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Israel Is Resolved to Prevent Iran's Entrenchment in Syria

(Twitter) Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin - The reported airstrike on Monday at the T-4 airbase in Syria is a result of two colliding vectors: Iranian determination to entrench itself in Syria and Israeli resolve to prevent it. The strike's timing drove Syria to first attribute it to the U.S. as a response to Assad's use of chemical weapons (CW) against civilians in Douma. However, the target hit is connected to Iran and not to CW. It is not from T-4 that the CW-dropping aircraft came, while reports of Iranian casualties are a strong testament. That being said, a strike may well serve two purposes, promoting two objectives in a single step: Preventing Iranian entrenchment in Syria with advanced weaponry and sending a moral message that using CW to commit mass murder is not acceptable. To that end, even if Israel does not take responsibility for the strike, it is important that Israel make its voice heard denouncing the use of CW. Assad's chemical weapons and their use in Syria awaits a U.S. and Western response, and one cannot rule out the possibility of a U.S. strike on regime targets. Relevant targets in this context may include Syrian regime helicopters and airplanes enabling CW delivery, as well as Syrian air defenses, whose destruction will remind Assad of his vulnerability. The writer, former head of IDF Military Intelligence, is director of the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University.
2018-04-10 00:00:00
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