With eye on Iran, Israelis seek US action in Syria
JERUSALEM (AP) — Behind an official wall of silence, Israel is signaling it wants the U.S. to strike Syria sooner rather than later, fearing that continued inaction could hurt American credibility in the region.
Yet at the same time, Israel appears to have little desire to see Syrian President Bashar Assad toppled, on the theory that a familiar foe is preferable to some of those who might replace him, especially the Islamist extremists who are increasingly powerful in the rebellion.
These contradictory forces have put Israel in a delicate position as the U.S. contemplates military action. In public, Israeli leaders have said little about President Barack Obama's handling of the Syria crisis. But following his decision over the weekend to postpone military action by seeking the backing of Congress, the signs of confusion and consternation appear clear.
"I have full faith in President Obama's moral and operational stance. I recommend patience," President Shimon Peres said in a radio interview Monday, seeking to calm a nervous public. "I am confident that the United States will respond in the right way to Syria."
Syria and Israel are long time enemies. Why is it surprising that they would want us to fight their battles for them?
Syria and Israel are long time enemies. Why is it surprising that they would want us to fight their battles for them?
No - I mean in general that they wanted us to take care of business with missiles right now. I think the way it would go down is USA does some limited strikes on Assad, then Assad and Iran go after Israel, then USA/Canada/EU bomb Syria back to the stone age. In the second phase, Israel would "have to take one for the team" so we had an excuse for an all out blitz like Desert Storm. I figured there was no way they wanted towns in Gaza Strip to get gassed; which is what I think happens in part 2 of my scenario.
Agreed. And that adds another piece to the puzzle. The Israeli's aren't the ones stamping their feet and having temper tantrums after chemical weapons were used (and we're not sure it was Assad). Israel is on the front door of the situation, but military action is being ramped up by people 4000 miles away. If the U.S. is the primary instigator for war then I'm not surprised that Israel wants the U.S. to fight the battle.
Candidly, I would have guessed the exact opposite.
So would I.
Maybe it's because Al Qaeda has never been that big of a threat to Israel ?
At least with Assad in power, Israel knows who they are dealing with. So it doesn't make any sense.
If they want it so bad, they can use their own damn bombers. Between 1993 and 2003, we gave them 262 F-16s and F-15s which are both fully capable of carrying out precision strikes with the billions of dollars of air to surface ordnance we've given them. Not sold, gave. We give them billions in military and financial support, and they're still magically incapable of doing their own dirty work, unless it involves tracking some old nazi down on the other end of the Earth.
You may be reading more into this than is really there. Perhaps the major point being expressed, by Israel's leaders, is that if the U.S. breaks its word about the "red line" in Syria then they may also do so with regard to Iran getting nukes.
I also agree with you about Assad. Sometimes the enemy you know is WAY BETTER than the enemy you do not know. At least with Assad, Israel could reasonably predict what he was up to and what the threat level is. Imagine Al Qaeda with chemical or biological WMD's. That would really destabilize the Middle East.
I hope someone has informed Obama that it very likely that Assads air defenses has Russian soldiers operating those defenses. That Russian Bear is out of hibernation.
If Assad's air defenses are neutralized, that more air space for Israeli aircraft to fly through while conducting an air strike on Iran. Iraq's air defense is no threat to israel.
I hope someone has informed Obama that it very likely that Assads air defenses has Russian soldiers operating those defenses. That Russian Bear is out of hibernation.
Israel wants us to act on their behalf in a way that will benefit them to the fullest without lifting a finger. They have a history of doing that, and for some reason, we continue to oblige them. I wouldn't mind giving them aid if they pulled their weight and assisted us with our middle eastern operations. So far, they're just a bad investment.You are way off base. USA wants Israel to ask for permission before doing anything in the Middle East, so the Oval Office bribes Israel with weapons and other military technologies. If tomorrow morning USA stopped giving a penny to Israel I would be very happy. Then folks like myself could send after-tax dollars to Israel to offset the loss, no non-Jews would have to spend their tax dollars on Israel, and Israel would no longer be beholden to the Oval Office. The only down side for USA is that their oil interests in the Middle East might be on shakier ground; but that's a non-issue soon enough because in 10 to 20 years USA will be a net exporter of oil. So I really would prefer we gave Israel nothing via USA tax dollars.
Case in point - remember back during Desert Storm when we were bombing Saddam back to the stone age and he randomly started shooting missiles into Israel even though Israel had nothing whatsoever to do with that UN action? USA begged Israel to stay out of it. Had Israel not been beholden to the requests of our POTUS because we bribe her with $3 billion in yearly arms, she could have dropped a few dozen nuclear weapons on Iraq and called it a day. Then 10 years later our USA troops would not have had to go onto the ground searching for the WMD's that Saddam had long since sent to Syria.
I think you have this wrong, wasnt it the US that told Israel to stand down in both Iraq wars as to prevent to incite the crazy muslims against the Jews? And if you judge countries in this context we have also given billions of military aid to Egypt, Turkey Jordan & Saudi Arabia, when are they ever going to "pull there weight" as you have described the same way you would expect it from Israel? Bad investment maybe, but for whatever reason you mention the Jews and no one else.Israel wants us to act on their behalf in a way that will benefit them to the fullest without lifting a finger. They have a history of doing that, and for some reason, we continue to oblige them. I wouldn't mind giving them aid if they pulled their weight and assisted us with our middle eastern operations. So far, they're just a bad investment.
This is just an assinine statement. Cheney never told them to piss off as you have implied and how in the world did using nukes ever get into this discussion ? I've never heard Israel threaten anyone with these weapons although I'm sure they would use them if there very existance was threatened. (Like anyone would) Irans leaders on the other hand have stated on many occasions that they would wipe Israel off the map, yet you feel the need to critisize Israel & not Iran. odd....... uniformed or Anti semetic perhaps?We didn't beg them not to do anything. Cheney told them to piss off because their interference would put allied forces at risk. They wouldn't risk losing their annual billions in handouts from the US by doing something as stupid as using nuclear weapons on an area occupied by US forces, anyway.
You must have missed the part where Israel is the topic of the thread.I think you have this wrong, wasnt it the US that told Israel to stand down in both Iraq wars as to prevent to incite the crazy muslims against the Jews? And if you judge countries in this context we have also given billions of military aid to Egypt, Turkey Jordan & Saudi Arabia, when are they ever going to "pull there weight" as you have described the same way you would expect it from Israel? Bad investment maybe, but for whatever reason you mention the Jews and no one else.
This is just an assinine statement. Cheney never told them to piss off as you have implied and how in the world did using nukes ever get into this discussion ? I've never heard Israel threaten anyone with these weapons although I'm sure they would use them if there very existance was threatened. (Like anyone would) Irans leaders on the other hand have stated on many occasions that they would wipe Israel off the map, yet you feel the need to critisize Israel & not Iran. odd....... uniformed or Anti semetic perhaps?
Israel wants us to act on their behalf in a way that will benefit them to the fullest without lifting a finger. They have a history of doing that, and for some reason, we continue to oblige them. I wouldn't mind giving them aid if they pulled their weight and assisted us with our middle eastern operations. So far, they're just a bad investment.
We didn't beg them not to do anything. Cheney told them to piss off because their interference would put allied forces at risk. They wouldn't risk losing their annual billions in handouts from the US by doing something as stupid as using nuclear weapons on an area occupied by US forces, anyway.
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