JERUSALEM — Israeli warplanes carried out a strike deep inside Syrian territory on Wednesday, US officials reported, saying they believed the target was a convoy carrying sophisticated antiaircraft weaponry on the outskirts of Damascus that was intended for the Hezbollah Shi’ite militia in Lebanon.
The predawn strike was the first time in more than five years that Israel’s air force had attacked a target in Syria. While there was no expectation that the beleaguered Assad government had an interest in retaliating, the strike raised concerns that the Syrian civil war had continued to spread beyond its borders.
Comments
What raises fears of a wider war isn't the Israeli strike, but Hezbollah getting the weapons but, typically, the Globe uses a headline that makes Israel look like the aggressor.
Israel IS the aggressor in this case but Syria is in too much turmoil to do anything about it. If you send warplanes to strike inside a foreign country you're an aggressor. Suppose a country sent its air force inside the US because they din't like what we were shipping to another country.
Israel is defending herself from future attacks (chemical, in particular) by Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terrorist organization that, along with Iran, calls for annihilating Israel. Not to do deny Hezbollah advanced weapons (including weapons of mass destruction) would be suicidal on Israel's part. Which is why those who think Israel has no right to exist criticize Israel's self-defensive acts.
Come on guys this is pretty obvious and you have to be kind of dense to miss it. Iran stated an attack upon Syria is an attack upon Iran. The Israeli's simply said, "Really?" A tactical feeler, you get to see the other guys response and at the same time get to disrupt arms. Right or wrong? Depends upon where you stand. But if I'm Israel I probably go for it too. I'm not a huge supporter or opponent of Israel, but a condition of war exists and in war there are tactical decisions to make. Israel made one.
I don't disagree. The Israelis should be doing more to cement a real peace with the Palestinians ( al Fatah being the only option), but letting Hezbollah get advanced weaponry because of the chaos in Syria would be a very bad strategic move. That said, this proxy war between Israel and Iran could get seriously out of hand very quickly. That particular shoving match will pull us in, whether we like it or not. I am still very uncomfortable with Netanyahu (or any other non-American) precipitating a chain of events that results in young Americans being committed to a free-for-all very far from home.
Israel's pre-emptive strike wouldn't have been necessary if Barack Obama were really the Commander in Chief that he pretends to be...And now he wants the Republican Senators to approve Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense...Here are some people who enthuastically APPROVE of Hagel. Russia, Egypt, North Korea, Hamas, Hezbolla, China, and the Iranian Foreign Ministry. They all approve of Hagel's past anti-Israel stance. hagel told Al Jazeera in 2009 that the US is the "World's Bully". ..Obama believes in "Containing" Americans, but he does NOT believe in "Containing" America's and Israel's enemies.