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US once again worried that Israel may protect itself | |||||
2012-06-22 | |||||
Bill Gertz U.S. intelligence agencies are closely watching IsraelÂ’s military for signs it will conduct strikes on SyriaÂ’s stockpiles of chemical weapons, amid concerns the deadly nerve agents could fall under the control of Hezbollah or al Qaeda terrorists, U.S. officials said.
“Everyone suspects Syria maintains an active chemical weapons program; and it would be dangerous not to plan accordingly,” the official said. As for concerns the weapons will be captured or transferred, the official said: “Most countries that have CW stocks view it as a strategic, not tactical, tool—and strategic tools are usually pretty well protected and aren’t given away lightly.”
The New York Times Recent statements by senior Israeli military officials prompted U.S. concerns over an Israeli strike on Syria. Senior officials in Israel told the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth that if SyriaÂ’s army gave chemical weapons to Hezbollah or other terrorists an Israeli attack would be needed.
Israeli Maj. Gen. Yair Golan, commander of forces deployed on the Syrian and Lebanese front, was quoted in press reports expressing concerns about Syria being used as “a warehouse for war materiel that feeds terrorist elements in the region.” Golan also said there were reports that al Qaeda terrorists are working against the regime in Damascus and those terrorists eventually would target Israel, perhaps in the coming months. IDF Deputy Chief Maj. Gen. Yair Naveh also said June 11 that Israeli forces must be on alert because Syria’s military has “the largest chemical weapons arsenal in the region, which can reach any spot in Israel.” He expressed worries that the weapons could “fall into the hands of the rebels or the terrorists.” A State Department arms compliance report from 2010 stated that Syria is also believed to have an offensive biological weapons program in addition to the chemical arms. Calls for military intervention could increase if Syrian forces begin using the deadly chemical weapons in battling opposition forces.
State Department cables disclosed last year revealed Syria had obtained large quantities of chemical weapons precursor agents from China, Italy, and other states. A July 10, 2008, cable said: “While Syria proclaims its desire to cooperate with the IAEA in investigating serious evidence of a covert nuclear program and allowed an extremely restricted June 22-25 IAEA visit to investigate a covert nuclear program, Syria has never accounted for its [chemical weapons] stocks, refuses to join the Chemical Weapons Convention, and is modernizing its long-range missile systems in cooperation with Russia, North Korea, and other countries.” “There remain suspicions Syria could be sharing missile technology with Hezbollah,” the cable said, noting, “Just as Washington has done in past demarches regarding Syrian WMD and missile programs, Post believes a new scrub of releasable intelligence would strengthen our arguments regarding the gap between Syrian rhetoric and actions.” A June 20, 2006, cable reported that Iran was assisting Syria’s chemical warfare program with construction of four to five precursor chemical production facilities. “Iran would provide the construction design and equipment to annually produce tens to hundreds of tons of precursors for VX, sarin, and mustard,” the cable said. | |||||
Posted by:Steve White |
#5 Turkey says Syria apologized. ANKARA - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday Syria had admitted it had shot down a Turkish warplane in the Mediterranean and apologized, BBC Monitoring reported, citing Turkey's state news agency Anatolia. The report could not immediately be confirmed. Turkey's military earlier announced it had lost contact with a fighter jet while it was over the sea off the southeastern coast. It did not give any further details. |
Posted by: trailing wife 2012-06-22 23:16 |
#4 Rather than all this theater, what is Bambi going to do about Syria now that they admitted shooting down a Turkish F-4 Phantom? since Turkey is a NATO country, all NATO membera are obligated to come to their aid if that is how things develop. Might actually force Sh!tforbrains to make a decision. |
Posted by: USN, Ret. 2012-06-22 23:01 |
#3 I don't see the IDF striking Syria widout also striking the SCUDS, Rocket + WMD caches in Hezbollah-land, aka Lebanon??? |
Posted by: JosephMendiola 2012-06-22 19:57 |
#2 More likely, Obama doesn't want to deal with anything that might impact the election adversely for him. A complete lack of leadership ability. Amateur hour. |
Posted by: JohnQC 2012-06-22 17:24 |
#1 That really should be "Obama is worried..." I have no problem with Israel turning Iran into a parking lot or a land fill. |
Posted by: Silentbrick - Schlumberger Squishy Mud Division 2012-06-22 16:24 |