Posted on 04/17/2010 8:42:01 PM PDT by jhpigott
Israel has delivered a secret warning to Syrian President Bashar Assad that it will respond to missile attacks from Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese-based Islamist group, by launching immediate retaliation against Syria itself.
In a message, sent earlier this month, Israel made it clear that it now regards Hezbollah as a division of the Syrian army and that reprisals against Syria will be fast and devastating.
It follows the discovery by Israeli intelligence that Syria has recently supplied long-range ballistic missiles and advanced anti-aircraft systems to Hezbollah.
“We’ll return Syria to the Stone Age by crippling its power stations, ports, fuel storage and every bit of strategic infrastructure if Hezbollah dare to launch ballistic missiles against us,” said an Israeli minister, who who was speaking off-the-record, last week.
The warning, which was conveyed to Damascus by a third party, was sent to reinforce an earlier signal by Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli foreign minister. “If a war breaks out the Assad dynasty will lose its power and will cease to reign in Syria,” he said earlier this year.
The Israeli decision to hold Syria directly responsible for Hezbollah’s actions is believed to be the result of intelligence assessments that Beirut has lost control of the Shi’ite organisation, which has become an increasingly powerful force in Lebanon.
Reports that Syria has supplied Hezbollah with Russian-made Scud ballistic missiles have alarmed Israeli ministers. The missiles have the potential to reach the entire country and could carry chemical warheads. New gas masks are being supplied to Israel’s entire population, with an intensive television advertising campaign underway to stress their importance.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
consider who is at the head of each country in the midst of potential chaos.
Assad, if I’m not mistaken, a dentist by trade.
Netanyahu, a multi-war veteran and patriot.
Hariri II, a mixed blessing for now.
Nasrallah, a thug in a mullah outfit.
The Hamas and Hezbollah orgs. need to be wiped out. They are nothing more than lackeys for Iran and some in Saudi Arabia and wannabe jihadists globally.
Not sure how big a ‘spark’ it will take.. but Scuds being added to the scene doesn’t help move folks any closer to the negotiating table. Syria is flirting with fire and Lebanon will be the one to pay for it.. agian.
Except us...
I never thought I’d live to see such a betrayal! Makes my blood boil.
The Alewite version of Islam has some things in common with Persian Shiism. A few years back some major Iranian religious authorities patched things up with the Alewites and said they were not apostates. Alewites have a thing for Mary (mother of Jesus) as well as Muhammad
Anyone who wants to discuss Syria, or thinks he has a right to make policies dealing with Syria, must find out about, must hold in the forefront of his brain, the history and role of the Alawites, their strengths (including their self-interested protection of Christians) and also their great vulnerabilities (including the fact that their syncretistic worship of Mary means that Sunni Arabs do not regard them as real Muslims, and that is the touchiest of subjects, the one that had the Alawites desperate for an Iranian fatwa a few years ago that appeared to give them full-fledged Muslim status, and helps explain the eagerness of the Alawite regime to curry favor with Muslims by 1) allowing Sunni Arabs to go off to Iraq to fight the Infidels 2) allowing Iran to trans-ship through Syria aid to Hezbollah 3) maintaining an unyielding stance toward Israel, which allows the Alawites to use their supposed "Arab" ethnic identity (decades ago more people in the country identified themselves "Syrians" just as in Egypt, 40-50-60 years ago, "Egyptian" rather than "Arab" was the favored identity -- those days can be made to come again) to make up for their unorthodox, not-quite-sufficient brand of Islam, or near-Islam, or quasi-Islam. This weakness can be ruthlessly exploited by the West -- not least by making the theme of the Alawites "non-Islamic" nature a constant source of discussion, thereby bringing the topic embarrassingly up. We have the power to make it hot for them, and if the Sunni Arabs ever come to power, they will, as Armenian friends of mine from Haleb have noted, promptly attack the Alawite villages, and those Alawite military officers will be helpless to protect their own famlilies.
Every Alawite house has a picture of Mary.
just what I was thinking...
How’s that talking with thugs working out for ya, Barry? Appoint an ambasador to Syria and Assad turns Scuds over the Hezbollah.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2493148/posts
Mekhtoub!(It is written!”)
Our Usurper in Chief is steeped in the Quran..
Methinks you & Bibi Netanyahu need to have a heart-to-heart. Please remind him that the very survival of this people & his nation are @ stake, & that time is running out pn him. He needs to follow YOUR lead & do exactly the same thing to Iran & Syria...& do it NOW!
Doesn’t take a lot of reading between the lines to figure out what was meant here. And I think it can be applied to both the Iranian nuke issue as well as the Hezbollah/Syria issue . . .
PM quotes Herzl: Don’t rely on help of foreigners
Published: 04.18.10, 11:11 / Israel News
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during the weekly cabinet meeting, “State visionary, Benjamin Ze’ev Herzl, said something that has captured me, ‘Do not rely on the help of foreigners, nor on benefactors. And do not expect stones to become soft because benefactors give humiliating donations.’”
Netanyahu noted that he was not familiar with this quotation, and concluded it: “A nation who wants to stand upright must rely on itself alone.” The cabinet marked 150 years since the birth of Zionist visionary, Theodor Herzl. (Roni Sofer)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3877447,00.html
Got to admire Israelis. You know where they stand.
The Only downside is that 85% of Israel is secular Humanist/Aetheist If the Syrians mess with the Catholic Shrines.....they will see a Catholic Backlash they never imagined!
Zero ignororing Netanyahu on his Last visit was like those times he used to vote present to avoid deciding!
...that it will respond to missile attacks from Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese-based Islamist group, by launching immediate retaliation against Syria itself... sent earlier this month, Israel made it clear that it now regards Hezbollah as a division of the Syrian army and that reprisals against Syria will be fast and devastating... "We'll return Syria to the Stone Age by crippling its power stations, ports, fuel storage and every bit of strategic infrastructure if Hezbollah dare to launch ballistic missiles against us," said an Israeli minister, who who was speaking off-the-record, last week.My only quibble is, Syria returned to the Stone Age when it was conquered by the Mohammedans. Thanks jhpigott.
I can’t predict any interactions among Alewites, Sunnis, and Shiites since I don’t know much about any of them.... but simply as a matter of general political psychology, I doubt that any outside efforts to make Syrian Alewites feel more insecure and more humiliated in the Muslim world is going to make them more amenable to moderation.
Just as Hitler often felt driven to prove he was more “German” (as an Austrian originally) than most Germans, and as Stalin felt driven to prove his “Russian” character (even though he was from Georgia), Assad and his ilk may well respond to insecurity about their identity as Muslims by being more extremist and violent, not less so.
The Shiites are roughly 30% of the Middle East Muslim population. Iran’s goal is to convert Sunnis to Shiism. It does it by becoming the most powerful Muslim nation that defies America and Israel and even attacks them directly or via stooges such as Hezbollah. Iranian wackos also have an end times scenario in mind
Alewites are idiots with no oil riches. Their numbers are so tiny, as you know.
From who? The Church. Ha!!! They side with Israel's enemies at every opportunity. From the laity??? Ha!!!
“War undoubtedly coming soon over these missiles.”
Yes, I think so.
No, they're speaking clearly, which is a good thing, and it sounds like they're willing to write off Obama's support. Now they have that final step remaining, the step of putting their faith not in themselves, but in God.
Same here. Sorry to respond so late...
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