by Scott Krane
Today we are living in the Islamic Democracy Revolution, the Arab Spring; an unmistakable contrapuntal song of freedom. A tune that started in Tunisia and spread to Egypt, two countries that “did good” in their respective democracy-fueled coup d’états. Sudan heard the cry but to no apparent avail, as did Yemen, Bahrain and Iran (and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu cites the last twenty-four months in Tehran as the exposition of the movement), as did poor little Lebanon, which continues to be strangled and poisoned by the Hezbollah, that venomous snake.
A critical assessment of the Middle East leads us to analyze the recent history of Syria and the recent history of Libya.
In the latter country, Muammar el-Qhadaffi thought he had the world duped. The financier of worldwide guerilla groups, he is single-handedly responsible for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 that killed 270 innocents. And he funded Black September, the Palestinian group that murdered eleven Israeli athletes during the 1972 Olympics in Munich. However, the world – that is the West and Africa – was under the verisimilar impression he had reformed his evil ways; or at least, did not pose a threat to the West. (Does he?)
U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision to call a “no-fly zone,” and bomb that country is crazy; more so considering America’s budget deficit and the cost of such military operations, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan and counting. Certainly there are countless other humanitarian nightmares happening around the world that America, were they the world’s humanitarian vigilantes, would cite and quell.
So, as I read in a recent editorial in Haaretz:
“The West’s intervention in Libya may undermine future civil revolts.”
And if we fear Libya acquiring nuclear weapons, then for goodness sakes what is taking so long to do something about Iran.
Recent events in Syria, as they pertain to the Jewish State, are the exact opposite. With President Bashar al-Assad at the helm, Syria has spent more than $3 billion on weapons in three years. As we well know, they have done all they can in the way of assassinations to squash democracy in Lebanon – they have done with their geographic advantage what Iran, who has in that state a terrorist proxy, cannot. According to Haaretz, Syria has received $1 billion from Iran to purchase rockets, surface-to-surface missiles, anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft systems.
David Schenker of The New Republic wrote:
“During the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Syria’s Assad regime was helping insurgents to cross the border and kill Americans. In response to the Syrian provocation, the Bush administration considered a broad range of policy options. But one family of options always remained off the table: regime change or any combination of pressures that might destabilize Damascus.”
Furthermore, recent WikiLeaks documents indicate that:
“Syria placed long-range missiles equipped with chemical warheads on high alert after an attack on a Syrian nuclear plant in 2007.”
Mossad obtained information about the nuclear plant, built for Syria by North Korea, from a laptop stolen from a senior Syrian official. Israel launched the stealth attack that took out the Syrian reactor. Though, first they asked the U.S. to carry-out the strike, however, then-Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, refused.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is a cheap equivocator, who in the last month murdered 100s of his own people in attempt to put the lid on protests. While he told his people to expect constitutional amendments, sweeping reforms and the ditching of despised state emergency laws that give to the government carte blanche to arrest citizens, sans charges, no such reforms have actually happened.
Meanwhile, Michael Isikoff of MSNBC wrote:
“A document drafted by senior Syrian intelligence officials (pictured above) details a plan to infiltrate the ranks of anti-regime protesters, arrest and assassinate their leaders, and link anti-regime demonstrations to the work of Zionist and other outside agitators.â€
The reason that Israel may want to get involved in ousting Assad makes the U.S. invasion of Libya, (where French and NATO forces were already eyeing, where al-Qaeda, America’s other enemy is on the side of the rebellion), look well, silly.
Syria has been a direct threat to the Jewish State forever and in the last weeks, more so than ever.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said:
“Syria is an Iranian acquisition, and it is clear that Iran is concerned that this investment will go down the drain…Therefore, Iran has shown more involvement [in Syria] than in other Arab countries.”
According to intercepted communications among Iranian officials:
“Iran is materially assisting the Syrian government in its efforts to suppress their own people“.
If the time has come to sing democracy in the Middle East, let’s make sure military invasions are worth our while. Let’s not forget Syria is among the most noteworthy bankrollers of Hamas. Why not nip this nightmare in the bud? So America is in Libya, fighting alongside al-Qaeda, their back seemingly turned to Iran. The reality is Syria needs Israel’s help. And, let’s face it, Israel needs theirs.
Canada has also broadened economic sanctions on Syria by banning additional members of Assad’s government from traveling to Canada and freezing assets of entities linked to the regime.
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