a fashion.

Every pin prick or rumour brings out the keyboard military geniuses who screech " Turn em into glass, blast, kill, kill...." It is very tiresome and causes this site to be perceived as the domain of lunatics. Thanks.

[John Lenin]

Once the Brits leave us we are basically on our own. The US has become the pariah of the world.

[Drammach]

You are correct in your assumption of BS..
At least to the best of my ability to ascertain said BS..

After a 30-minute search of Google, etc..
Only explosives were found, i.e., materials for a chemical bomb or weapon

The poison gas, (closest I could find, no mention of VX gas except in reference to Loftus report) was a seperate operation, planned for a possible future date, or other location.. no gas, poison, VX, or otherwise was seized, intercepted, or found..

Likewise, I could find no statement from Jordan's King Abdullah claiming that VX gas or just "gas" was found.

Just to sum up, it was explosives, no gas, no VX..
But they're pretty sure it came from Syria..

[JLAGRAYFOX]

Not bad! My position is that I am for anything that takes this cancer on in total, right now! I really believe it only will get worse from here! I just believe we are treading water, that is all! Shucks, half our country is ready to kneel down and kiss Muslim butt, beginning with "traitor" John Kerry. My friend, a lot of innocent Americans are going to die in the very near future becasue we did not take care of business! You can bank on it!

[John Lenin]

Why doesn't Israel take care of Syria ? The same reason the US won't. Because we have no backing to do it.

[oceanview]

well then how could they make the claim it could "kill 20,000 people". two trucks with explosives couldn't do that.

this story is being buried for some reason.

[Sci Fi Guy]

We cannot invade Syria, Our Military is too small for the additional burden. For some unexplainable reason, Bush is willing to spend money on everything except increasing the size of our combat forces.

[JLAGRAYFOX]

You will not need to think about commiting suicide. Your throat will be slit long before you can exercise that option. I guess in your book we should just rollover and let them have at us! Or maybe John Kerry and Kofi Annan can deal with them effectively. I can assure you, these terrorists will have a field day if John Kerry is elected President. But, don't get too upset, because I think GW Bush is just as bad a whimp as Kerry! We are at war, and we better damn start realizing it!

[NutCrackerBoy]

The fiction that Syria's support of Iraqi insurgency is covert will not for long stand. Everybody knows they are doing it. Anytime we want, Powell can go in front of the UN (I know, I know), show the pictures with arrows and X's and O's.

World opinion matters. Would Syria just go all the way rogue? No, they are going to have to pull back and be nice.

[No Blue States]

"What's your problem? "

Even the risk of 20 thousand people dead killed at the hands of terrorists by VX, or any other weapons we are sure they will use once they get their hands on them.

The problem transcends if the VX story is accurate imo.

[oceanview]

troop shortage? well, maybe, in the larger scope of things.

but let's take a look at the two current hotspots in Iraq. in Fallujah, we have about 2-3000 marines. Around Najaf, about the same number. Now of course, those combat troops have support elements, and we have other troops stationed around the country on security details, etc.

But, where are the rest of the 130,000 troops we have in Iraq?

[MamaLucci]

The US has become the pariah of the world.

Your defeatist attitude is pathetic.....and frankly, I wear the label of "pariah" to the likes of the sneering, backstabbing, wholly corrupt, French, German, and Russian's, as a badge of honor. If you think any of these countries have EVER been true allies to the United States, YOU are "dreaming".

[Jabba the Nutt]

Waiting for the election... that implies that attacking Syria and Iran for Pete's sake, would be unpopular. I'd race to vote for Bush, if he attacked Syria and/or Iran. Right after victory in Baghdad, with the 4th ID in northern Iraq, Powell goes to Damascus and tells the scared-to-death Assad Jr that we wouldn't invade Syria. That was the dumbest sack of rocks thing to say. Strategy 101. Just as a warning, I'd like to see a B-2 fly over Damascus and Teheran, once for show. Then give the thugs an ultimatum and carry out the threat. Decapitate both regimes.

[ThermoNuclearWarrior]

I can see Syria using Chemical and/or Biological weapons against us before, or when, we are invading. That could be enough for us to justify a nuclear strike. Even if the attack against us doesn't take many lives it would justify a nuclear strike in the minds of many Americans. I would support the use of Nukes right now, but history has shown that often times we don't take anything as serious as we should, until something horrible happens first.