Syria Aiming for Israel; Al-Qaida Targets UNIFIL But France targets IAF

If you think its just Hamas and Hezbollah ready to attack Israel, wake up... the danger is far greater. Israel is threatened from all sides. Now it seems that Syria is looking to get into the act. Both Debka and Haratz report that Israeli intelligence chief's are warning that Syria is expanding its long-range missile manufacture and anti-tank rocket deployment on Golan. While the threat of war may not be immanent , it seems that Assad's idiot son who now rules the the county may just be waiting for word from his Iranian puppet master to add another front to the war our Israeli brothers and sisters are facing. If that isn't bad enough France is whining about the IAF again.

DEBKAfile’s December 10, 2006, 11:31 PM military sources quote two statements by Israeli generals Sunday, Dec. 10 to the Israeli cabinet: OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen Gadi Eisenkott denounced as irresponsible talk of a war with Syria and Hizballah in the summer of 2007.

Brig. Gen Yossi Baidatz, military intelligence chief of research, reported that Syria had increased its production of long-range missiles (picture)and was building up its anti-tank rocket units on the Golan border with Israel This information is not proof in itself of a Syrian intent to go to war. Gen. Eisenkott says he sees no tangible war preparations on the Golan and Hermon despite the aggressive rhetoric coming out of Damascus, whereas it is Brig Baidatz’s job to count the missiles coming off Syrian production lines in the northern city of Homs. The volume in Nov. 2006 was 20% greater than the output of Nov. 2005.

The key question neither Israeli officer answers is this: How many missiles are destined for Syrian use and how many for the strategic reserve Iran is stocking in Syria. According to DEBKAfile’s military sources, Syria’s missile output is not determined by the heads of its military industry, but by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards sitting on the industry’s executive boards and incoming investment funds regulated by Tehran.

All the departments of Syrian’s military industry merged last year with Iran’s manufacturing complex and are run as a single corporation. Therefore, it may be said that it is very much up to Tehran to determine if and when Bashar Asad goes on the offensive on the Golan front.

Asad is not obliged to dance to Tehran’s tune. He can decide he no longer wishes to coordinate his military and diplomatic strategies with Tehran. This would mean the breakup of the close Damascus-Tehran alliance. For the moment, there is no sign of any breach. Quite the reverse; intelligence data indicate a tightening of the partnership on all shared fronts.

And look who is there to help, Al-Qaida. Al-Qaida is targeting UNIFIL but once they scare the French away, who do you think they are going to go after ?

MI officer: Syria preparing its army for war with Israel

By Gideon Alon and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents, and Agencies
The head of the research division of Military Intelligence, Brigadier General Yossi Baidatz, said Sunday that Syrian President Bashar Assad is preparing for a war with Israel.

He said that Assad has ordered increased production of long-range missiles and instructed the Syrian army to position its anti-tank missiles closer to the Syrian border with Israel, on the Golan Heights.

But, Baidatz told the cabinet, while Assad is "preparing the Syrian army for the possibility of a military conflict with Israel, on the other hand, he is not ruling out the possibility of reaching a political settlement with Israel."

He stressed that in Assad's view, his actions on the military front do not contradict his actions in the political realm."Assad is working in two parallel tracks," Baidatz said. "On the one hand he is not ruling out a diplomatic solution with Israel and on the other hand he is preparing his forces for military conflict."

He added that the Syrian president has been conducting extensive diplomatic activity over the past two weeks. Baidatz said that Assad feels a window has been opened for peace talks on the international level, and he plans to take advantage of that opportunity.

Baidatz also said that tensions in Iran have been rising in preparation for the United Nations Security Council's decision on whether to impose sanctions on the country. The decision is slated to be made by December 25.According to Baidatz, Iran is continuously operating in Lebanon to reinforce Hezbollah, while also working to strengthen Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Palestinian territories.

On the issue of Lebanon, Baidatz said Hezbollah is planning to bring down Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government by conducting mass demonstrations and sit-in strikes in city squares. Hezbollah will turn to violence in their struggle only if the strikes and demonstrations fail, Baidatz said. Baidatz also said that certain signs indicate the rise of international Jihad forces in south Lebanon, especially in refugee camps. These forces aim to counter the multi-national force in the area.

He told ministers that Al-Qaida was recruiting mainly in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon."There are major signs of a Global Jihad [al-Qaida] presence in Lebanon, especially the refugee camps, and one of their intentions is to attack the foreign peacekeepers," Baidatz was quoted as saying in the briefing. "They see the peacekeepers as symbols of the West."

The truly amazing thing is with Al-Quida targeting UNIFIL , who is UNIFIL worried about? You Got it--- IAF overflights.

France deploys UAVs to stop IAF flights

Yaakov Katz, THE JERUSALEM POST In an effort to put a stop to Israeli overflights in Lebanon, the French Armed Forces has deployed an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) squadron in southern Lebanon to conduct intelligence-gathering missions in place of the IDF.

France, a member of UNIFIL, has expressed adamant opposition to IAF overflights in Lebanon. Last month, OC Planning Division Maj.-Gen. Ido Nehushtan traveled to Paris for meetings with senior military officials during which he tried to explain Israel's operational needs. The flights, the IDF claims, are necessary for gathering intelligence and keeping an eye on the Lebanese-Syrian border through which weapons are smuggled to the Hizbullah.

According to Israeli defense sources, the French initiative is also meant to prove the operational capabilities of its UAVs so they can compete against Israeli defense industries on the global UAV market.While welcoming the use of UAVs as part of UNIFIL operations in Lebanon, a high-ranking officer said Sunday that the IDF would not stop flying over Lebanon.

"We need to allow UNIFIL all of the means it finds essential to perform its missions," the officer said. "But at the same time, until Hizbullah fulfills its part of UN resolution 1701 and returns the kidnapped soldiers [Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser Y.K.] there is no reason for us to completely fulfill our part of the agreement and stop the overflights."