ISRAEL MUST PREPARE FOR MASSIVE ROCKET ATTACKS

FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU
'Mideast war this summer'
Syrian official threatens 'resistance' by September, warns Damascus preparing for large-scale conflict

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Posted: July 8, 2007
3:32 p.m. Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

"More and more of our units have undergone intensive trainings starting at 6 a.m. and finishing late into the evening. If the need arises, we are ready for a war," said the official.

Syrian President Bashar Assad

GOLAN HEIGHTS – If Israel doesn't vacate the strategic Golan Heights before September, Syrian guerrillas will immediately launch "resistance operations" against the Golan's Jewish communities, a top official from Syrian President Bashar Assad's Baath party told WND.

The Baath official, who spoke on condition his name be withheld, said Damascus is preparing for anticipated Israeli retaliation following Syrian guerrilla attacks and for a larger war with the Jewish state in August or September. He said in the opening salvo of any conflict, Syria has the capabilities of firing "hundreds" of missiles at Tel Aviv.

"Syria passed repeated messages to the U.S. that we demand the return of the Golan either through negotiations or through war. If the Golan is not in our hands by August or September, we will be poised to launch resistance, including raids and attacks against Jewish positions (in the Golan Heights)," the Baath official said.

The Golan Heights is strategic mountainous territory looking down on Israeli population centers captured by Israel after Syria twice used the territory to attack the Jewish state.

The Baath official said a new purported guerrilla group called the Committees for the Liberation of the Golan Heights has been training and is ready to attacks against Jewish communities in the Golan in August or September.

He said Syria is preparing for a war.

The official said Syria "learned from the Hezbollah experience last summer and we can have hundreds of missiles hitting Tel Aviv that will overwhelm Israel's anti-missile batteries."

He claimed Syria has "proof" Israel is also readying for a war.

"We hear about special Israeli trainings to take Damascus. We see that Israel is re-establishing bases of the Israeli army in the Golan that are unusual and not needed except for war. We believe the Israeli government has an interest in confronting Syria to rehabilitate its image of losing to Hezbollah," he said.

He also claimed newly installed Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, a former prime minister, "wants to prove he is a military expert."

Israel: Syrian war preparations serious

Israeli security officials confirmed the stepped-up military presence of Syrian troops deployed along the Syrian side of the Golan Heights with strengthened forces after carrying out increased training the last few months. The security officials noted the movement of Syrian Scud missiles near the border with Israel and said Syria recently increased production of rockets and acquired missiles capable of hitting central Israeli population centers.

The Syrian army has improved its fortifications, according to the Israeli security officials, and has received modern, Russian-made anti-tank missiles similar to the missiles that devastated Israeli tanks during the last Lebanon war, causing the highest number of Israeli troop casualties during the 34-days of military confrontations. Syria also received from Russia advanced anti-aircraft missiles.

The security officials said any conflict with Syria could degenerate into a larger war involving Hezbollah along Israel's northern border and Palestinian terror groups launching attacks from Gaza in the south and the West Bank toward the center of Israel.

The officials noted Syria stepped up the pace of weapons, including rockets, being shipped from the Syrian border to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia.

The security officials said the greatest threat Syria poses to the Jewish state are the country's missiles and rockets. They noted Syria recently test-fired two Scud-D surface-to-surface missiles, which have a range of about 250 miles, covering most Israeli territory. The officials said the Syrian missile test was coordinated with Iran and is believed to have been successful. It is not known what type of warhead the missiles had.

In addition to longer-range Scuds, Syria is in possession of shorter-range missiles such as 220 millimeter and 305 millimeter rockets, some of which have been passed on to Hezbollah.

Israel also has information Syria recently acquired and deployed Chinese-made C-802 missiles, which were successfully used against the Israeli navy during Israel's war against Hezbollah last July and August. The missiles were passed to Syria by Iran, Israeli security officials told WND.

Israeli security officials said Syria is indeed preparing for a summer war. But they said there was an argument within the Israeli intelligence community whether the military buildup is for an attack or is meant by Syria to pressure Israel into vacating the Golan Heights. Some officials said Syria estimates the U.S. or Israel will attack Iran, and Syria will be drawn into a larger military confrontation by opening up a front against northern Israel. Also, the officials said, Syria may believe Israel will attack first and its preparations are defensive in nature.

The Israeli army is not taking any chances. The Israel Defense Forces last month reportedly carried out a mock attack on a "Syrian" village during a major exercise in the Negev. The Israeli soldiers besieged and occupied the village, designed to be similar to towns on the Syrian side of the Golan. Similar war exercises were carried out in Israel the past few months, including a mock attack on Damascus.

According to security officials, recent U.S. intelligence estimates also predict a strong possibility of war between Israel and Syria in the coming months.

Dennis Ross, the American Middle East envoy under the Clinton administration, said this weekend in an interview with Ynetnews, a leading Israeli news website, he thinks "there is a risk of war" between Israel and Syria this summer.

"Nobody has made any decision (about going to war), but the Syrians are positioning themselves for war," said Ross.

The reports of war also come amid a flurry of articles in the Arab media the past few days claiming Syria has warned its citizens residing in Lebanon to leave the country ahead of a civil war there. Israeli security officials noted the possibility of a civil war in Lebanon, and said there were strong concerns violence there could be used as an excuse for Hezbollah or Palestinian groups to attack Israel.

Syria formed new terror group?

The Baath official speaking to WND said Syria learned the advantages of using guerrilla tactics to achieve political ends from Hezbollah's war against the Jewish state last summer. He said the Committees for the Liberation of the Golan is modeling itself after Hezbollah.

The Baath official's statements follow a series of WND interviews in which Baath officials said a purported new Syrian guerrilla organization recently was formed and is ready for attacks if Israel doesn't withdraw from the Golan. According to the officials, the Syrian Committees for the Liberation of the Golan was formed last year.

In a WND interview, one Baath party official said Syria learned from Hezbollah's military campaign against Israel last summer that "fighting" is more effective than peace negotiations with regard to gaining territory."

Hezbollah claims its goal is to liberate the Shebaa Farms, a small, 12-square-mile bloc situated between Syria, Lebanon and Israel. The cease-fire resolution accepted by Israel to end its military campaign in Lebanon last July and August called for negotiations leading to Israel's relinquishing of the Shebaa Farms.

The Baath official told WND Syria's new Committees for the Liberation of the Golan Heights consists of Syrian volunteers, many from the Syrian border with Turkey and from Palestinian refugee camps near Damascus. He said Syria held registration for volunteers to join the Committees last June.

The official said attacks by the Committees may include the infiltration of Jewish communities in the Golan, rocket attacks against Israeli positions or raids of Golan-based Israeli military installations. He said all attacks would be launched from the Syrian side of the border.

WND first reported last June on the alleged formation of the Committees for the Liberation of the Golan.

One month later, a man identified as the leader of the Committees gave an interview to state-run Iranian television.

In February, a fax sent to news agencies signed by the Committees claimed the group was holding Guy Hever, an Israeli soldier missing since 1991. Hever disappeared in the Golan Heights near the Syrian border.

Israel is taking the claims of formation of the Committees information seriously. Amos Yadlin, head of the IDF's intelligence branch, told the Knesset in October Syria is indeed in the early stages of forming a Hezbollah-like group.

SYRIAN BIO-WEAPONS THREAT TO ISRAEL

Note: The information below which was published three months ago scratches the surface regarding Open-source intelligence and other classified information gathered which indicate that an attack against Israel by Syria (supported by Iran) is imminent. Unless Israel takes immediate preemptive steps to prevent the Syrians from using WMDs against Israel, they may not be stoppable. In addition, the button pushers in Iran (the PM and the Mullahs) need to be dealt with with extreme prejudice. If the United States will not act against Iran in consort with Israel, then Israel must take unilateral action against both Syria and Iran. IDF - WAKE UP - THE CLOCK IS TICKING..... Blogmaster This is a WorldNetDaily printer-friendly version of the article which follows. To view this item online, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54542 Monday, March 5, 2007 BIOLOGICAL WAR-FEAR Syria ready with bio-terror if U.S. hits Iran Damascus reportedly hiding WMD among commercial pharmaceuticals Posted: March 5, 2007 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Jerome R. Corsi © 2007 WorldNetDaily.com Jill Bellamy-Dekker An American biodefense analyst living in Europe says if the U.S. invades Iran to halt its nuclear ambitions, Syria is ready to respond with weapons of mass destruction – specifically biological weapons. "Syria is positioned to launch a biological attack on Israel or Europe should the U.S. attack Iran," Jill Bellamy-Dekker told WND. "The Syrians are embedding their biological weapons program into their commercial pharmaceuticals business and their veterinary vaccine-research facilities. The intelligence service oversees Syria's 'bio-farm' program and the Ministry of Defense is well interfaced into the effort." Bellamy-Decker currently directs the Public Health Preparedness program for the European Homeland Security Association under the French High Committee for Civil Defense. She anticipates a variation of smallpox is the biological agent Syria would utilize. "The Syrians are also working on orthopox viruses that are related to smallpox," Bellamy-Decker said, "and it's a good way to get around international treaties against offensive biological weapons development. They work on camelpox as a cover for smallpox." According to the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota, camelpox is a virus closely related to smallpox, that causes a "severe and economically important disease in camels," but rarely, if ever, causes the disease in humans. (Story continues below) Bellamy-Decker also told WND the North Koreans were working closely with the Syrians on their biological weapons program. "The Syrians have made some recent acquisitions in regard to their smallpox program from the DPRK," she explained. "Right before the recent Lebanon war, the Syrians had a crash program in cryptosporidium." According to the Washington State Department of Health, cryptosporidium is a one-celled parasite that causes a gastrointestinal illness with symptoms of diarrhea, abdominal cramps, headaches, nausea, vomiting, and a low-grade fever. The symptoms can last for weeks and may result in weight loss and dehydration. "Because cryptosporidium is impervious to chlorine," Bellamy-Decker continued, "you could infect the water supply by the bucket full of cryptosporidium, if you know where to get it. The resulting illness would put down a lot of civilians and military who might oppose you going into their country." "The Syrians have a modus operandi of covert operations and deniability," she stressed, "so biological weapons are absolutely perfect for them." WND asked Bellamy-Decker if the Syrians have any history of having used biological weapons. "I believe they are testing biological weapons right now, in Sudan, in the conflict in Darfur," she answered. "There is credible information about flyover activity in Darfur, where little parachutes have been dropped down on the population. This is consistent with dispersal methods in bioweapons attacks. I've also seen evidence of bodies that have been recovered from Darfur that look as if they had been exposed to biological weapons." President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran met with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in Khartoum Feb. 28 to exchange expressions of support and solidarity. "The Syrians now consider biological weapons as part of their arsenal," Bellamy-Decker said. "The Syrian military is also beginning to plan the eventual integration of biological weapons in its tactical and strategic arsenals." She referenced an April 2000 article published by Syrian defense minister General Mustafa Talas, titled "Biological (Germ) Warfare: A New and Effective Method in Modern Warfare." The article was republished in a Farsi translation in Tehran. "All indications suggest that Syria's ultimate objective is to mount biological warheads on all varieties of the long-range surface-to-surface missiles in its possession," Bellamy-Decker maintained. "This is a goal that can probably be achieved within a few years, and it may already have been realized in part." She argued that instead of producing large quantities of bioweapons agents, Syria is seeking to develop a smaller, but high-quality arsenal, which it can deliver accurately against military and civilian targets. When asked how Syria might be expected to retaliate against Israel or Europe if the U.S. attacked Iran, she responded, "Syria has most likely forward-deployed some of their covert operatives. Smallpox does not need to be weaponized. Aerosol release is the way to go." Bellamy-Decker explained the methodology of a terrorist bio-attack: So with a good primary aerosol release in an airport in Israel or Europe and you could get 100 index cases. If you've made the strain sufficiently virulent, you could have a ratio of 1 to 13 for infectivity, where the normal ratio is 1 to 3. If every index case infects 13 other people, you unfortunately have a great first hit. "A terrorist bio-attack could go global," she noted. "A good biological hit will spread rapidly with international travel. Smallpox is a better weapon than anthrax. Smallpox has been field-tested, it is highly stable, and highly communicable, especially if you look at some of the strains the Russians manipulated. Syria probably retained some of [its] smallpox strains from the last outbreak back in 1972." Another risk is the possibility Syria's military might give bioweapons to terrorists. "We are close to seeing a breakthrough where Syria could provide biological weapons to some of the terrorist groups they work with, like Hezbollah in Lebanon," Bellamy-Decker argued. "The Syrians believe they can vaccinate themselves and they are working within the Syrian military. They're certainly not worried about releasing these biological weapons in a military setting, or even if civilians were infected as well, as long as they are vaccinated. I think it is a real threat." Bellamy-Decker is presenting a paper at this week's Intelligence Summit in St. Petersburg, Fla. It is expected to focus on the sophisticated state of development of the Syrian bioweapons program. "The Syrians have developed a rather remarkable bioweapons capability that has gone under the radar of U.S. intelligence," she said. "U.S. intelligence continues to insist that the Syrian capability is not highly developed. The Syrian program mirrors how the Russians have developed their program, as well as Iraq under Saddam Hussein, North Korea, and Iran. The emphasis in the Syrian program is on latent potential and outbreak capability." Bellamy-Decker explained we should not expect to find stockpiles of biological weapons. "Stockpiles are just not how biological weapons are done," she said. "With biological weapons, it is not the quantity, but the quality that counts. If you can produce a virulent, communicable strain, then you have a great biological weapon and it doesn't matter how much of it you have, it depends on what the weapon looks like." Bellamy-Decker also referenced a paper she had co-authored for the European Homeland Security Association (EHSA) titled, "Public Health Security and Preparedness." This paper is intended to be used as part of a new initiative EHSA is launching in Brussels to hold a quarterly bioterrorism forum bringing together national and international experts with high-level decision-makers "to discuss the threat posed by deliberate disease and the appropriate preparedness and response mechanisms vitally needed to address this threat." Are you a representative of the media who would you like to interview the author of this story? Let us know. Related offers: "Atomic Iran: How the Terrorist Regime Bought the Bomb and American Politicians" Whistleblower magazine: "'MOST DANGEROUS NATION ON EARTH: Why America must wake up now and deal with Iran's imminent threat" "Everlasting Hatred: The Roots of Jihad" Stun a Muslim – with the truth, for FREE! Previous stories: Israel training for war with Iran, Syria? 'Devastating response' if Iran nukes attacked Pentagon rules out ground attack on Iran Former Mossad chief: Assassinate Ahmadinejad Iranian agents caught in Gaza U.S. unveils evidence Iran fueling Iraq war Iran prepares people for 'messiah miracles' Iran website heralding Mahdi by springtime Jesus, Mahdi both coming, says Iran's Ahmadinejad Iran prez: World becoming 'Ahmadinejadized' Iran in 'final step' of nuke program Iran declaring 'economic warfare' Photo shows Iran leader as '79 U.S. hostage taker Ahmadinejad's latest: 'Satan inspires Bush' Iran leader's U.N. finale unveils apocalyptic view Hezbollah youth scouts train in terrorism Iran letter precursor to war? Iran's secret plan if attacked codenamed 'Judgment Day' Iranian missiles can carry nukes Ahmadinejad to Iranians: Israel 'will be removed' 'Atomic Iran' warnings prove accurate Iran leader: Islam to 'rule the world' Iran leader's messianic end-times mission Iran to resume nuclear enrichment Reports: U.S. preparing military strike on Iran Assassination attempt on Iran's Ahmadinejad? Israel: Iran 3 months to nuclear point of no return Israel plans strike on nuclear Iran Iran only months away from nuke? Russia equips Iran for war Is Osama the Mahdi? Messianic madness of nuclear Osama Iran's radicals in control of nuke program Iran president: Terrorist, murderer Warnings from Islam's 'messianic whirlpool' Is bin Laden the 'Mahdi'? Jerome R. Corsi received a Ph.D. from Harvard University in political science in 1972 and has written many books and articles, including co-authoring with John O'Neill the No. 1 New York Times best-seller, "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry." Corsi's most recent book was authored with Michael Evans: "Showdown with Nuclear Iran." Dr. Corsi's other recent books include "Black Gold Stranglehold: The Myth of Scarcity and the Politics of Oil," which he co-authored with WND columnist Craig. R. Smith, and "Atomic Iran."

Israel offers the Golan Heights to Syria

Has Olmert gone round the bend? Is he mad?... a lunatic?... totally inept on the world stage?... a traitor in collusion with our enemies?... or is he simply stupid? Just what does Olmert think the Syrians will do with the Golan...sooner, or later. We know what they will do, they will do exactly as they did before. Syria will use the Golan to murder the Israelis below. Olmert blundered in Lebanon, causing the deaths and wounding of many of our soldiers to what end... for what purpose? Now he wants to hand the Golan over to the Syrians on a silver platter??? Who in the Government is minding the store? Can it be that the Knesset will allow the Prime Minister of Israel to further weaken Israel and our ability to defend ourselves? There must be NO MORE JEWISH LAND GIVEN AWAY TO OUR ENEMIES...NOT ONE CENTIMETER...NOT ONE INCH...NYET, NADA, LO! If Syria takes possession of the Golan Heights, it is the beginning of end. Do not allow this "trade of land for peace". Olmert is behaving like Herod - a puppet king subservient to those who seek Israel's destruction. Perhaps he is the new "tetrarch of Galilee" ! To merely consider the surrender of Jewish land is inherently evil and any such plan must be stopped by the people without delay. The destiny of Israel cannot be left in the hands of Olmert, or any of his ilk. The time for Olmert's resignation is long overdue! Israel offers the Golan Heights to Syria By Charles Levinson in Katzrin, Israel Last Updated: 2:16am BST 09/06/2007 The Israeli prime minister has offered to return the Golan Heights to Syria in exchange for peace, the nation's press reported yesterday. Israelis tour a military bunker in the Golan Heights. The strategic highlands could be returned to Syria in exchange for peace. In a secret communique, Ehud Olmert demanded that in exchange for the return of the strategic highlands, Syria dissolve its alliances with Iran, Hezbollah and Palestinian militant factions who maintain headquarters in Damascus. Syria, under the regime of Bashar al Assad, is a key supporter of the Lebanese Shia Hizbollah militia, who battled Israel to a standstill last summer. Many of the anti-tank rockets that wreaked havoc on Israeli ground forces originated in Syria, a crucial conduit for the Iranian Katyushas and other rockets that rained down on Israeli cities throughout the 34-day war. Were Syria to abandon its Shia allies in Lebanon and Iran in exchange for peace with the Jewish state, it would seriously weaken Israel's most potent foes. "I am your partner for making peace between our countries," Mr Olmert told Damascus through German and Turkish mediators, Israel's Yediot Ahranot newspaper reported. "I know that a peace agreement with Syria requires me to return the Golan Heights to Syrian sovereignty. I am willing to fulfil my part in this deal." Mr Olmert reached out to Syria only after America's president George W Bush gave the green light in an hour-long phone conversation last month. The prime minister's office would neither confirm nor deny the reports. Israel and Syria participated in arduous peace talks throughout much of the 1990s. But those efforts collapsed in 2000 amid disagreement over sovereignty of a narrow strip of land near the eastern shore of Lake Kinneret.

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