Hariri and Jumblatt’s capitulation marks the demise of the tattered remains of Lebanese independence. While Syria steadily makes strides toward breaking free from international isolation, and while its leaders purport to espouse the spirit of peaceful reconciliation, Damascus is teaching the world an object lesson in how it reaches understandings and what it considers accommodation. But is the world listening? There was a marked absence of shock, to say nothing of censure, when Lebanese Druse leader Walid Jumblatt apologized last week to Syrian President Bashar Assad for having dared accuse him of assassinating former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri in 2005....
Israel's military has determined that Hizbullah and Syria were deploying missiles and rockets with enhanced accuracy. A study by the Israel Air Force has concluded that the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah and Syria have been equipped with missiles and rockets that could strike Israeli critical facilities. The study asserted that the projectiles, acquired or enhanced by Iran and North Korea, were far more accurate than the Hizbullah and Syrian arsenal in 2006. "In the second Lebanon war [in 2006], Hizbullah missiles and rockets couldn't hit even large fixed sites," a military source familiar with the study said. "Today, they could easily strike...
As Israel braces for possible war with Iran and its proxies, a new kind of conflict in which the civilian population will be a primary target for massive missile barrages, there are growing concerns about the military's ability to shield cities as well as its key bases. In the 34-day 2006 war Israel fought with Hezbollah of Lebanon, Tehran's main surrogate in the Levant, the Shiite movement fired some 4,000 rockets, supplied by Iran and Syria, into Israel as far south as the port city of Haifa, at a rate of around 150 per day. That was the deepest Hezbollah...
In recent weeks, the Obama Administration has endorsed "healthy relations" between Iran and Syria, mildly rebuked Syrian President Bashar Assad for accusing the U.S. of "colonialism," and publicly apologized to Moammar Gadhafi for treating him with less than appropriate deference after the Libyan called for "a jihad" against Switzerland. When it comes to Israel, however, the Administration has no trouble rising to a high pitch of public indignation. On a visit to Israel last week, Vice President Joe Biden condemned an announcement by a mid-level Israeli official that the government had approved a planning stage—the fourth out of seven required—for...
March 14 forces suggested a 7-point plan for protecting Lebanon... based on "abiding by national dialogue's resolutions, normal relations with Syria and commitment to a timeframe for endorsing the defense strategy," in addition to "a clear declaration by all political forces, coupled with commitment, that national defense is the responsibility of the State through its legitimate authorities... Defending Lebanon is the responsibility of the Lebanese State and army exclusively," the statement said... March 14 general-secretariat coordinator noted that "legitimate internal divergence is one thing and facing the occupation is something else," stressing that "any Israeli attack on any part of...
Famed PLO terrorist-turned-Christian Walid Shoebat is warning that the United States needs to be watching not Iran, Syria or even Hamas and Hezbollah as closely as it needs to follow the actions of the Islamic leaders of Turkey. It was just a few months ago when Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin reported Turkey appeared to be seeking the restoration of the old Ottoman Empire. The report said Turkey's increasing lack of interest in the European Union combined with its efforts to re-establish its influence in Turkic countries of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and its outreaches to Russian, Syria and...
Imagine for a moment that you’ve woken up to the election results from North Korea. Or Syria. Or even China. The turnout is above 62 per cent, and millions of votes have been cast throughout the country for an exhaustingly wide range of candidates from all sorts of political parties and groups. No group will have a majority, so soon negotiations about forming a government will begin. You’d think it was a bloody miracle. And so it is, and it happened in Iraq at the weekend.....
JERUSALEM – Egypt is concerned Israel could be in a conflict in the very near future with Syria or the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, a senior Egyptian security official told WND. The security official said in any future war with Syria or Hezbollah, both actors have been preparing to storm the Israeli border with guerillas and commandos, an act unseen here since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the last conflict in which Syria was openly involved.
BEIRUT- Israeli newspaper Haaretz cited on Friday a report published by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy that Syria supplied Hezbollah with Russian shoulder-launched Igla antiaircraft missiles, which, the daily said, pose a direct threat to Israeli F-16 jets. The daily also reported that an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) senior officer confirmed the report, saying that Damascus shipped arms to Hezbollah that are “significantly more advanced than those previously given to the party.”
Israel is always on high alert when it comes to the potential for war with its neighbors, particularly the two groups viewed as proxies of Iran and Syria: Hamas and Hezbollah. Though neither seems particularly eager for a full-blown conflict with Israel at present, defense analysts see a number of developments that could lead to another war with one or both, perhaps as soon as this year.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
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