Syria Attack: ‘Nobody Looking for War, But Things Could Spiral Out of Control’
An Israeli jet. Israel has and designs advanced aircraft, but the US supplies many of their war equipment, taxpayer courtesy. This is unique, but par for the course with Israel, the "other" exceptional nation.
Sputnik interview with Mark Heller
Israel is reportedly behind the missile strikes against several Syrian military bases Sunday night. Israeli media claims the attack's targets included an Iranian base. Radio Sputnik discussed the strikes with Mark Heller, principal research associate at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.
Sputnik: Israel warned earlier this month that it could hit Iranian bases in Syria if tensions between Tehran and Tel Aviv were to escalate. What prompted the attack now?
Mark Heller: Tensions with Iran have been escalating largely because of an apparent ongoing Iranian effort to stockpile more advanced equipment in what is essentially a forward Iranian base in Syria and Israel's refusal to allow the Iranians to turn Syria into a base from which Israel could be attack.
Sputnik: Haaretz has cited Israeli defense minister Avigdor Lieberman saying that Tel Aviv would continue to declare that it had freedom to operate in Syria. What's your take on that statement?Mark Heller: I think that Israel over almost the entire course of the Syrian civil war has been operating in Syrian airspace in order to prevent developments which impact very negatively on Israeli security –in particular, the transfer of advanced weaponry and what is sometimes called 'equation-changing' equipment to Hezbollah.
That I think now extends as well to the transfer of equipment into Syria itself. My understanding is that Israel considers that to be an unacceptably dangerous development.
Pro-Israel lobby in west supports backing ‘rebels’ in Syria and air strikes on Syrian govt. Syrian govt calls in support from Iran to help defend the country. Israel uses Iranian presence as pretext for further bombing of Syria. And so it goes on. #SyriaStrikes #Hama #Aleppo
— Neil Clark (@NeilClark66) April 30, 2018
Sputnik: We've heard in recent times a lot of rhetoric in both countries being ratcheted up. What are the chances that this recent development will translate into something more serious? Or is it just continued rhetoric do you believe?
Mark Heller: I don't think anyone is looking for war, of course. But I think that the rhetoric, as well as the actions on the ground can include a risk of things spiraling out of control and escalating to a point that nobody intends to begin with.
But I think it's important to stress that Israel is not threatening Iran, and not trying to use Syria as a base from which it might attack Iran, directly or using proxies. But it is true that Iranian rhetoric over the last few months has been stepped up against what it considers to be the Israeli enemy.Sputnik: What international reaction are you expecting in regard to the reported strike? What do you expect the US to say in regard to that, or Russia?
Mark Heller: Well, Israel of course wants to do two things. It wants to be closely coordinated with the United States, and is making every effort to do that I think with some considerable degree of success. Secondly, it wants to avoid a direct military confrontation with Russia, and I think thus far at least it's also been fairly successful in doing that.
Military targets in Hama & Aleppo, hit by missiles – state TV https://t.co/YmUzemBWwp
Looks like another War Crime by Israel.
Israel should be sanctioned & boycotted for its Wars of Aggression & its support of al-Qaeda & ISIS terrorists in #Syriapic.twitter.com/1ZDfOnWMas— Ian56 (@Ian56789) April 30, 2018
Sputnik: What's your hope for the future with regard to the region?
Mark Heller: My hope is that the totally undesirable things you're describing do not actually transpire. But I'm not sure I share a confidence that that will be the case so long as Iran continues on its present course, which is threatening to bring it into confrontation not only with Israel, but also with a large number of actors throughout the Middle East. In fact the whole region throughout the last couple of years looks like it's turning into a total confrontation between an Iranian-backed and Iranian-managed axis on the one hand and just about everybody else on the other with the possible exception of Russia.
We've seen that the United States as well as Britain and France have taken actions against the Syrian regime. We've seen that the Saudis and the Emiratis are also trying to line up support for what they consider to be the need to oppose Iranian expansionism in that part of the Middle East.I guess 'clash of civilizations' is perhaps too extreme a term to use here, but there is very much a broad overall tension between the Iranian-led, largely Shiite camp and just about everyone else.
The views and opinions expressed by Mark Heller are those of the expert and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Things to ponder
While our media prostitutes, many Hollywood celebs, and politicians and opinion shapers make so much noise about the still to be demonstrated damage done by the Russkies to our nonexistent democracy, this is what the sanctimonious US government has done overseas just since the close of World War 2. And this is what we know about. Many other misdeeds are yet to be revealed or documented.
Parting shot—a word from the editors
The Best Definition of Donald Trump We Have Found
In his zeal to prove to his antagonists in the War Party that he is as bloodthirsty as their champion, Hillary Clinton, and more manly than Barack Obama, Trump seems to have gone “play-crazy” — acting like an unpredictable maniac in order to terrorize the Russians into forcing some kind of dramatic concessions from their Syrian allies, or risk Armageddon.However, the “play-crazy” gambit can only work when the leader is, in real life, a disciplined and intelligent actor, who knows precisely what actual boundaries must not be crossed. That ain’t Donald Trump — a pitifully shallow and ill-disciplined man, emotionally handicapped by obscene privilege and cognitively crippled by white American chauvinism. By pushing Trump into a corner and demanding that he display his most bellicose self, or be ceaselessly mocked as a “puppet” and minion of Russia, a lesser power, the War Party and its media and clandestine services have created a perfect storm of mayhem that may consume us all.— Glen Ford, Editor in Chief, Black Agenda Report