The danger of a wider war has now grown even more likely in the Syrian civil war situation. The BBC has reported that Syria’s President Assad has threatened to attack the Israelis in the Golan Heights region if the Israelis implement any more strikes against targets in Syria (see first link). Israeli warplanes have attacked targets in Syria several times already. This threat by Assad is in response to a threat by the Israelis to attack Russian deliveries of their sophisticated S-300 air-defense systems to Syria (see second link).
The 3rd through 5th links [3, 4, 5] discuss whether the Russian S-300 air defense systems have already been delivered and made operational in Syria or whether this advanced weapons systems has not yet been delivered or assembled. The delivery of S-300 air defense systems to Syria (manned by Russian military technicians as discussed in my previous post) means that the threat of a wider war is ratcheting up rapidly. One of these links reports that Hezbollah, Iran’s puppet state in Southern Lebanon, has already sent 7,000 Hezbollah fighters to assist Assad’s troops in their war against the Syrian rebels.
The final link is an article from the May 30th issue of USA Today which examines in depth the dangers of the Syrian civil war turning into a Sunni Moslem vs. Shiite Moslem war in the Mideast. Assad doubtless would like to try and draw Israel into the war in order to unite all Moslems vs. the Israelis, but I doubt his desperate strategy would work. However, if Syria opens up an offensive against the Israelis with its government Sunni troops and Hezbollah fighters, it is hard to see how this would not quickly expand into an Israeli-Hezbollah war as well. Hezbollah has many tens of thousands of rockets of various sizes and ranges aimed at Israeli cities, military bases and other targets. If Hezbollah joins an attack against the Israelis, a wider war is certain. As I’ve warned before, this could get ugly very quickly if Hezbollah’s Islamic sleeper cells are activated and launch attacks against American and European targets in North America and Europe. This is likely one reason why the Obama administration is reluctant to involve the USA in Syria’s internal fighting. I’d be reluctant too if I were president as US forces are worn out from many years of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. The last thing the US ground forces need is another war.
So, if these links are accurate, a wider war could be imminent. Russia sounds determined to install its S-300 air defense systems in Syria (if it has not already done so), and the Israelis are threatening to attack these Russian air-defense systems if they are moved to Syria. If the Israelis make such a strike, Syria has announced it will attack Israel…which almost certainly means Hezbollah will do so as well.
Perhaps the growing crisis will yet be defused, but if it explodes into a wider war, it will have an immense effect on global oil and commodity markets as Iran may try to have its forces blockade the Strait of Hormuz and shut off oil shipments from the Persian Gulf to the world. That means the US Navy will have to act, and then we’ll find out if Russia’s and China’s advanced, supersonic, anti-carrier cruise missiles can penetrate US carrier defenses or not.
The stakes are getting higher and higher in the Mideast confrontation. Currently, the trends are moving steadily toward a wider war.
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http://beforeitsnews.com/international/2013/05/ww3-watch-israel-warns-russia-arms-shipments-to-syria-will-be-attacked-2458840.html
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http://www.thestarpress.com/usatoday/article/2370085?odyssey=mod_sectionstories
