Why bomb Syria?

The looming attack is not simply about the gassing of Syrian men, women, and children.

By MIKE EVANS
Forces loyal to assad 370 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Forces loyal to assad 370
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The decision by US President Barack Obama to bomb Syria has been intentionally “leaked” to the press in great detail by the White House. The still unanswered question is: Why would an anti-war president who sat back and did virtually nothing while 100,000 Syrians died suddenly become outraged over a chemical weapons attack?
The largest military deployment in the Mediterranean since the first Gulf War is now taking place. Mr. Obama has stated that he has no intention of removing Syrian leader Bashar Assad from power, nor is there any plan to attack the stockpiles of chemical weapons. For two and a half years the president has tolerated the Syrian civil war, but no longer.
Under his authorization, four Navy destroyers and two submarines have entered the eastern Mediterranean. Warplanes and military transporters have arrived in Cyprus, less than one hundred miles off the Syrian coast. To understand what has caused an anti-war president to change his foreign policy, one only has to identify what will be one of the primary US targets: the Qasioun military complex. It is the site where the majority of Iran’s Republican Guard is stationed.
The looming attack is not simply about the gassing of Syrian men, women, and children. If it were, the US would have taken a different approach when thousands of Kurds died from chemical weapons during the Halabja and Al-Anfal attacks by Saddam Hussein between 1986 and 1989. Over 182,000 died as the inhabitants of over twenty Kurdish villages were gassed.
A resolution passed by both houses of the US Congress urging sanctions against Iraq was vetoed and the White House further granted Baghdad a loan of $1 billion. I’ve seen the facts on this; they were presented to me while on a visit, by invitation of President Barzani of Kurdistan. It was not until 2010 that the acts of genocide were addressed by the Iraqi High Criminal Court.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has recently been on the brink of attacking Iranian proxies in Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as the Iranian nuclear reactors and command and control centers. In order for President Obama to preempt that attack, he is about to authorize what is referred to as a selective strike. This operation is simply to forestall an Israeli assault while at the same time disingenuously declaring to Iran and the Israelis: “I am not bluffing.”
The Obama foreign policy shift is like threading a needle in an attempt not to draw Russia, Syria’s ally, and Iran into the conflict. There is little doubt that this attack will be the greatest recruiting tool for al-Qaida terrorists camped in close proximity to the military bases in the Middle East.
The director of Israeli intelligence, the late Isser Harel, once said to me: “You kill a fly in America and rejoice. We kill one in the Middle East and one hundred come to the funeral.” Retaliation against this attack will be borne by Israel, considered to be the “Little Satan” to America’s “Great Satan.” Both Iran and al-Qaida will blame Israel for the military intervention in Syria.
To think America is not in the crosshairs of terrorists would be extremely naïve. Former CIA director James Woolsey told me during an interview that Hezbollah cells already operate through the Mexican mafia and are embedded in major US cities. They are simply waiting for directives.
********
Dr. Michael Evans is a #1 New York Times bestselling author. His latest novel, The Locket, based on the pursuit, arrest, trial and execution of Adolf Eichmann debuted at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in June 2013.