Moe Lane

That indeed is what CNN is reporting.

The United States believes Israel has conducted an airstrike into Syria, two U.S. officials tell CNN.

You know, I remember a time when the Israelis would simply tell us if they had or not.  Of course, there’s a whole lot of other things I remember as working more smoothly before… oh, say, 2009 or so.

Moe Lane

PS: On the bright side, they should start doing that again in… oh, say, 2017 or so.

You know. Just like Saddam Hussein did.

Although this may come as a surprise to some.  Secretary of Defense (God help us) Chuck Hagel, yesterday.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Wednesday cast doubt on an Israeli general’s conclusion that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons against its own citizens.

Chuck Hagel, today.

#BREAKING Hagel just announced US has evidence chemical weapons have been used in Syria.

— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) April 25, 2013

That latter bit seems to be backed up by John McCain: i.e., somebody who actually has some credibility on natsec issues:

BREAKING:SenMcCain says he received letter from PresObama saying Syria HAS used chemical weapons — Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) April 25, 2013

Although that last bit may be news to White House staff:

US intelligence assessments on Syria chemical weapons are not enough; credible and corroborated facts needed, White House says – @reuters

— Breaking News (@BreakingNews) April 25, 2013

…so. Now what, Mr. President?

Ah, the Arab Spring.

Tell me again how marvelous it is that we encouraged the Muslim Brotherhood to take over in Egypt: “In a dramatic policy shift, Egypt will seek to forge “tight” relations with Hezbollah, Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon Ashraf Hamdy revealed in a candid interview published Saturday in Lebanon’s Daily Star.” Such ‘tight’ relations will presumably include Hezbollah’s right to keep getting ready for that armed conflict with Israel that Hezbollah is supposedly not REALLY getting ready for. Because, of course, nobody in the Middle East has ever preemptively decided to try to attack Israel, ever. (more…)

(H/T: Instapundit) I am back-and-forth on how seriously to take this particular story:

Two days after a mysterious explosion at a Hezbollah weapons depot in southern Lebanon, the Kuwaiti website Al Jarida is reporting that Israel bombed the site because Syria had transferred missiles there that were capable of being equipped with chemical warheads. The missiles had been moved into Lebanon from Syria in the last several months and were being held inside warehouses owned by farmers in the area.

The report also claimed that Hezbollah has many additional warehouses across Lebanon that are used for the same purpose. In October another weapons storage facility in the town of Baalbek was destroyed after an explosion. The AFP said that four Syrians were killed in the blast.

…given that I’m not familiar with either the website in question, or the site that it’s drawing its story from.  On the other hand, reports that Syria is using Hezbollah as a storage facility for its weapons of mass destruction have been circulating for years. Haaretz reported something similar happening in 2009; the Washington Post, of course, had a column on the subject a couple of days ago.  On the gripping hand, if I was running the Syrian regime right now I’d want to have my WMD stockpiles under the control of somebody reliable… and when you’re dealing with a civil war, ‘somebody reliable’ often means ‘somebody you’re paying.’  So it’s not really surprising that the Assad regime would move its nasty stuff to someone who’d hold onto until it was needed – and maybe supply a little WMD blackmail against the West on the side, if that was needed.

(more…)

Because first it’s writing things like this: “Most of the arms shipped at the behest of Saudi Arabia and Qatar to supply Syrian rebel groups fighting the government of Bashar al-Assad are going to hard-line Islamic jihadists, and not the more secular opposition groups that the West wants to bolster, according to American officials and Middle Eastern diplomats,” and then it visibly wonders why it is that such a thing could be happening.  Well, it’s probably happening at least in part because the Saudi and Qatar governments are being bullied by the Obama administration into not providing official support for the rebels, leaving private subjects in both countries to take up the slack: ” …there are signs of an uptick in the number of young men crossing illegally into Syria from Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries, and of private fund-raising efforts across the gulf to help the rebels acquire heavier weapons.”  Note: both quotes are from the New York Times. (more…)

From the text of his prepared remarks:

In Syria, I will work with our partners to identify and organize those members of the opposition who share our values and ensure they obtain the arms they need to defeat Assad’s tanks, helicopters, and fighter jets. Iran is sending arms to Assad because they know his downfall would be a strategic defeat for them. We should be working no less vigorously with our international partners to support the many Syrians who would deliver that defeat to Iran—rather than sitting on the sidelines. It is essential that we develop influence with those forces in Syria that will one day lead a country that sits at the heart of the Middle East.

(more…)

Marvelous.

Missiles fired by Syrian warplanes hit Lebanese territory Monday in one of the most serious cross-border violations since Syria’s crisis began 18 months ago, security officials in Beirut and Lebanese state media said.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said four missiles fired by two Syrian jets hit a rugged and remote area on the edge of the Lebanese border town of Arsal. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Hey, remember that Cedar Revolution thing that happened, back during the Bush administration? Yeah, well, the Syrian regime would like the Lebanese government to forget that it ever happened, too.

Via:

RT @wsj: Syrian jet hits Lebanese territory, one of most serious cross-border violations in past 18 months. on.wsj.com/StrlDC

— Melissa Clouthier (@MelissaTweets) September 17, 2012

Moe Lane

At least, according to the New York Times: “The Obama administration has for now abandoned efforts for a diplomatic settlement to the conflict in Syria, and instead it is increasing aid to the rebels and redoubling efforts to rally a coalition of like-minded countries to forcibly bring down the government of President Bashar al-Assad, American officials say.”  Which is all very… nice.  The Assad regime is, of course, a second-generation fascist regime that routinely brutalizes its own population and funds international terrorism on a regular basis.  It’s even been credibly argued that the Syrian regime has existing stockpiles of chemical and/or biological weapons – you know: WMDs.  Eliminating another Baathist regime from the board would be, if you’ll forgive the phrase, a mitzvah.

What I want to know is this: again, again, precisely who or what authorizes the executive branch to commit acts of war on other countries without the input of the legislative branch? – Because while the NYT article talks about how the administration is meeting with our allies’ various civilian defense apparatuses (one hopes that we’re at least going to get paid this time), and holding regular planning sessions in house on how to deal with Syria, and coordinating with the Syrian opposition itself… nowhere in this article is there any indication whatsoever that the President is meeting or planning or coordinating with, well, Congress.  Congress, in fact, seems to be entirely out of the loop on this one.  And it’s going to be a race – just like it was with our Libyan adventure – to see who will be more hypocritically silent on this: Congressional Democrats, or the antiwar Left.

Moe Lane (crosspost) (more…)

For the record, it can be broken down as follows:

• The Right; the Middle; the rank-and-file, Ordinary, Decent members of the Left*: “Please, God: do not let the Assad regime use chemical and biological weapons against dissidents and rebels.  So many innocent lives will be lost if that happens.”
• The Leadership of the Democratic party; the antiwar movement: “Please, [insert metaphysical entity of choice here]: do not let the Assad regime use chemical and biological weapons that were originally from Iraq** against dissidents and rebels.  We will lose the 2012 elections if that happens.”

What?  Oh, if you’re in the second group then I certainly hope you’re offended.  Offending people who only are in favor of liberating foreigners when it rebounds to the credit of the Democratic party is one of my benchmarks for proper moral development.

(more…)

Oh, yes: they’re having a referendum “to limit the government’s powers.”  Those aren’t literal quotes; those are scare quotes, mostly because I do not particularly believe that the Assad regime has any intention of reducing its power over the Syrian people, and I do not think that you should particularly believe it, either.  Admittedly, I am not entirely certain why the regime is bothering.  Nobody particularly believes that they mean it; and even if the vote was in fact fair and the Syrian people voted for limiting government power… well, the list of totalitarian states that withered away when the people were ready is a rather short one, and most of those were actually former client states who had engaged en masse in a successful revolt against an imperial power.  Not likely in this case, alas.

Meanwhile, the situation is getting sufficiently intense in Syria that even Hamas is bailing out of there.  Which is a pity.  One would have hoped that they would have stayed around for the bombing campaign; because that’s what the final result of what is being euphemistically described (and alleged) as an “aerial blockade” looks like.  And, make no mistake: President Obama is inclined to intervene.

Arguing that the U.S. cannot be “bystanders” as the Syrian government continues to massacre its own people, President Obama Friday afternoon called for the international community to pressure Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down.

“All of us who have been seeing the terrible pictures coming out of Syria and Homs recently recognize it is absolutely imperative for the international community to rally and send a clear message to President Assad that it is time for a transition, it is time for that regime to move on and it is time to stop the killing of Syrian citizens by their own government,” he said this afternoon after an Oval Office meeting with Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt.

(more…)

I forget why I needed to know about Syria at the time; it was getting blurry at the end.  And I didn’t exactly enjoy myself at CPAC this year.  Up at 5 AM to take a train in and be ready for the 9 AM festivities, then spend the day trying to arrange five minute sessions for interviews with candidates and politicians; I didn’t eat enough, I certainly didn’t drink enough, and I was pretty much wiped by 5 PM.  As in, there were a couple of times that I dozed off in my chair.

Well.  Mustn’t grumble.

A general amnesty, from protesting to armed rebellion: and if you’re not convinced that the Assad regime means it, well, you’re not alone in that cynical, yet probably accurate take on the subject.  As the BBC put it: “This is not the first time President Assad has offered an amnesty to his opponents, and it is unlikely to have any more impact than the ones he proposed last year…”

Meanwhile… meanwhile, it feels like everybody’s having a lull and catching their breaths at the same moment, honestly.  I think that we’ve got another couple of weeks or maybe a month before things suddenly get a lot worse in Syria, but what do I know?