Surely our nation’s military leaders cannot be surprised by countries like Syria aiding Iraq, are they? Surely, that was in their thinking, wasn’t it? It sounds like they ARE surprised, but I certainly hope they weren’t so short-sighted! I sure hope this went into their thinking before attacking Iraq! - Jinx
Of course it did.
The Pentagon and the State Dep’t and CIA are filled with smart people who do nothing but think and read all day long, mapping out what-ifs and scenarios.
Well, it sure suprised the hell outta me. I can understand why Saddams lackeys would fight to the death against all odds but what is Syria thinking pissing off the USA when it was finally starting to regard it as a peaceful nation. Dont you get the feeling that maybe its idiot thinking like this that actually destabilizes the region rather than just the fact that Israel exists?
Of course bradministrator is correct, but do the people in the very top echelons of the United States’ leadership necessarily get to hear/listen to/believe/want to believe what the various spies, analysts, and think-tank warriors in the alphabet soup of government agencies have to say?
Well, it wasn’t completely guaranteed that Syria was going to support Iraq. Back in 1991, Hafez Assad willingly signed onto the anti-Saddam coalition. He didn’t send any troops, but IIRC he let the Americans use his airspace.
Unfortunately, Hafez’ son Bashar is now in charge in Syria, and he has been showing interest for quite some time in reforging ties with Iraq,. Apparently Saddam’s imminent demise has not led Bashar to abandon that idea.
<hijack>
Two of my nephews and one of my nieces are 1/2 Syrian. They were all born in USA, but their father is full-blooded Syrian. My nephews lived in Syria for many years. They both live here now.
However 2 of my great nieces are living in Abu Dhabi right this very minute. Knowing how scared I am for my great nieces safety, I can’t imagine what my sister is feeling knowing her grandchildren are potentially in danger.
Nor can I fathom what my nephews are going through being torn between two countries much less the one knows his ex-wife and girls are there. It brings it all a lot closer to home for me then watching it on TV.
</highjack>
Actually they did send troops - The 9th Armored Division ( 15,000 troops w/ ~250 tanks ) and the 45th Commando Regiment ( basically a battalion-sized formation, I believe ). However ultimately they ended up taking part in very little actual fighting.
The al-Assad’s are quite clever, actually ( far more so than the thuggish Hussein’s ). They forge ties with everyone ( excluding Israel ), with eye towards shifting to whatever suits their best advantage. Their dealings in Lebanon are both incredibly byzantine and quite machiavellian. For example though they loath and have hunted down Islamist within Syria’s borders, their relationship with the quite fundamentalist Hezbollah has been complex - tolerant, but encouraging 1982-1985, aggressive and inhibiting 1985-1990, carefully allied and controlling 1990-on. As one analyst described this latter phase, “a loveless marriage that endures because their common interests demand it.”
Iraq at this moment occupies much the same position, I imagine. The two regimes have always rather depised one another, but Syria will deal with them if they think it will gain them any stratego-political advantage ( as with the pipeline which Suyria has been reaping a pretty profit off of ). I have no doubt they’d also stab them in the back without hesitating.
But remember - Syria is one of the few regional governments that is quite openly and vociferously against the war. Others, like Jordan and Egypt, are hedging - making minor oppositional noises while quietly not kicking to hard against American interests. Syria thus is not faced with the internal threat those other countries are from their own citizens and what’s more gains a certain level of stature on the wider Arab street.
It’s all about political advantage.
- Tamerlane
Yes, I realize I just wrote the equivalent of “the the Assad’s” :D. Let’s chalk it up to River Blindness and my numerous other errors to…hmmm…Relapsing Fever. Yeah, that’s the ticket ;).
- Tamerlane