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21st Century Wire says…

In a flagrant and overt violation of International Law, the state of Israel has used Lebanese airspace to carry out a sustained bombing campaign in Syria. The reason Israel does not respect its neighbors is simple – because they do not have to…



Syria has kept the peace with Israel for nearly 40 years over the Golan Heights issue, which makes this latest attack by Israel all the more worrying. Now Israel appears to have joined NATO and the Gulf monarchs’ dog pile to try and collapse the nation of Syria.

If any other country did what Israel has done, it would spark an emergency meeting of the UN and result in an international outcry against the aggressor nation – branding them as a ‘rogue state’. But not with Israel – there exists a double standard of hypocrisy when it comes to holding Israel accountable for anything. Internationally, it is above the law, and does what it pleases in the full confidence that no one would dare tell it not to. Do not expect either the UN, the US, or NATO to say a word against Israel, who have all but declared war on Syria.



The death toll is unknown as yet, but based on the size of the strikes, it could be hundreds, or maybe thousands of innocent civilians and innocent security forces – all dead as a result of Israel’s “strategic” operation.

Does Syria have the right “to defend itself”?

Firstly, don’t expect John Kerry to say a word regarding Israel’s latest attack on a neighboring country.

Israel (and the US speaking on behalf of Israel) often justifies its various aggressions as part of its “right to defend itself”. Does Syria have the same right? As it’s being attacked by foreign powers and international sanctions, is it allowed to arm itself against invading terrorist armies?

It will be interesting to see what Israel’s excuse is for pushing the region closer to an all out war. Already the media have taken the Israeli propaganda bait saying that Israel was targeting “suspected chemical weapons facilities“, or “stopping arms shipments to Hezbollah“, or “they have dangerous new SCUD missiles that are a threat to Israeli security”. Neither will ever be proven to be true, but they serve as headline fillers while the dust settles, and the agenda rolls forward.



Meanwhile, Israeli apologist and British Foreign Secretary William Hague (photo, above), could not seem to find the tongue to criticize his ‘friends’ in Israeli, instead he has opted (predictably) to use the unprovoked Israeli strike as justification for Western intervention and more weapons for NATO-favored guerrilla opposition terrorists in Syria. Hague somehow feels that, ‘Israeli air strikes on Syria show that peace across the whole region is under threat, and reinforces the need to lift the arms embargo to Syrian rebels’.

Interesting (albeit creative) logic, but it shows clearly that the Israeli airstrikes were not only OK’d but also coordinated in advance with full knowledge of both the US and the UK leadership. By targeting Syrian military targets in Damascus, Israel is helping the opposition guerrillas in destabilising the area, creating chaos. Israel has no doubt been called upon to help soften up Assad – a dirty job, and one that the West or the Arab monarchs cannot be seen doing with their own hands just yet. Israel is the only country who could pull it off as they seem to exist outside of all international law or diplomacy. The US, UK, Turkey, Saudi, Jordan and Qatar are, without a doubt, very happy with this result…

Israel has been given this green light in order to assist the West in advancing its somewhat lagging timetable in the region, and in exchange Israel will be given more land for its state, starting with a significant portion of the Golan Heights.

What’s worse now, is that by the Israeli criminal action in full view, these latest attacks are a signal to all outside powers to help themselves to the destruction of Syria, and further strengthen the west’s ‘Islamic Jihadist agenda’ to split Syria into to sections – a plan which will all be ensure a permanent state of conflict and Western military presence in the region for years to come.

Job done Mr Hague, and your “friends of Syria”…

Israel strikes Syria again, rocking Damascus



Dominic Evans, Oliver Holmes

Daily Star

BEIRUT: Israel carried out its second air strike in days on Syria early on Sunday, a Western intelligence source said, in an attack that shook Damascus with a series of powerful blasts and drove columns of fire into the night sky.

Israel declined comment but Syria accused the Jewish state of striking a military facility just north of the capital – one which its jets had first targeted three months ago. Iran, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and an arch-enemy for Israel, urged states in the region to resist the Israeli attack.

People living near the Jamraya base spoke of explosions over several hours in various places near Damascus, including a town housing senior officials: “Night turned into day,” one man said.

The Western intelligence source told Reuters the operation hit Iranian-supplied missiles headed for Lebanon’s Hezbollah, a similar target to the two previous strikes this year, which have been defended as justifiable by Israel’s ally the United States:

“In last night’s attack, as in the previous one, what was attacked were stores of Fateh-110 missiles that were in transit from Iran to Hezbollah,” the intelligence source said.

An Israeli official had confirmed a similar raid on Friday. In Lebanon, Hezbollah declined immediate comment.

Video footage uploaded onto the Internet by activists showed a series of explosions. One lit up the skyline of Damascus while another sent up a tower of flames and secondary blasts.

Syrian state media accused Israel of attacking in response to Assad’s forces’ recent successes against rebels who, with Western approval, have been trying to topple him for two years.

In 40 years since a war with a Syria then ruled by Assad’s father, Israel has been locked in a cold standoff with Damascus, fought Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006 and is threatening to attack Iran, accusing Tehran of trying to develop nuclear weapons.

But it is wary of instability in Syria, has long viewed Hezbollah as the more immediate threat and has shown little enthusiasm for U.S. and European calls for Assad’s overthrow.

The raid follows intense debate in the United States over whether the use of chemical weapons by Syrian troops might push President Barack Obama to intervene more forcefully on the rebel side, but Western powers remain concerned at the presence of anti-Western Islamist fighters among Assad’s opponents.

It was unclear whether Israel sought U.S. approval for the action; in the past, officials have indicated that Israel sees a need only to inform Washington once a mission was under way.

At a routine public appearance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made no direct reference to the strikes but spoke pointedly of his responsibility to ensure Israel’s future.

He maintained a plan to fly to China later in the day, suggesting a confidence that, as with the raid in January, Assad – and Hezbollah – would limit any reprisal. However, an Israeli military source said the army had deployed more anti-missile defence systems near the northern borders in recent days.

NIGHT OF EXPLOSIONS

“The sky was red all night. We didn’t sleep a single second. The explosions started after midnight and continued through the night,” one man told Reuters from Hameh, less than a mile from the Jamraya military research facility.

“There were explosions on all sides of my house,” he added, saying people hid in basements during the events.

Another witness spoke of fire near Qura al-Assad, a town around 5 km (3 miles) west of Jamraya where many high-level government officials live. In the centre of Damascus, people said their first thought was that there was an earthquake.

Identified by Syrian media as the Jamraya military research centre, the target was also hit by Israel in another assault on Jan. 30. Jamraya, on the northern approaches to Damascus, is just 15 km (10 miles) from the Lebanese border.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the blasts hit Jamraya as well as a nearby ammunition depot.

Other activists said a missile brigade and two Republican Guard battalions may also have been targeted in the heavily militarised area just north of Damascus.

Reports by activists and state media are difficult to verify in Syria because of restrictions on journalists operating there.

People living in southern Lebanon said they heard frequent sounds of jets overhead and believed they were Israeli.

The streets of central Damascus were almost empty of pedestrians and traffic on Sunday morning, the start of the working week. Only a few shops were open. Checkpoints that have protected the government-controlled zone from rebel attack appeared to have been reinforced with additional men.

Syria’s state television said the strikes were a response to recent military gains by Assad’s forces against rebels: “The new Israeli attack is an attempt to raise the morale of the terrorist groups which have been reeling from strikes by our noble army,” it said.

Speaking shortly before Sunday’s attack, President Obama said Israel had a right to act: “The Israelis justifiably have to guard against the transfer of advanced weaponry to terrorist organisations like Hezbollah,” he said.

In Israel, a military spokeswoman said of the attack in Syria: “We don’t respond to this kind of report.”

Netanyahu appeared at the dedication of a highway junction in memory of his late father. He made no reference to raids but said his father “taught me that the greatest responsibility we have is to ensure Israel’s security and guarantee its future.”

MISSILE “BETTER THAN SCUD”

Israel has repeatedly made clear it is prepared to use force to prevent advanced weapons from Syria reaching Hezbollah, who fought a 34-day war with Israel seven years ago.

Uzi Rubin, an Israeli missile expert and former defence official said the Fateh-110 missile “is better than the Scud, it has a half-ton warhead”. Iran has said it adapted the missile for anti-ship use by installing a guidance system, he added.

With Assad battling the revolt, Israelis also worry that Islamist rebels among the majority Sunni Muslim population could loot his arsenals and eventually hit the Jewish state, ending four decades of relative cross-border calm.

There was no immediate indication of how Syria would respond to Sunday’s attack. After Israel’s January raid, Damascus protested to the United Nations and the Syrian ambassador to Lebanon promised a “surprise decision”, but no direct military retaliation followed.

Iranian Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi was quoted by the ISNA news agency as saying on Sunday: “The Zionist regime’s attack on Syria, which occurred with the U.S.’s green light, revealed the relationship between mercenary terrorists and their supporters and the regime occupying Jerusalem … The evil actions of the Zionist regime can threaten the security of the entire region.”

The uprising against Assad began with street protests that were met with force and grew into a bloody civil war in which the United Nations says at least 70,000 people have been killed…

Read more at The Daily Star

READ MORE ISRAEL NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Israel Files