It's not a story of earth-shaking importance, but the news about a possible air attack near Damascus, Syria illustrates the difficulty of understanding events in the Middle East. Here's what happened: The Syrian news agency reports that Israeli planes attacked some warehouses in a Damascus suburb with bombs and that attack was followed by ground to ground missiles. The Syrians claim to have shot down an Israeli plane and intercepted some of the missiles. Local rebel sources say that there was an attack on warehouses that held longer range missiles on their way to Hezbollah from Iran as well as anti-ship missiles and some other arms. The rebels say that the storage buildings were destroyed. The Israelis have not commented on the matter; they never do.
So what actually happened? Was there an Israeli Air Force attack in Syria? Most likely, the answer is yes. Were major arms destined for Hezbollah destroyed? Again, the likely answer is yes. Did the Syrians shoot down an Israeli jet? That's highly doubtful. The Syrians haven't shot down an Israeli jet for more than 20 years. During that time the Syrians have claimed to have shot down more than a dozen, but each claim has turned out to be false. Did Syrian ground batteries shoot down an incoming Israeli missile? Here, the likelihood is overwhelming that the answer is no. The Syrians just don't have an anti-missile system. Israel has the Iron Dome. Syria has no equivalent.
Most likely, there was an attack by Israel to destroy weapons destined for Hezbollah from Iran. It would be nice to know for sure what happened, but the lack of clarity is just another facet of the situation in the Middle East.
So what actually happened? Was there an Israeli Air Force attack in Syria? Most likely, the answer is yes. Were major arms destined for Hezbollah destroyed? Again, the likely answer is yes. Did the Syrians shoot down an Israeli jet? That's highly doubtful. The Syrians haven't shot down an Israeli jet for more than 20 years. During that time the Syrians have claimed to have shot down more than a dozen, but each claim has turned out to be false. Did Syrian ground batteries shoot down an incoming Israeli missile? Here, the likelihood is overwhelming that the answer is no. The Syrians just don't have an anti-missile system. Israel has the Iron Dome. Syria has no equivalent.
Most likely, there was an attack by Israel to destroy weapons destined for Hezbollah from Iran. It would be nice to know for sure what happened, but the lack of clarity is just another facet of the situation in the Middle East.
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