Syria: Israel attacked civilian area

:shrug:

Syria: Israel attacked civilian area
Sunday 05 October 2003, 17:50 Makka Time, 14:50 GMT

Syria has said Israeli forces attacked a civilian area near Damascus in a "grave escalation" of tensions in the Middle East.

Damascus is capable of deterring Israel but will practice restraint, Syria's Foreign Minister Faruq al- Shara said in a letter to the United Nations on Sunday.

The Israelis had earlier claimed that it attacked an Islamic Jihad and Hamas training base in the Ain al- Sahab area, about 20km northwest of Damascus.

It did not say whether air or ground forces carried out the strike, but an unnamed security source was quoted as saying that it was an air attack early on Sunday.

--snip--

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AE871B47-A5D9-428E-B8E5-26E52D387622.htm

training camp now is use for refugees. Also said it was
hit with three rockets. Of course they all make things up
when it suits them.

I am assuming for the moment this is a distaction/provocation
to obscure the fact that the IDF has no effective response to
the bombing. Surrounding Arafat is not impressive enough any
more, and "expelling" him won't work either, besides, as you
point out, then he'd be less useful. So let's attack a meaningless
Syrian site and pretend we've done something. A somewhat
reckless action, but I expect the Syrians will not bite, unless
more extreme measures are undertaken, better to pick one's own time
and place, if one must fight.

Not going to be a quiet weekend this time.

the usual..

Herschel's new thread started off with an interesting paragraph that had the "Light Bulb Effect" on me:--

Yasser Arafat's fate hung in the balance on Sunday after an Israeli air strike in Syria eased domestic pressure on Israel's government to exile him, a move the United States fears would inflame the Middle East.

threatening everyone in the general area in
the hopes someone will do something helpful.

Remember the theory about how they were attacking
Arafat and his minions to get them to take on Hamas
for them? Something like that. Syria has recently
allowed some of the forbidden groups out from under
the table too, so a dramatic tantrum plays to that.

And, as in Herschel's piece, one may then play the
Arafat card some more for dramatic effect.

And it's a lot closer than the reactor in Iran.

A good policy works in many ways.

would be appreciated.

Al Jazeera is a bit biased, but at least it generally states all the facts.

Al-Jazeera is less slanted, I think, than American networks.

Not much room for the effect of any bias there, unless you believe the Syrians were quoted incorrectly..? Or perhaps it should be left out entirely, and let us ask only the Israeli side for an explanation of events. :shrug:

On the side, are you bothered that they chose restraint, or is that a good thing?

Nor a quote from an Israeli or US politician calling Syria terrorists or evildoers or some such.

I thnk that many westerners do not realize that when they speak of news from other places being "biased," what they really mean is that quoting a Syrian source without immediately following it with the White House approved line on the nation, individual and/or the situation is something they are so unaccustomed to that they are unable to process the basic information contained in the quote!

The typical complaint about Al Jazeera is that they report on civilian casualties and humanize the victims, not unlike the way US channels personalize Israeli victims of suicide bombings.

To western eyes, humanizing Arabs seems so strange that they perceive it as "anti-American."

It is acceptable to feel sympathy for Little Ali, but it is recommended that his injuries be blamed on Saddam Hussein.

doesn't it make it easier for you to support?

It's just statements from politicians and such,
no facts involved.

that might be Islamic Jihad and Hamas training bases?

There are plenty of arabs in the U.S.... who knows, there might be some of this activity, in say, Nevada?

And accidentally, some civilians might be killed.

Israel wouldn't dare attack the US (although I do believe that they are the only country that ever could have the guts).

Furthermore, I think it's possible that Syria does have some terrorist harboring or training areas. I have been saying for a while that the Palestinian militant groups are getting outside help. Maybe Syria's it? That doesn't mean that Israel should have done their attack though (especially if it was on a civilian area). I still believe that most of this would go away if they stop their ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.

...

Personally I'm tilting towards Syria lying their asses off here. They wouldn't be "fearing" a strike on a base if none existed, would they? :shrug:

Not saying you are wrong about the training camp,
but I think I'll see what else emerges. F'rinstance,
if I was worried about that specific site, I might have
put some SAMs around it, ready to go, or evacuated it.
It sure is an interesting development.

Note that I prefaced the piece with a :shrug:

Do you have any of the article translated (or a date)?

It's from Yediot Aharonot which is (unfortuntely) mostly subscription only on the net. Sometimes I can grab useful stuff from there - opening paragraphs of articles, headlines, the free "breaking news" etc, but usually the full articles cost $$.

The image is a cropped version of the front cover from yesterday (Tishri 5, 5764, Sunday Oct 5).

That line just stood out to me, especially since it is right next to "harsh response anticipated" (the black on yellow on the right).

I usually check out the Israeli front pages right after a suicide attack. Sorta brings it home more than the odd image in the NYTimes.

I've noticed in the past you've been able to get a few bits translated, wondered if you had this one too.

Interesting anyway, I wonder what their source for that 'fear' was.

By Israeli officials to the reporter. Who knows though. It's hard to keep track of all the lies everybody tells :D

Oh, interesting thing to bear in mind (and I didn't know this until today), the IAF "buzzed" Syria in August. The only reason for that would be to send a message. i.e. you're next.

if I remember right, that "buzz" was at Assad's home in the NW area near Latakia--that's a lot of Syria and/or Lebanon to fly over.

Then there's this latest AP piece, which of course complicates further trying to keep up with the story.

Syrians Clean Up Area Bombed by Israelis
Monday October 6, 2003 11:01 PM
By BASSEM MROUE
Associated Press Writer

AL-DREIJ, Syria (AP) - Villagers swept up shattered glass and rubble from their homes Monday near a building ravaged in an Israeli bombing raid on a reputed militant training camp. Residents told The Associated Press the camp was abandoned years ago.

A resident of Al-Driej, a village a few hundred yards from the targeted building, said on condition of anonymity that he inspected the Ein Saheb camp after the attack and found parts of Russian-made automatic rifles. The man said he gave the pieces to police.

--snip--

The camp had been a military training center for the Syria-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, but an official from the group told AP it was abandoned seven years ago. He did not say why they left the area. The group is known to use Russian-made rifles, including Kalashnikovs.

On Monday, workers cleared rubble from what appeared to be a one-story house destroyed in the air raid. Pieces of metal and concrete bricks shattered by the rocket attack lay on a hill nearby. A green water tank, damaged by a blast, was next to a swimming pool half-filled with dirty water.

Three other one-room concrete structures in the Ein Saheb ravine remained untouched.

Al-Dreij residents spent Monday fixing broken windows and doors and cleaning their own homes, which also were damaged in the attack.

--snip--

Omar, who spoke on condition that he be identified only by his first name, said the camp had been run by Palestinian militants but had stood empty for years.

--snip--

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3234939,00.html

another for the :shrug: catagory..

Israel doesn't care whether it attacks civilians. No matter how many UN resolutions are passed against them or threatened against them (the US almost always vetoes), they know the US is unconditionally on their side. And they're the only country there with nuclear weapons, and their nuke arsenal ranks between 3rd and 5th in the world. It makes me sick.