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.
I say we bomb the crap out of Tehran, just to "taunt" Syria.
Here's an idea.. Find a diecasting plant in Syria that uses molten aluminum, make a bomb casing with a sharp pointy tip, then have the rest of it be just a huge tank of water, drop that in the molten aluminum. Depending on the amount of aluminum to water, it would range from 300 ft deep at 5 miles across to 600 feet deep at 20 miles across of nothing but total destruction...
We've been doing that for a few years now. The next target is the the Wahhabi Movement from Saudi Arabia, which is spreading like a cancer right here too.
Negative. There are way too many friendlies in Tehran (including some FReepers), who will eagerly take over when the occupying foreign mullahs are dead. How that will happen is still up in the air, though there are many possibilities.
That really is the inevitable solution. Syria will continue to provoke and escalate until dealt with. While we're at it, we can free that country and provide an axis of free nations from the Mediterranean all the way to the Persian Gulf.
I have this image of Peewee Herman kicking Shaquille O'Neil in the shin.
I wonder if we aren't already in the Eastern portions of Syria, ala Cambodia in the Vietnam days...those borders are not clearly marked, I I wonder how well the doctrine of "hot pursuit" works in this context. I hope we have authorized our troops "to cross the Yalu River" so to speak...
Just to clarify the point: Iran is an occupied country. The native people are peaceful Persians who were overrun by Arab Muslims in 1979. Persians have long despised Arabs. There's no point in attacking the Iranian people -- they're already on our side. Precision bombing, used very selectively, is the way to go.
Syria already seems to be a 'middle man' for Iran.
Syria should be taken out, and let the original Iranians get their country back...
Totally agree.
Is anyone else having a similar situation, or do I need to contact Admin?
Is anyone else having a similar situation, or do I need to contact Admin?
It's working fine here at the moment. If you need to contact a moderator, you'll have to ping "Admin Moderator", not "admin". The FR servers have been struggling all day, and I don't know why.
It's sleepy time here (1:30). Good night.
turkey won't fire back... they refused the US access through their country during gulfwar2 ... we might have caught more terrorists fleeing to the north had it not been for the turks... let's face it, the US and Brits are in this war alone
While the foreign office says "accident"...my bet is that the Turkish military is discussing what kind of weapons they need to procure to halt any future launch. And if the US won't sell them...the French or the Isrealis will. Messing around with Turkey is like playing with a cobra in your backyard...something is going to go wrong, sooner or later. And Charley the cobra will let you know that you just went too far.
It's a taunt to the US because we're the only country in the world that cares about Muslims killing Muslims.
BFD. Let the Turks take care of themselves....
Speak for your section of the country....
IMHO, this is a true statement. It sounds like one of the syrians "piece of junk" missiles failed to hit the friggin Mediterranean Sea. No word on where the other two missiles came down at so I assume they managed to actually fall into the Med.
"US".?....
<< Let the Turks worry about it. They stiffed us in Afghanistan. NATO or not, who needs allies like them? >>
They stiffed us in Iraq, too and are froth-and-foam-flecked keen in their desires to enlarge the islamists' Eurabia Union [EU] Trojan horse.
F'em!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.