Details about the Israeli air strike in Syria last week remain elusive, with various reports describing an attack on both a Syrian military research center on chemical and biological weapons and a convoy carrying SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles to Hezbollah. It is quite possible, indeed likely, that both were targeted by the Israeli Air Force. Either way the Israelis are doing a good turn, not only for themselves but also for the U.S. and other regional allies by trying to limit the fall-out from the Syrian civil war. Would that we were doing as much.
The ease with which the Israeli Air Force penetrated Syrian air space–which replicates a similar Israeli bombing mission in 2007 to take out a Syrian nuclear reactor–shows that it would not be all that hard for the U.S., acting with NATO and Arab allies, to likewise intervene to establish a no-fly zone. The U.S. military has been opposed to such a mission, for understandable reasons, because it could bring about considerable complications and because resources are already being strained by budget cuts. But from a military standpoint there is little doubt that a no-fly zone could be established relatively quickly and easily–the Syrian air defenses, which have raised such alarms in Washington, are not all that formidable after all when attacked by a U.S.-equipped air force.
And the Israelis did not even bother to take out the missile-defense system; they probably used electronic warfare to jam the system for a period to allow their aircraft to get in and out. The U.S. and our allies, if we were to undertake a campaign in support of the rebels, would take out the entire air-defense network, as they previously took out similar networks in Iraq and Libya. That would make follow-on sorties as close to risk-free from the American standpoint as anything gets in the inherently risky and dangerous realm of warfare.
Yet, despite the military feasibility of such a project and the strategic imperative of ousting Assad to end his nation’s suffering and deal a blow to his Iranian backers, there is basically no chance that such an operation will take place. A no-fly zone would require American leadership and there is no sign of such leadership in the second Obama administration, which has lost the most forceful advocates for a strong American role in the world: Secretaries Gates and Clinton and CIA Director David Petraeus. The Syrians are on their own, it seems, and the conflict shows no sign of burning out anytime soon.
It's good that we aren't going to get involved in Syria. It's no secret that this administration has been buddy buddy with the more radical Islamic elements within the rebels while ignoring some of the more Democratic. Any Syrian victory over Assad would quickly turn into a defeat for the US and Israel.
Oh no, is Max Boot once again encouraging us to help the Syrian rebels? We need stay out of this mess. As matter of fact, Assad's enemies are too often Islamic extremists. Boot may mean well, but his advice is terrible. It will probably makes things much worse.
Agree with you entirely. Indeed the only consolation of Romney's very disappointing defeat is that Max Boot is further away than ever from making American foreign policy in the mideast. I'm afraid he has the makings of another Condi Rice. Let's hope that one day soon we will have a Republican president who would make Daniel Pipes his middle east advisor – Pipes says that choosing between the Assad's opposition and Assad is much like choosing ship wreck by Charybdis or Scylla. Let's hope for a Hundred Years War in Syria and an eventual breakup of this awful gift from the British and French colonialists into at least four or more states: Sunni, Alawite, Kurdish and Druze. Fight on dear Syrians – only with your martyrdom will Mohamed love you!
Great post!
Max, haven't you heard? n nAssad's BFF John Kerry is now Secretary of State. n nHe knows Assad like a brother, and has spent more time with him than he has with with sugar-mommy Teresa. He has his own room at the Assad palace. n nAs soon as Kerry figures out his way around Hillary's old office, I'm sure he'll get on the phone and straighten out this whole mess. I'm sure its a misunderstanding on our part. After all, Assad is a reformer, and a western educated doctor, no less. Hillary said so too. n nSurely the reports of mass murders, castrations and mutilations of children, burying people alive, shelling and missile firing at apartment blocks are exaggerations. n nKerry will get to the bottom of it, sort it out, and solve it (as soon as he reads the riot act to the Israelis over their building plans). n n
so did their supporter Erdogan
Erdogan, Obama's buddy in the middle east.
Turkey is a clown show, though a scary clown show. n nThat Obama loves Erdogan the Islamist is disappointing and inappropriate, but not surprising. n nI have a feeling that Erdogan, Obama, and Hagel would have a swell time at a bar, trading stories and hatreds about 'Zionists' and Netanyahu. A little later into the evening, after Hagel has loosened up a bit, the word 'Jew' might slip out. n n
Dysfunctional is too mild a word for the state of the Islamic mind.
The only thing the USA should be doing re: Syria is to help Jordan cope with the refugees, tell Turkey to STFU about Israel, and launch a major effort for Kurdish statehood at the UN (just to confound everyone by finally, just once, standing on principle). n nbtw, has Morsi recovered from his meeting with Angela Merkel? n nreally getting tired of the myth that a no-fly-zone anywhere in Syria accomplishes anything, except to prolong Syria's civil war.
And could you please tell me when will the US do it? Certainly, not as long as Hussein "peace be upon him" is kneeling in the White House. I don't even see any Republican in the near future trashing the script about Fakistinians and finally pushing the national rights of a genuine people – the Kurds.