Israel’s
Air Raid On Syria:
Another Threat To Iran
By Peter Symonds
18 September, 2007
WSWS.org
Further
details have leaked out about Israel’s unprovoked air raid on
Syria on September 6, underscoring its primary purpose as a menacing
warning not only to Syria, but also Iran. Amid an escalating campaign
orchestrated from the Bush administration over Iran’s alleged
nuclear weapons programs, the operation was a graphic demonstration
of Israel’s capacity to carry out its previous threats to destroy
Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Briefing the Israeli parliament’s
foreign affairs and defence committee on Sunday, military intelligence
chief Amos Yadlin boasted that Israel had recovered its “deterrent
capability” following its disastrous war in southern Lebanon last
year. Outlining the scope of Israel’s capacity, he declared: “The
new situation affects the entire region, including Iran and Syria.”
Yadlin then elaborated on the alleged threat posed by Iran and its nuclear
programs, concluding that current UN sanctions “are not having
much of an effect”.
Yadlin gave no details of
the September 6 air raid and cautioned committee chairman Tsahi Hanegbi
against discussing reports of the strike. Israeli authorities have slapped
a total blackout on the operation, making it illegal for the media to
discuss details provided by Israeli sources. As a result, the only reports
in the Israeli press are based on accounts published in the international
media.
Hanegbi absurdly excused
the blanket censorship, declaring that it was needed to ease tensions.
“The more we bite our tongue, the better it will go,” he
told Israeli radio. The more obvious and ominous reason is that the
Israeli government wants to keep everyone, particularly Iran and Syria,
guessing as to its next move. A comment in Haaretz, entitled “Silence
works for Israel”, noted with satisfaction that the lack of comment
also allowed other governments, including in the Middle East, to say
nothing and ignore Syria’s protests—in effect, backing the
raid.
Several accounts of the raid
based on Israeli sources appeared in the British and US press last weekend.
While the details must be treated with caution, the articles indicate
that a major operation was involved. The warplanes penetrated deep into
Syrian territory close to its border with Turkey, near the town of Tall
al-Abyad. Turkish authorities retrieved two jettisoned fuel tanks inside
their territory, provoking a mild rebuke to Israel from Ankara. Turkey,
which has longstanding military ties with Israel, has in the past allowed
the Israeli air force to exercise over its territory.
In an article entitled, “Was
Israeli raid a dry run for attack on Iran?”, the Sunday Observer
explained: “Far from being a minor incursion, the Israeli overflight
of Syrian airspace through its ally Turkey, was a far more major affair
involving as many as eight aircraft, including Israel’s most ultra-modern
F-15s and F-16s equipped with Maverick missiles and 500lb bombs. Flying
among the Israeli fighters at great height, the Observer can reveal,
was an ELINT—an electronic intelligence gathering aircraft.”
The information, from an
Israeli participant in “Operation Orchard”, points to a
sizeable and sophisticated operation, involving Israel’s war planes
equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks with the range required to reach
Iran. In January, Israeli military sources leaked details to the Sunday
Times of the preparation of two air force squadrons for an attack on
Iran that would include the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons.
Commenting on the September
6 operation, a retired Turkish general told the Turkish Weekly, “Syria
is very close to Israel and you likely don’t need auxiliary tanks
for a flight to a neighbouring country... Using this long flight equipped
with tanks, Israel tested its ability to fly to Iran.”
Israeli authorities maintained
a complete silence on the operation, but rather far-fetched stories
began to appear in the US media of a Syria-North Korean nuclear connection.
The Bush administration had undoubtedly been informed of and supported
the Israeli operation. An unnamed US expert told the Washington Post
that the Israelis had attacked an agricultural research facility in
northern Syria that was involved in a nuclear project. Other media reports
claimed that North Korea was exporting nuclear technology to Syria.
Last weekend’s Sunday Times in Britain published claims that Israeli
fighters, guided by an elite commando team on the ground, had struck
and destroyed a target that was in some way connected to a Syrian nuclear
weapons program.
As if to confirm that the
story had been concocted for political purposes, its most vocal publicist
has been former US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton. Since resigning
from office, Bolton has functioned as a de facto public mouthpiece for
Vice President Dick Cheney and his White House faction, who have been
pressing for military action against Iran. As far as these warmongers
are concerned, the Syrian-North Korean nuclear connection is perfect:
firstly, it undermines the US-North Korean nuclear deal struck this
year, to which they are opposed; secondly, it puts pressure on Syria
to break from its ally Iran; and thirdly, it feeds into the hysteria
they are whipping up over Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons programs.
However, as with the WMD
lies told by Bolton, Cheney and others to justify the 2003 invasion
of Iraq, scant evidence has been offered. Various experts have pointed
to the extremely limited character of Syria’s existing nuclear
programs. The Sunday Observer article commented: “There has also
been deep scepticism about the claims from other officials and former
officials familiar with both Syria and North Korea. They have pointed
out that an almost bankrupt Syria has neither the economic nor the industrial
base to support the kind of nuclear program described, adding that Syria
has long rejected going down the nuclear route.”
Syria and North Korea have
both emphatically denied any joint nuclear project. An editorial in
Syria’s state-owned al-Thawra nervously warned of the implications:
“This is nothing new, accusing Syria of things that it has nothing
to do with. But what is new is the scope of the new lie and the way
it is being peddled. The latest accusation could be a prelude to more
attacks on Syria.” Syria’s own low-key response to the Israeli
operation raid could well be a signal that it has understood the threat
from Israel and the US.
As well as to Syria, the
September 6 air raid operation was designed to send a warning to Tehran:
that Israeli is ready, willing and able to strike Iranian nuclear facilities
at any time. That was certainly the conclusion that the Sunday Observer
reached, commenting: “Whatever the truth of the allegations against
Syria—and Israel has a long history of employing complex deceptions
in its operations—the message being delivered from Tel Aviv is
clear: if Syria’s ally Iran, comes close to acquiring a nuclear
weapon, and the world fails to prevent it, either through diplomatic
or military means, then Israel will stop it on its own.
“So Operation Orchard
can be seen as a dry run, a raid using the same heavily modified long-range
aircraft, procured specifically from the US with Iran’s nuclear
sites in mind. It reminds both Iran and Syria of the supremacy of its
aircraft and appears to be designed to deter Syria from getting involved
in the event of a raid on Iran—a reminder, if it were required,
that if Israel’s ground forces were humiliated in the second Lebanese
war, its airforce remains potent, powerful and unchallenged.”
The raid took place as the
Bush administration was escalating its threats against Iran, demanding
tougher UN sanctions over Tehran’s failure to shut down its nuclear
facilities, and building up forces along the Iraq-Iran border to counter
Iran’s alleged “meddling” in Iraq. Washington’s
silent approval of Israel’s military provocation is one more warning
that the White House is quite willing and able to launch a military
adventure of its own against Iran.
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