Article

2003-10-05 Middle East

Israel bombs a terrorist target in Syria

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Posted by Alex 2003-10-05 4:24:03 PM|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [11133 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 I agree Alex - as you may notice, it was posted earlier in Syria -Lebanon, and I'm personally outraged that more terrorists weren't blown to bits. Maybe next strike?

Posted by Frank G 2003-10-5 4:33:38 PM|| 2003-10-5 4:33:38 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 Well, baby Assad has a few choices for his next move:
1. Retailiate directly vs. Israel.
2. Retailiate through it's proxies vs. Israel.
3. Don't retailiate.

The first choice will be seen as an escalation in that there are no equivalent sites in Israel against which Syria could conduct a proportional response, and, even if such a location existed, Syria is incapable of any sort of precision strike. Syria will have to move large military formations to retailiate directly. Such escalation would weaken its case in world opinion while providing the Israelis an excuse to humiliate the Syrians once again.

Option 2 forces it to more overtly support groups the US has designated to be terrorist organizations. This might attract those 5 aircraft carriers back to the region but it's doable.

Option 3 ensures that Baby Assad will lose face -- a very bad thing in the dictator business.

I predict baby Assad chooses Option 2. It's the best of a bad set of choices. I wonder if he regrets passing on a wonderful chance to behave himself.

Posted by JAB 2003-10-5 9:02:47 PM|| 2003-10-5 9:02:47 PM|| Front Page Top

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