Syria

A direct IDF strike in Syria

Featured image The IDF has posted a video of a direct hit on a Syrian SA22 air defense battery in connection with its response to the 20 rockets launched by Iranian forces from Syria toward Israel last night. As the Jerusalem Post puts it, “the video appears to be filmed from a camera loaded on the Israeli rocket. The rocket flies down toward the Syrian SA22, a combined short to medium range »

Israel strikes Iran in Syria

Featured image Israel Defense Forces conducted predawn retaliatory airstrikes targeting dozens of Iranian bases, command centers and weapons caches in Syria. Targets included sites throughout Syria. On Twitter, retired IDF spokesman Peter Lerner reports that targeted Quds Force positions include intelligence observation posts, logistics command positions, military command posts and bases, and a weapons depot at Syria International Airport, and the vehicle on which the rocket launch that provoked the strikes. Israeli »

Breaking: Israeli Air Strike in Syria?

Featured image News out in the last few hours of a large explosion at a Syrian army base in Hama, where Iranian military are said to have a presence, supposedly the work of an Israeli missile strike. So far there is scant coverage by the cable news networks, and AP’s first report is pretty sketchy—maybe everyone is hungover from last night’s bacchanal at the White House Correspondents Dinner? In any case, the video »

About that Syrian scientific research center

Featured image One of the main targets of our air attack on Syria the other day was described by the Pentagon as a “scientific research center located in the greater Damascus area.” We attacked it because it’s “a Syrian center for the research, development, production and testing of chemical and biological warfare.” But how central is it to Assad’s chemical weapons program? If we can answer that question, we will have a »

An “unbelievably small, limited” strike?

Featured image In 2013, when the Obama administration was trying to convince Congress to authorize an attack on Syria to enforce its “red line’ against Assad using chemical weapons, Secretary of State John Kerry promised that the attack would be an “unbelievably small, limited kind of effort.” He often used the word “degrade,” rather than “destroy,” to describe the impact of the contemplated attack on Syria’s chemical weapons program. Kerry received plenty »

Notes on the Syrian strike

Featured image President Obama drew his infamous “red line” (“red line for us”) against the use of chemical weapons by the the Syrian regime on August 20, 2012. It proved to be something of a Chamberlainite red line “for our time.” The Syrian regime employed chemical weapons against civilians in Ghouta one year later, in August 2013. In the event, President Obama revealed his “red line” to be imaginary. He invited Vladimir »

U.S. and our allies strike Syria

Featured image President Trump has kept his promise to strike Syria in response to the recent chemical attack launched by the Assad regime. Tonight, U.S. air power attacked three Syrian targets. The first was a research center believed to be used to develop chemical weapons. The second was a chemical weapons storage facility. The third was a command center believed to be used in connection with chemical warfare. The U.S. acted together »

Can Russia “play” Trump?

Featured image Today, President Trump tweeted: “Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all. . . .” I think Trump is reacting to criticism that by threatening an attack on Syria he tipped of the Syrians and the Russians, in contradiction to his oft-repeated argument that we should leave our adversaries guessing. In his tweet, Trump seems to be saying »

Should Trump be previewing Syrian strike?

Featured image During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump often refused to say what action he would take in response to various world hot spots because, he argued, it is foolish to tell our adversaries what we’ll do before we do it. I viewed this response at least in part as an evasion — an excuse for not discussing policy. But the response made some sense and Trump may not have been entirely »

Trump previews Syrian strike

Featured image In his his fourth tweet this morning President Trump provides a striking (no pun intended) preview of coming attractions in Syria. The theme of “collusion” grows more absurd every day. Trump advises his supposed buddy Putin: “You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!” Speaking of the Putin-Assad partnership, this brings us to the first of “Five catastrophic decisions” logged by Victor »

President Trump on Syria: Playing chess or clueless?

Featured image President Trump seems intent on withdrawing American forces from Syria in the very near future. He takes the position that we are in Syria only to defeat ISIS. With this objective nearly accomplished, he argues, it’s almost time for our forces to come home. Over the weekend, however, Trump responded to the barbaric gassing of Syrian civilians by blasting “Animal Assad,” calling out Russia and Iran as responsible for the »

Another chemical attack in Syria

Featured image At least 49 civilians have been killed and many more injured in a lethal chemical attack by Syrian government forces on a rebel-held suburb of Douma in eastern Ghouta. Reuters reports on the attack here, the New York Times here, and the Wall Street Journal here (behind the Journal’s paywall). The New York Times adds the caveat that it is “not possible to independently verify the reports because Douma is »

“Samantha Power lied to my face”

Featured image Samantha Power made a name for herself with a book proclaiming our obligation to stop genocide abroad. Once she took office in the Obama administration, she became an apologist for Obama’s detachment from the catastrophe in Syria and his deal with the genocidal maniacs in Iran, among other things. It’s almost enough to make one question her bona fides, or even to suspect she may be a complete fraud. Today »

Feel Good Headline of the Day

Featured image The New York Times has this headline up at the moment: From the story: MOSCOW — Four Russian nationals, and perhaps dozens more, were killed in fighting between pro-government forces in eastern Syria and members of the United States-led coalition fighting the Islamic State, according to Russian and Syrian officials. A Syrian military officer said that about 100 Syrian soldiers had been killed in the fighting on Feb. 7 and »

The coming Israel-Iran clash in Syria, the Russia angle

Featured image Herb Keinon, writing in the Jerusalem Post, argues that Russia could be a big loser if, as seems increasingly likely, Israel is drawn into a fight with Iran in Syria. He explains: Russia moved forces into Syria in 2015 with one purpose in mind: Save Syrian President Bashar Assad. And since then, Moscow has spent billions of rubles and spilled Russian blood to do just that: Help the Assad regain »

The coming Israel-Iran clash in Syria

Featured image Yesterday, as Omri Ceren reported, the Israeli air force struck in Syria after Iran sent a drone into Israel. The Israelis lost a fighter jet, the first time in 30 years an Israeli jet has been lost in combat. On the plus side, Israel reportedly inflicted serious damage on multiple air defense batteries and four Iranian positions in Syria including the mobile command center from which the Iranian drone was »

Omri Ceren: Israel strikes in Syria

Featured image Omri Ceren writes from The Israel Project with this backgrounder for journalists. He has folded information derived from wide variety of sources — I have omitted his 24 alphabetized footnotes — into the message. I would add only that the New York Times has just reported: “Later Saturday morning, clashes appeared to be continuing. There were new Israeli airstrikes around the capital, Damascus, according to Syrian state media and Damascus »