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Syria in the Gunsights
NewsMax ^
| Monday, April 26, 2004
| Jack Wheeler
Posted on 04/23/2004 7:02:40 PM PDT by 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, Saddams 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, Sudans 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. Jordans 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 Husseins 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
TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: biological; chemical; gunsights; insurgents; iran; iraq; next; sudan; syria; terror; terrorist; war; weapons; wmd
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To: Drammach
To: Anti-Bubba182
The USA Today, MSNBC, and AP all describe the weapon as a chemical weapon and poison gas capable of killing thousands coming from Syria. Sounds like a WMD to me. Are you really going to have a little girl hissy fit over whether it is VX, Sarin, or Mustard Gas.
62
posted on
04/23/2004 8:14:15 PM PDT
by
Dr Snide
(Rocking like Janet Reno)
To: John Lenin
My friend, the Israeli's are getting closer all the time. Sharon makes GW Bush look like a whimp by popping off Hamas leaders. Has the Arab "street" gone wild over the killings of Hamas leaders? No! You know why? Because they know that Sharon will destroy every Arab in sight if they pull some of their terror antics! Shortly, Mr Arafat will be neutralized. And....Hamas will be attacked in Syria. And if Syria or any other Arab nation, reacts, it won't be around by the next morning. Wake up, the Israeli's are painting a picture that works, and screw the rest of the weak knee world! These Arabs are animals and should be treated as such!
To: Licensed-To-Carry
"President Bush is a visonary that will only be appreciated 100 years from now."
license, I have been saying this for months, thank you, I am not crazy no matter what my wifes says :-}.
The Goal that can't be stated because of P.C. is this whole anti-terror war is to force a reformation and denoucement of Radicalized Islam amongst the moderates and bring the Muslim Faith into the light. We need to talk more on this, It is getting late and I need sleep for a big date ahead.
To: JLAGRAYFOX
I'm upset that GW Bush and Rumsfeld are acting like weak sisters.
Yep Compasasionate Conservatism will do that to ya
65
posted on
04/23/2004 8:17:44 PM PDT
by
uncbob
To: White Eagle
Where's Harry Truman when you need him?
He is Stii figuring out how to end the Korean War
66
posted on
04/23/2004 8:18:54 PM PDT
by
uncbob
To: John Lenin
Anyone who has been in the military knows what happens when you call a weapon (e.g. M-16) "a gun".
Drill Sgt. Smith gets in your face and screams at the top of his hungs at you, while pointing first at your weapon and then at your crotch. "This is your WEAPON and this is your GUN! Now get down and give me 50 with your WEAPON on your hands and don't let your WEAPON touch the ground peter breath!" Seriously.
67
posted on
04/23/2004 8:19:46 PM PDT
by
Victor K
(VictorK - "The most uncommon thing you'll find these days is common sense." jk)
To: Dr Snide
and it has to be a chemical that would survive the heat of the explosion from the other trucks. this was discussed at great length on threads when this story first broke.
To: JLAGRAYFOX
I'm just saying we have no troops left for another front. Unless we start a draft we aren't invading anyone for the next few years.
To: ThermoNuclearWarrior
US from the North East, Israel from the south west, and into Lebanon, and Jordan from the south, with Saudi Arabia from the south East.
70
posted on
04/23/2004 8:24:40 PM PDT
by
RaceBannon
(VOTE DEMOCRAT AND LEARN ARABIC FREE!!)
To: ThermoNuclearWarrior
OK, this is looking into the crystal ball but I think this is the future for the next 5 to 25 years.
Western Civilization in Major wars against the radical Islamic hoards. The war on terroisim be will long and difficult. Some will call it the new Crusades, but in fact it is the Crusades in reverse. The moslems are attacking the West and we are letting them come in the name of diversity.
When was the last time you heard of a Christian Church being established in a Middle East country? Now we have the "call to prayer" on load speakers 5 times a day in Michigan.
Bottom Line, one more attack against the U.S. mainland, and George Bush is still President, the only response from any Islamic country in the Middly East will be "please send us aid from the UN".
71
posted on
04/23/2004 8:25:06 PM PDT
by
Licensed-To-Carry
(All American should be extremly proud of our Armed Services. Thank You)
To: taildragger
The Goal that can't be stated because of P.C. is this whole anti-terror war is to force a reformation and denoucement of Radicalized Islam amongst the moderates and bring the Muslim Faith into the light.It's been stated. When George Bush says "we are changing the world", liberals ignore it (because they are idiots) and conservatives reject it (because they are too smart). It will take a long, long time before we can see and understand how Islam will have been morphed by this.
To: John Lenin
it depends on whether you are talking about: forces for occupation, or forces for the actual military fight. one infantry division, plus air power, plus some special forces, could likely destroy the Syrian uniformed military and overthrow the Syrian government in a couple of weeks. Forces for occupation is a different question, maybe we don't need to occupy Syria, what's there anyway?
To: John Lenin
Jean.....you have run up the white flag, already? Oui?
To: oceanview
We bit off more than we could chew in Iraq. Let Israel take out Syria.
To: ThermoNuclearWarrior
Well .. for those who read their Bible, see Isaiah 17:1.
If Syria manages to get VX into Israel .. Damascus will be history.
76
posted on
04/23/2004 8:31:18 PM PDT
by
CyberAnt
(The 2004 Election is for the SOUL of AMERICA)
To: ThermoNuclearWarrior
My impression has always been that Syria didn't quite have the balls to do something overt that could result in retaliation by the United States or Isreal. If enough pressure is applied I suspect Syria will fly straight for a little while at least. We can also get them to cough up Iraqi WMD (if we have not already got Sudan to help us on that front) and give them a way out if we choose. I fear that our clueless state department will fight this all the way, wouldn't want to hurt anybody's feelings now would we.
77
posted on
04/23/2004 8:31:50 PM PDT
by
Dr Snide
(Rocking like Janet Reno)
To: Dr Snide
The point is the VX part of the story is a repeat by Newsmax of Loftus's speculation presented as fact and the quote:
"Jordans 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."
is an embelishment to the point of being an outright lie.
It makes a great deal of difference what kind of material it is. If it was VX, the probability increases that it was originally from Iraq
To: Thumper1960
Sure just add another $200 Billion for another military operation. This is getting insane that we don't have allies.
To: ThermoNuclearWarrior
Cleanup Lebanon first. After allowing no retreat accross the Syrian border. A retreat accross the Isreali border would be fun to watch. Syria will then get real pliable, with the US in lebanon and iraq.. Bashir will come grinning like a used camel dealer.. or he will checking under his bed every night and/or be listening for cruise missles.
80
posted on
04/23/2004 8:34:30 PM PDT
by
hosepipe
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