Assad Threatens To Attack Israel if NATO Attacks Syria

[jordan179]

Courtesy of RIA Novosti, "Syria's Assad Threatens to Attack Israel," ( http://en.ria.ru/world/20111005/167398661.html ).

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has threatened to attack Israel in the event of any Western military intervention in his country's domestic affairs,

Comments

[baron_waste]

Have you never heard of telegraphing your blows? All we know now is what al-Assad won't do - he's just as aware of all this as you, I daresay.

[jordan179]

Have you never heard of telegraphing your blows?

Yes, as an error.

All we know now is what al-Assad won't do ...

We don't know that at all. Saddam Hussein made similar threats in 1991, and did carry them out -- humorously enough, the only missile he launched which killed anyone in Israel killed a Palestinian on the West Bank.

... he's just as aware of all this as you, I daresay.

If he's all that savvy, why is he threatening Israel in an attempt to deter other Powers from striking him? That threat only makes sense if he really believes that the Israelis secretly control the other Powers, which implies that he is not all that savvy.

Re: Savvy

[baron_waste]

Well, I won't quibble there, though he couldn't be a complete incompetent and still hold on to power.

But yes, I'm sure he does believe just that - as I mentioned earlier (and I've heard this from two separate, independent sources), it is an article of received truth in the Arab world that half to three-quarters of the Federal American income tax collected is simply paid over to Israel. (Thus revealing that the village storytellers have no grasp of the numbers involved!)

It's ingrained as far back as the good old “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” that Jewish money and influence controls most of the world. That there isn't a hell of a lot of evidence for this - a Jewish-controlled America would have gone to war against Stalin, who was killing Jews on a scale that made Hitler look like an amateur and did it for a lot longer - doesn't really matter.

Re: Savvy

[jordan179]

Well, I won't quibble there, though he couldn't be a complete incompetent and still hold on to power.

He inherited power, and he's failing to hold on to it, which is precisely why this crisis has emerged.

If Bashar al-Assad believes that Israel controls the West then he is laying his strategies on the basis of a badly-false assumption. Unlike ignorant peasants, however, al-Assad was educated in the West, and hence has no excuse for his stupidity. And it is stupidity, as there is plenty of evidence to the contrary.

That there isn't a hell of a lot of evidence for this - a Jewish-controlled America would have gone to war against Stalin, who was killing Jews on a scale that made Hitler look like an amateur and did it for a lot longer - doesn't really matter.

Evidence to which Assad presumably had plenty of exposure, growing up in London.

Bashar al-Assad is a classic incompetent heir, and likely to go on the usual downward trajectory.

[lather2002]

During the The Yom Kippur War which started at noon, October 6, 1973, Israel Defense Forces occupied Damascus for a brief time. They should have expelled all Arabs from Syria into Iraq at the time and annexed the entire territory of SYria instead of just the Golan Heights. Just saying ...

[jordan179]

That's my point: if Assad does what he's threatening, he will be giving the Israelis a perfect excuse to smash his armies and take more territory from Syria. Let's hope that the Israelis, under Netanyahu, finally wake up and take advantage of the situation.

[shockwave77598]

And these captured lands can then be turned into a Palestinian state, and the palestinians exiled to it. Then the arabs have nothing to bitch about (but they will anyways, as we are both aware). And the Israelis can point out to the Palestinians, "hey, you twerps have your own country now -- Mazel tov. Rockets and suicide bombers from your country will be an act of war and will result in the utter loss of your new country, and the death of every living thing inside of it. You can be peaceful, or you can be dead as the f'ing Syrians you've replaced. Choose your path."

[cutelildrow]

"Mazel tov. Now give us an excuse wrapped in a ribbon on a silver platter to deprive you of nationhood for real, since you seem to want that so badly."

I can dream, right?

[shockwave77598]

"Bring em on! I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around!" - General Han Solo.

[hannahsarah]

Also, "Do you feel lucky, punk? Go ahead, make my day."

[luagha]

"he really believes that the Jews secretly control all the other countries"

Nah. It's definitely #2, above. He is threatening to blow on the whole house of cards. He suggests that he has alliances and his allies have alliances and that may pull everyone into World War Three when Iran gets into the game and Russia and China back Iran against Israel, who has a weak backer in the United States and an unpredictable weakling in Obama.

(I say unpredictable because he hasn't been too shy about ordering people killed or continuing wars or getting suckered into new fights. Although it's generally a which-way-the-wind-blows kind of thing.)

[jordan179]

Nah. It's definitely #2, above. He is threatening to blow on the whole house of cards. He suggests that he has alliances and his allies have alliances and that may pull everyone into World War Three when Iran gets into the game and Russia and China back Iran against Israel, who has a weak backer in the United States and an unpredictable weakling in Obama.

I do not see Russia and China being willing to go to war against Israel to suit either Syria or Iran. They'd be backing a nuclear Power into a corner if America didn't back Israel, and facing a nuclear Power in an even or worse showdown if America did back Israel. They have little to gain, and a lot to lose.

But yes, Obama's weakness does make the whole situation much worse.

[luagha]

I don't see it either but Russia and China have a lot of money invested in Iran and Middle East stuff.

They might rattle their sabers and then if push comes to shove, have to take action.

They are the lowest and most stable levels on the house of cards, but cards they remain.

[polaris93]

Let's hope Assad holds off until Obama is out of office. Which, given his ever-lowering poll ratings, may well only nuary 2013, so it's doable.

Long live Syria! Death to dictators!

[ext_531464]

I can't tell if Assad is bluffing or if he wants Israel to do his dirty work for him and hopes Netanyahu will share the blame with him.

Re: Long live Syria! Death to dictators!

[jordan179]

Not sure what "dirty work" you are implying Israel would be doing for Assad. I don't think that Assad wants to be defeated in battle, as this would weaken him politically. Nor is there any obvious advantage for Assad in having random Syrians, military or civilians, die in a war -- Assad wants to kill his political enemies, not Syrians in general.