It is now a week since the Syrian cease fire deal was announced by John Kerry and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. It is a terrible deal that president Obama agreed to, or so it seems, just so that a deal could be announced. The result of the agreement seemed certain to be the strengthening of the Assad regime, the further empowerment of the Iranian and Hezbollah forces in Syria and the abandonment of most of America's friends in Syria. That's what has been happening. Assad and his allies have used the week to resupply and rest their troops. For the Sunni rebels, however, and especially for the civilians caught in siege situations there has been no relief. The hundreds of thousands starving in Aleppo have gotten no help. Assad and his allies have blocked all shipments of food and other aid to those in need in that city. Obama got his "agreement" to end the needless starvation of the ordinary Syrians, except that starvation is not ending. It seemed like things could not get worse, but they now have managed to do so.
The Assad regime is using the cease fire to try to improve its position by attacking Israel. It seems clear that the mass murderer Assad thinks that the new agreement with the USA will somehow limit the ability of the Israelis to defend themselves. Maybe there is some secret side agreement signed by Kerry in which the USA promises to rein in the Israelis. After all there were plenty of secret side agreements in the Iran nuclear deal, and none were good for the position of the USA. Two days ago, the Assad forces shot ground to air missiles at Israeli air force planes that were flying over Israel. The missiles missed, but the missile attack was extraordinary for the Assad forces. Generally, Assad did not even fire at Israeli planes on the few occasions when those planes flew into Syrian air space. For the Assad forces to attack planes in Israeli air space is something not seen in more than 40 years. Then there were a series of mortar and artillery strikes into Israeli territory on the Golan Heights along the Israeli-Syrian border. It is hard to know if these were intentional strikes or just poorly aimed attacks on rebel on the Syrian side of the border. These types of attack have happened periodically, but the volume has stepped up in the last week. Within the last half hour, however, we had something new. The spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces announced that a "projectile" fired from Syria was intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system and destroyed. Iron Dome is the Israeli anti-missile system. It only intercepts incoming missiles that are calculated to be likely to hit populated areas. In other words, this short announcement means that the Assad forces fired a missile at some Israeli city or town which the Israelis shot down. Even though no one was hurt, this is a major escalation by Assad.
It is most likely that there will be some Israeli reprisal for these attacks. Israel has not been part of the Syrian Civil War fighting, but when any forces fire into Israeli territory, there has been a swift and strong response by the Israeli forces.
The conduct by Assad seems hard to explain unless he has been told that the new agreement will somehow keep Israel from retaliating. Before the civil war, the Syrian forces under Assad did not ever try to take on or provoke the Israelis in any way. The last time that there was a major battle between the Israeli and Syrian air forces, Syria lost 86 planes in one day while the Israelis lost none. After five years of civil war, the Assad forces are just a shadow of their former strength. By themselves, they could never confront Israel. Surely, Assad is not launching a suicide mission to try to draw the Israelis into a fight that he would not win. This consistent pattern of attacks means that Assad does not expect a strong response from the Israeli government. Of course, the only thing that changed prior to Assad's new behavior is the Obama deal on the cease fire.
Only with president Obama is a "peace dividend" actually more fighting.
The Assad regime is using the cease fire to try to improve its position by attacking Israel. It seems clear that the mass murderer Assad thinks that the new agreement with the USA will somehow limit the ability of the Israelis to defend themselves. Maybe there is some secret side agreement signed by Kerry in which the USA promises to rein in the Israelis. After all there were plenty of secret side agreements in the Iran nuclear deal, and none were good for the position of the USA. Two days ago, the Assad forces shot ground to air missiles at Israeli air force planes that were flying over Israel. The missiles missed, but the missile attack was extraordinary for the Assad forces. Generally, Assad did not even fire at Israeli planes on the few occasions when those planes flew into Syrian air space. For the Assad forces to attack planes in Israeli air space is something not seen in more than 40 years. Then there were a series of mortar and artillery strikes into Israeli territory on the Golan Heights along the Israeli-Syrian border. It is hard to know if these were intentional strikes or just poorly aimed attacks on rebel on the Syrian side of the border. These types of attack have happened periodically, but the volume has stepped up in the last week. Within the last half hour, however, we had something new. The spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces announced that a "projectile" fired from Syria was intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system and destroyed. Iron Dome is the Israeli anti-missile system. It only intercepts incoming missiles that are calculated to be likely to hit populated areas. In other words, this short announcement means that the Assad forces fired a missile at some Israeli city or town which the Israelis shot down. Even though no one was hurt, this is a major escalation by Assad.
It is most likely that there will be some Israeli reprisal for these attacks. Israel has not been part of the Syrian Civil War fighting, but when any forces fire into Israeli territory, there has been a swift and strong response by the Israeli forces.
The conduct by Assad seems hard to explain unless he has been told that the new agreement will somehow keep Israel from retaliating. Before the civil war, the Syrian forces under Assad did not ever try to take on or provoke the Israelis in any way. The last time that there was a major battle between the Israeli and Syrian air forces, Syria lost 86 planes in one day while the Israelis lost none. After five years of civil war, the Assad forces are just a shadow of their former strength. By themselves, they could never confront Israel. Surely, Assad is not launching a suicide mission to try to draw the Israelis into a fight that he would not win. This consistent pattern of attacks means that Assad does not expect a strong response from the Israeli government. Of course, the only thing that changed prior to Assad's new behavior is the Obama deal on the cease fire.
Only with president Obama is a "peace dividend" actually more fighting.
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