Now who would be happier to see Syria's air force and army reduced to rubble by the West - free of charge no less - than its neighbour and longtime adversary, Israel?
And who in the Middle East has mastered pulling America's strings better than Israel?
So it's Israel's very good luck that its intelligence types just happened to intercept the "smoking gun" - calls between Syrian officials discussing the use of chemical weapons.
Sometimes I wonder that if CIA and Mossad are involved in creating the turmoil in Syria? U.S. has been undertaking the business of regime change as far back as 1953 when Raza Shah was installed as the new ruler after military overthrowing the elected leaders.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy a good conspiracy theory as much as the next guy, but in this case I do not think it all adds up. The Assads have been relatively neutral towards Israel for a couple of decades. Not friendly by a long stretch, but ready to talk and deal on occasion. Certainly not about to go to war with Israel. I cannot see how replacing the Assads with hard as nails guerillas would be of any benefit. I could be wrong. It could be that they are very nervous about bolstering Hizbullah, and they have concluded that a risky regime change is better than the certainty of Hizbullahs acquiring reams of new weaponry. Perhaps they have decided that the Assads will be far too beholden to Iran should they re-cement their control over Syria. But the risks of being caught out in somehow using chemical weapons are existential for Israel. IF they were to do something like that, and get caught Israel would instantly lose most of their friends and supporters around the world. So assuming that the use of Sarin is confirmed by hard evidence, I think it will be one or another of the Syrian factions that did the deed. From the sounds of it, the Government forces did the deed, and until facts come to light that indicate otherwise, that would be my working hypothesis.
ReplyDeleteDon't know if you've noticed, Matt, but Israel has already lost most of their friends and supporters around the world. On the "reliable" scale they're down to two - the U.S. and Canada.
ReplyDeleteIsrael has been quite schizophrenic about the whole thing, never seeming quite clear whether the benefits outweigh the risks. But fundamentally they want Iran gone and Hezbollah crushed. Syria is a stepping stone. And fundamentally, Israel always seems to opt for offence and destabilization over caution and status quo, even though there may be quite strong voices wanting a calmer approach.
ReplyDeleteIs it possible that Israel thinks a western air war on Syria could spark the Sunni-Shiite war it has longed for?
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