Silence In Syria, Panic In Iran

To The Point News ^ | 19 September, 2007 | Dr. Jack Wheeler

[Thud]

My Freep name is that of a family cat long ago who was a true klutz. “We kept hearing a Thud! followed by the cat sauntering off trying to convince us ‘I meant to do that’”.

[Thud]

The absence of evidence is evidence.

[Gengis Khan]

The height of crap in this article can be judged by the comment “Syria now “possesses the most crowded antiaircraft system in the world,””......

[Gengis Khan]

“The Russians aren’t best in class in anything (well, except bread, but that’s not a strategic weapon, yet).”

Countries not matter how strong rarely venture through Russian airspace to actually find out if they are best in anything or not. And there is a good reason why they dont. Last thing one should do is judge the ability of Russian technology based on obsolete and substandard Iraqi or Syrian weaponry. Even Pakistanis (with American weaponry) get their @sses kicked.

[Camel Joe]

I wouldn’t snorkel in that cesspool without a sealed suit, the “crap” in the water will peel your skin.

[BIGLOOK]

Good name, Thud!

In the past Thuds were used as attack bombers and also as Wild Weasels. F-4s were used and later F-16s. The IAF raid had F-16s and F-15s which makes me suspect that the raid was much simpler and much more crafty than all the other speculations here.

The attack didn't come from the south, it probably came from the east. This would mean that the IAF overflew Jordan with tacit permission, entered Western Iraqi air space with US tacit permission and began a east to west run on Dayr as Zawr. Wild Weasels ahead of the F-15s took out the air defense in the area leaving the targets undefended and led the strike force across Syria all the way to the Med. Check the map and ranges. This is possible with tanks (reports that tanks were jettisoned over Syria) and a high speed run would catch the western based Syrian air defense units by surprise.

Doubt that the IAF would compromise their jamming technology when a beam rider could do the trick.

The vaunted Syrian air defense system is only as good as the people running them. While the IAF run to the sea would take some time, reports would have gone out from the target area and the Syrians would think hard about switching to High PRF.

[jonascord]

Now, now, I’m sure the fact that the StG44 and the AK47 both have a gas piston system on top of the barrel is purely co-incidental... After all, the AK has a rotating bolt, and the StG is a tilt delay bolt...

[Pride in the USA]

This warms my heart and gives me hope.

[Unknowing]

Dropping the empty tanks in Turkey may have been a red herring for a possible egress through Iraq. The Turks get to say they were surprised that their airspace was transgressed, and we get to avoid guff from the Iraqi leadersip for Israel borrowing their territory.

Imagine a stealth bomber dropping a load of empty fuel tanks over a desolate patch of Turkey.

I’m just sayin’. . .

[aruanan]

Syria now "possesses the most crowded antiaircraft system in the world," with "more than 200 antiaircraft batteries of different types," some of which are so new that they have been installed in Syria "before being introduced into Russian operation service."

And they didn't work. SUCKERRRRRRRRRS! Paging Iran: Prepare for incoming.

[radiohead]

I guess you take the boy out of the KGB, but you can't take the KGB out of the boy.

LOL! How true.

[Fitzy_888]

This reference the Syria and it’s capital isn’t comforting:

Isaiah 17:1-3

The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from [being] a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. The cities of Aroer [are] forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make [them] afraid. The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.

Isaiah 17:13-14

The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but [God] shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. And behold at eveningtide trouble; [and] before the morning he [is] not. This [is] the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.

[steve86]

A couple possibilities for the suppression of Syrian air defenses:

1) Cutting edge U.S./Israeli programs in remote digital signal injection, i.e. remote hacking of enemy control systems and changing code or simply "turning off".
2) A more political possibility: Putin was given some sort of ultimatum through back channels if he didn't shut off the systems. So through some backdoor, Russian technicians shut down the defenses.

I don't believe the air defenses were destroyed by bomb attacks, as this would have been observed and reported.

[Fitzy_888]

Isaiah 17:1-3

The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from [being] a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. The cities of Aroer* [are] forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make [them] afraid. The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim**, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.

*Note: Aroer is east of the Dead Sea, in present day Jordan.

**Note: “The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim,..” Does this mean destruction or as in cease to be a fortress. Wgere Ephraim, later named Samaria, was captured from Jordan by Israeli forces during the 1967 Six-Day War, in present day Israel.

[steve86]

Also meant to add 3) Israeli Special Forces sabotaged the air defenses.

[M. Espinola]

"Syria has gone on a profligate buying spree, spending vast sums on Russian system."

So who is the really enemy of Israel behind the obvious collection of killers. And the answer is........ Moscow. But what else is new since the Kremlin's communist tyrants have backed Israel's enemies in every major war and were even willing to invade Israel in two of those wars to 'wipe Israel off the map forever'.

This showdown has been coming for far too many years, far too many murdered Israelis gunned down or blown up by terrorists with offices in Moscow, Damascus and Tehran.

From Putin's controlled propaganda machine:

Mideast unaffected by Russian arms sales to Syria - Lavrov

[shield]

The back channel to the Russians/putin would have been what Bush has found out about the billions that putin has stolen from Russia. Bush told him he would be exposed IF....and there was a list that was given to putin. Looks like putin has met with those demands...

[SunkenCiv]

This is the oldest one of the three I’ve found.

[MinorityRepublican]

Putin would tell Assad to “f**k himself” while he gets on the phone with another Arab client.

[Rembrandt]

During Gulf War I, the stealth a/c was a complete shock and surprise to Saddam, Iraq and the entire world. Welcome to the next big surprise out of the bag of tricks that never stops giving.