War drums on the Jordan River; Israel, Syria and Iran on the brink of war?

Here are two articles on the increasing talk of war from most of the possible combatants in the Middle East. How far will Washington go in backing up Israel should the Israelis decide to attack Iran? If Iran is attacked by Israel it must be understood that Israel will also have to attack Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and possibly Egypt. The stakes have never been higher and if Iran is not stopped then all hell will break loose. A nuclear armed Iran with it's improving missles and now a satellite, the implications are dark, to say the least. The U.S. build-up in the gulf is only worth so much if Obama is not prepared to use the forces now being moved into place. Both Israeli and U.S. complacency have done much to aid the Islamofacists. As sacry as this scenario is, no one can say we do not live in interesting times.


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Egyptian sources: Israel prepares to strike Iran from Gulf and N. Iraq

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report February 3, 2010, 10:12 PM (GMT+02:00)
Israel Saar-5 missile boatArab voices were fanning Middle East war fever Wednesday night, Feb. 3. debkafile's military sources report that not only are Syrian leaders beating war drums - Syrian foreign minister Walid Muallem said in Damascus: "Israelis, do not test the power of Syria since you know the war will move into your cities" - but Egyptian military sources have put out information purporting to outline Israel's preparations to strike Iran.
They report that the Israeli Navy together with the US Fifth Fleet have for some weeks been charting Persian Gulf waters and Iranian shorelines in preparation for attacks by Israeli naval and special operations forces.

IDF intelligence and special forces officers, they also say, have been marking out routes for their air and ground forces to drive into Iran and hit its nuclear installations.
According to these Egyptian sources, Saudi Arabia has demanded clarifications from Washington about reported US-assisted Israeli preparations to strike Iran and asks why they were not brought to the notice of Riyadh and the Gulf Arab governments.
The Saudis added that several Gulf intelligence and naval units had tracked Israeli movements and gathered documentary evidence.
Some of this information was leaked in Cairo Wednesday night to Shorouk, a publication which Egyptian intelligence often uses as an outlet for information held to be credible.
Shorouk was first out with the story of the Israeli Air Force attack on Iranian arms convoys in Sudan in January 2009.

http://www.debka.com/article/8580/



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Iranian missile airlift stiffens Syrian war talk, tops up Hizballah, Hamas

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report February 5, 2010, 9:22 AM (GMT+02:00)


debkafile Iranian and military sources report the war threats from Damascus this week were backed by massive Iranian airlifts for boosting Syria's missile arsenal. Fresh supplies also reached the Lebanese Hizballah and Hamas in Gaza. Wednesday, Feb. 3, Syrian president Bashar Assad accused Israel of seeking war, while his foreign minister Walid Moallem boasted: "You know that war at this time will come to your cities." They spoke after taking delivery of 100 new medium-range surface-to-surface missiles from Iran in January.

Moallem's threat was comprehensive: “….Syria calls on Israel to halt directing threats once against Gaza, another against South Lebanon, then Iran and now Syria.”
His message that all four extremist allies had formed a mutual defense pact against Israel raised temperatures to a dangerous level in the region. Syria will not stand by idly next time round if Israel goes to war against Iran's nuclear program or an aggressive Hizballah or Hamas, but go for Israel's cities.
This was public confirmation for the first time of debkafile's disclosure that on Dec. 17, Iranian defense minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi signed a secret military pact with his Syrian opposite number Gen. Ali Habib in Damascus, with Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah appending his signature later.
Within days, Iran began shipping missile supplies by air to Damascus, Syria stepped up the pace of its smuggled rocket supplies to Hizballah in South Lebanon and both pumped hardware to Hamas by serpentine routes.
Syrian leaders used the visit to Damascus of Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos as the stage for their heightened stridency. US Middle East envoy George Mitchell heard a similar harsh threatening tone against Israel when he called on Bashar Assad in Damascus on Jan. 20. Neither Washington nor Jerusalem were caught by surprise.
Israel's prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu commented nonchalantly that he does not understand what the Bashar Assad wants, confiding to his aides that his goal is to gain international goodwill before Israel decides to attack Iran. Next day, Feb. 4, hardline foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman was more outspoken: "Assad must be told bluntly," he said, "that in the next war, not only will Syria be beaten but he and his family will lose power. You will not remain in power, and neither will your family."

While his words were widely reported, the doves of the Labor party, the opposition Kadima and the left found his tone outrageous and called on the prime minister fire him.

http://www.debka.com/article/8589/