Posted on 07/23/2007 10:05:12 AM PDT by Nachum
(IsraelNN.com) Syria sees the next war with Israel as involving missile attacks on civilian infrastructure and front-line guerilla warfare, an anonymous senior official in the Syrian Ministry of Defense told Defense News Weekly, in an interview appearing Monday. Syria prefers to avoid a direct, "classic" confrontation with Israel, he said. Instead, the next war will involve Katyusha rocket and ballistic missiles that will target strategic points in Israel, especially civilian infrastructure.
The official said that the war will not be limited to a single strike, but will be protracted in nature. "This will be a war of attrition, which the Israelis are not good at," he explained. The conflict, he said, "will be more like a war between cities than a war on the battlefield."
According to Arab affairs expert Dr. Guy Bechor, the Syrian assessment is a result of the Second Lebanon War. After that war the Syrians understood that they do not need a large ground force to defeat Israel, but rather missiles aimed at dense Israeli population centers. For the past two years the Syrians have been engaged in massive acquisitions from Russia, after an $11 billion debt was partially forgiven by Russia in 2005, and partially covered by Iran.
Following the unimpressive performance by the IDF in last year’s war, Bechor explains, Syria beg The conflict, he said, will be more like a war between cities than a war on the battlefield. an equipping itself with advanced anti-aircraft missiles, anti-tank missiles and cruise missiles.
The Syrian army numbers 650,000 soldiers, including 354,000 reservists, according to Defense News. Its tanks are outdated Soviet models, however, and its air force is inferior to Israel's.
The London-based daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat recently reported that Syria has deployed Chinese C-802 cruise missiles, which it acquired from Iran. In addition, Russia has expressed its willingness to sell the Syrians its Iskander missile, which has a range of 280 kilometers, more than enough to strike at any destination in Israel. The missile features an optical GPS navigational system that allows operators to guide it to their targets.
Al-Sharq al-Awsat also reported Saturday that Iran secretly promised Syria it would provide $1 billion for buying advanced weapons and assist it with nuclear research and the development of chemical weapons, in exchange for a Syrian promise not to negotiate peace with Israel. However, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman dismissed the report as a "media game" and asked how the media could know about the deal if it was confidential.
Arab affairs experts also questioned the veracity of the report, noting that it was written by an exiled Iranian who may simply have wanted to portray Iran's leadership in a bad light.
Wanna bet?
Just %$#@! get on with it already, you GD Middle Eastern blowhards, including Israel.
Is Olmert anywhere close to losing his position? I agree with you about the need for new leadership. I fear for Israel if they are attacked again with Olmert in power. This is a very dangerous time for Israel, and he is just not the man for the job.
Is Olmert anywhere close to losing his position? I agree with you about the need for new leadership. I fear for Israel if they are attacked again with Olmert in power. This is a very dangerous time for Israel, and he is just not the man for the job.
The first missile that goes ballistic out of Syria will be dealt with as though is is indeed, a NUKE - game over man.
Also, Syria is currently executing a proxy war against Israel as described by Mr. Syrian Defense Minister - the missiles are really rockets and are not ballistic. The difference is that Syria will no longer hide behind Hizbola.
Remember the meeting Ahmanutjob and Al-Hassan last thursday? Well shortly after that meeting, Ahmanutjob met with Nazrallah, head of Hizbola.
I anticipate a warm bag of buttered popcorn :)
A thread over two weeks ago warned that July 15 would be a turning point. It's been nothing but hot air and idle threats since then.
This bozo thinks Israel thinks like the US. The politicians in Israel actually have the stones to strike back. This clown may find himself with a cruise missile up his a$$.
Good point.Israel can turn Damascus and Tehran into smoldering irradiated ruins with the push of a button.IMO the world would be better off as well.
I had actually asked my question rhetorically. I also agree that Syria has no nukes and does not have the means to fully carry out the threats they have made. It's my humble opinion that all this "saber" rattling is just a ploy to try and ramp up anger against Israel among the other Arab nations by getting Israel to do something in response.
I'm no expert on Israeli politics, but it looks like the strength of the ruling coalition is based upon more on intra party deals, buy offs and the fear of losing power than national interests. Olmert is incredibly unpopular and should have been gone after the Lebanon debacle, yet he continues to rule with no serious threat.
“However, I think once you start targeting cities with ballistic missiles, all bets are off”
However, recall that even Saddam got away with this back in 91’
Syria's best hope in this conflict is terror prosecuted by their Hezbollah proxies. There at least the international community will be on its side as it always is. An open exchange of missiles is asking for a world-class conventional butt-kicking. If it gets bad enough it may not stay conventional.
Somebody remind me why Olmert wanted to give the Golan back, please...
Oh gosh, Dennis Miller is going to have a field day with this one..... He doesn’t have to write this stuff!
At last count, he had a -29% approval rating among Israeli Jews and a 98% approval rating among Israeli Arabs and Palestinians. Can’t we send Harry Reid over there to bite his ankles off until he resigns?
Prefer's got nothing to do with it, though it may very well end up not being remotely classic.
But a war between city-states? Fuhgeddaboudit.
It's hilarious these yo-yos think they can dictate how the war will be fought... Yes, the West will kowtow to our every whim, in all things, even in war, because they are dhimmis, infidels, sons of pigs and monkeys, and we are their rightful overlords.
Hope I live to see it.
They could position those tubes in less than 48 hours. Would Syria attack that incursion, or would they continue to fight a a terror war from the hills and gutters?
The Lebanon incursion was not a good measure of Israeli capability against a nation-state. Damascus is just tooooo CLOSE to be talking tough.
With those threats it sounds like it’s time for a preemptive strike from Israel. I can’t imagine Olmert having the stones to do it though. The good thing about any war involving Israel is that they’ll control the air in about 3 days. The next time they buzz Assad’s palace maybe they’ll be dropping bombs.
Translation: We can’t beat Israel on the battlefield and we know it, so we’re going to talk sh*t about our terror missiles and hope the Israelis don’t retaliate.
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