Samatha ( “A Problem From Hell”) Power, call your office. On second thought, don’t waste your time.
Israel also faces serious consequences from Obama’s Iran-driven Syria policy. Caroline Glick explains why.
Hezbollah is taking control of parts of Syria that border on Israel. The Syrian military reportedly has ceased to function south of Damascus. Some of these areas are held by the al-Qaida-aligned Nusra Front and other regime opponents. But elsewhere, Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have taken control, using the Syrian militia they have trained since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
This is is the context of the Israeli strike that killed the head of Hezbollah’s operations in Syria, the head of its liaison with Iran, and Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of Hezbollah’s longtime operational commander.
The presence of these key players near the Israeli border demonstrates not only Hezbollah/Iran’s penetration, but also the significance of the area to the ambitions of Hezbollah/Iran. As Glick says, “the fact that the men were willing to risk exposure by traveling together along the border with Israel indicates how critical the front is for the regime in Tehran.” In her view, “it also indicates that in all likelihood, they were planning an imminent attack against Israel.”
The effectiveness of Hezbollah’s control of its expanded front became clear this week. Hezbollah forces shot at least five advanced Kornet antitank missiles at an IDF convoy, killing two soldiers and wounding seven. Almost simultaneously, Hezbollah forces on the Golan shot mortars into Israel’s Hermon area.
However, Hezbollah and the IRGC take a risk by clustering so close to the Israeli border. According to a report cited by Glick, most of the forces are in known, unfortified, above ground positions, and thus are vulnerable to Israeli air strikes.
Will Israel strike? Iran must believe it won’t. Why would it believe this? Because, says, Glick, it must believe that there is an entity deterring an attack by Israel.
The Obama administration has worked to deter Israel from striking Hezbollah and Iranian targets in Syria. Whereas Israel has a policy of never acknowledging responsibility for its military operations in Syria, in order to give President Bashar Assad an excuse to not retaliate, the US administration has repeatedly informed the media of Israeli attacks and so increased the risk that such Israeli operations will lead to counterattacks against Israel.
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