The Labyrinth of the Middle East

"Israel and those who protect it at the Security Council are fully responsible for the repercussions of this aggression."
Syrian foreign ministry

Syria, whose regime has been systematically arresting, torturing and eliminating those whom they consider opponents of the Alawite state, including when deemed necessary, children, and whose warplanes strafe funeral congregations, and long line-ups of civilians awaiting their turn to purchase scarce bread at local bakeries, has complained to the United Nations. This is, of course, the very same United Nations that has repeatedly appealed to President Bashar al-Assad to refrain from targeting civilians in its war against the Rebel Syrian Army.

Syria's weakened and failing position in defending its status quo against the onset of Sunni protests in violent protest at the authoritative regime that has always oppressed the country's majority Sunnis, is causing great concern to the UN, the Arab League and its Middle East neighbours with respect to the security of its technologically advanced weaponry, and its stockpiles of chemical weapons. NATO has experience with such weapons seeping out of Libya and into the hands of Islamist extremists.

With Syria, there is an added concern, that allowing such weapons of mass destruction to reach the hands of Lebanon-based Hezbollah, another of Iran's proxy militias considered by the West to be a terrorist organization, the stability of the entire region is threatened. Jordan, Turkey and Israel are on high alert against the potential of spill-over from a teetering Syria, desperate for its survival. Fighting alongside the regime's military are Hezbollah and the Iranian Quds division of the Republican Guard.

I appears that the Syrian regime and the opposition fighters, augmented by al-Qaeda affiliated terror groups are evenly matched for the grotesqueness of their response to one another. Each is accused of human rights abuses. Each seems willing enough to outdo the other in merciless exploits that not only threaten human decency, but as well the lives of innocent bystanders as Syrian civilians are held captive by one or the other, living out their desperate lives of survival.

Israel's nighttime aerial attack on Syria represents an intolerable offence to the country and to its sponsors, Iran and Russia. By invading Syrian airspace, Israel has insulted the sovereign authority of another country. That it is a country that represents a dire and direct threat to those countries around it, seems of little moment. Syria stresses in its letter to the UN secretary general its "right to defend itself, its territory and sovereignty". Israel is to be held to account.

Turkey's position in all of this is ambiguous to say the least, and not the least bit less than sinister. On the one hand, it finds Syria's loathsome attacks against its civilians intolerable, and has aided and encouraged the Rebel Free Syrian army, while sheltering tens of thousands of Syrian refugees. And has persuaded NATO to install on its border with Syria two sets of Patriot Missiles for protection of its own sovereignty.

Turkey is well aware of the potential threat Syria poses toward the Middle East through the possibility of an escalating situation drawing more players into the situation aside from Hezbollah and Iran's Republican Guard. Turkey, in essence, is putting up a stiff resistance to Syria, condemning its president, pulling its NATO strings, yet says nothing to condemn Iran, its Islamist friend, engaged in supporting Syria.

Israel has taken the initiative to attempt to protect itself from the possibility of chemical weapons leaking to its enemies, though it seems clear from previous intelligence that Hezbollah likely already is in possession of some chemical weapons from Syria. It seems Israel has taken measures to halt the further infiltration of chemical weapons and advanced technological weapons that might imperil its warplanes in flights over Lebanon and the Golan Heights.

The Scientific Research Centre that Israel bombed, that caused the death of several Iranian Republican Guard members, is a weapons production facility. Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles were stopped from being transported in a convoy to Hezbollah in one stroke and the further production of other weapons halted, perhaps temporarily by the attack on the weapons-producing facility close to Damascus.

Both Iran and Syria have been swift to promise reprisals. It is also rumoured that this flight and bombing might have represented an IDF test run preparatory to another, more ambitious and just as surprising attack on targets in Iran, in Israel's need to defend itself against a nuclear-arms-possessing enemy promising Israel's demise.