Posted on 06/03/2005 5:47:31 PM PDT by blam
Syria fires Scuds over Turkey 'to taunt US'
By Tim Butcher, Middle East Correspondent
(Filed: 04/06/2005)
Syria has staged a defiant display of strategic firepower by test-firing Scud missiles for the first time in four years, Israeli security sources said yesterday.
The officials, citing intelligence data, said the missiles, using North Korean technology and designed to carry chemical warheads, were launched last week from northern Syria.
One missile was fired towards the Mediterranean, the Israeli officials said, and broke up over the Turkish province of Hatay, shedding debris over two villages.
Israeli security sources said Syria's attempt to fire a missile over Turkey, a Nato country, was intended as a snub to America.
Washington has led a fierce campaign against Syria over the past year, blaming it for backing insurgents in Iraq and leading the chorus that forced Damascus to withdraw from Lebanon.
It is believed Israel has acquired film footage of the launches, which involved two Scud D variants, with a range of 400 miles, and one Scud B, with a range of 190 miles.
There have been suspicions that Syria has been buying missile technology from North Korea, and Israel will analyse what advances it has made in terms of targeting.
Any evidence that Syria can accurately launch Scud missiles, possibly with air-dispersed chemical weapons, raises dramatically the likelihood of pre-emptive Israeli military action.
When Israel was hit by Scuds launched by Saddam Hussein's regime in 1991, it was persuaded not to retaliate by evidence that the missiles were inaccurate and had modest payloads.
America was silent about the latest Syrian launches, but Turkey confirmed that missile debris had landed around two villages in the southern province of Hatay.
The Turkish foreign ministry said Syria had assured it that the incident was "just an accident'' during routine military training.
Seems like you got it all figured out. Well, you aren't the first person to misunderestimate Bush. Syria does so at their own peril.
The turkey is very angry!
The Turks will put a blase face on it but they're really not happy about this at all. This is major disrespect, accidental or not. The Turks have gone from a country that even the Soviet Union wouldn't mess with to one that serves as a proxy whipping boy for a pipsqueak neighbor. That and the EU rejection is not a happy sign for their new government.
"Likewise, I will never forgive Turkey. After the billions and billions we gave them, and after protecting them all these years, they screwed us and cost us lives."
You're not the only one who feels that way. I'm even still pissed at (France) De Gaulle for his NATO antics way back when.
A no-brainer.
American, Israeli, and Turkish air forces attack strategic targets in Syria and put the fear of God in those a**holes.
TELL me that wouldn't get their attention..........
That would be fatally stupid. And yet, from our perspective, there are a lot of Arabs who have a death wish. They obviously don't see it that way, but they will still die.
Gotta love those Scuds, eh? They couldn't even hit a whole darned Sea, for goodness sakes...
Nope.
I hope your right. But I don't think so.
Yeah and then they'll claim an accident if a test shot hits Incirlik AFB (our base in Turkey) or Ankara, and we'll claim an accident when we empty a Trident sub on Damascus..
Never screw with a Turk; they have long memories, bad tempers and they all carry knives.
bump
Taunt them back with M-1A2's parked on the Syrian palace lawn. Baathists. Kill them.
Very nicely put...
Yes, but when you are outside and one bug will not stay away from you you kill it. That way there are no more problems and it does not raise little bugs programed to kill bug you later.
That is the type of action we should take with bugs. Shoe them away the first time, kill them the second. They fired two missiles so should be killed.
What? Can GWB be re-elected again? Did I miss an Amendment?
Aren't they taunting Turkey?
"...backing insurgents in Iraq ..."
Translated means:
"...exporting terrorism..."
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