[r9etb]

Something's up. The shi'ite isgoing to hit the fan.

Rumor has it that the Syrians are storing some of Iraq's WMDs, which would imply a very strong alliance between them. If they expect a war in the region, the thinking might be to tie up or defeat the Israelis while we're taking on Iraq. We would be in a tough spot -- as allies of Israel, we'd naturally want to help them; however, the Arab countries would be inclined to support the Syrians against Israel, which would put us in the position of having to choose between Israel, and the Arab countries in which our forces are based.

The thinking is probably that we'd end up taking the pragmatic approach and abandon Israel to its own devices. (Which probably ends up with somebody getting nuked.)

Our best option would be to secure a firm foothold on the Iraqi coast. This allows us to bypass the Arab countries altogether, and also to help Israel.

[My2Cents]

It is very likely that Iraq and it's ally Syria will attempt to blow up the action against Saddam into a region-wide conflagration, particularly a major effort to push the Jews out of Israel. Bush let it be known that if Israel were attacked in a US/Allies conflict with Iraq, he would not try to hold back their response. Maybe this thing will build into a major regional war, involving virutally every nation. Fine. If this is how we defeat fanatical Islam, and Arab dictatorships, we should be up for it. 50 years of status quo in the Middle East has led to nothing but anquish and the current war of attrition we see with the homocide bombers.

[gura]

Rumor has it that the Syrians are storing some of Iraq's WMDs,

Impossible! Syria is a member of the UN Security Council!

:-)

[sheik yerbouty]

That would seem to be a plan(a coastal landing) but Syria has never been known for its temperance. They will make their move soon.