Evening Updates: Tensions Increasing In Middle East

The tipping points are definitely approaching:

IDF Fears Syria Attack As Pressure Builds On Assad

Concern is mounting within the IDF over the possibility that Syria will attack Israel as pressure mounts on President Bashar Assad to step down. The move is seen as part of a potential effort by Damascus to deter Arab countries from dispatching military support to opposition forces.

The concern is still under the surface, but the IDF’s Northern Command has drawn up a number of operational responses to a range of scenarios that could evolve along the northern front.

Nevertheless, Israel fears that Assad, under pressure, could turn the military force – that he has been using in an attempt to quell the ongoing uprising against his regime – against Israel.

That is likely why the IDF Spokesman’s Office sent out pictures taken on Tuesday of OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Yair Golan and commander of the Northern Corps Maj.-Gen. Gershon Hacohen touring Mount Hermon and looking toward Syria – showing that the IDF is preparing for attacks along the border.

Israel’s concern hones in on recent reports that Assad is using nerve gas against the opposition. This has led Israel to reassess the possibility that Syria is might now be more willing to use chemical weapons against Israeli targets.

Syria is believed to have one of the most extensive chemical weapon arsenals in the world that reportedly includes Sarin, VX and Mustard Gas.

Israel’s is also considering the possibility that Syria’s arsenal of chemical weapons will fall into terrorist hands.

What Assad Wants In Syria: Unsanctioned International Military Action

The Arab League is waiting on the U.N., Russia and China are holding up the Security Council, and Assad is massacring more Syrians each day. But Obama shouldn’t rush in—an international intervention outside a legal mandate would play into Assad’s hands.

International military action outside an international legal mandate is exactly what Assad wants. It will split the international community further and deepen the mistrust between the great powers, particularly the West and Russia, China, and the other BRICs.

Iran And Al Qaeda Teaming Up For Attack On West?

Osama bin Laden may be dead, but Al Qaeda isn’t resting in peace. Intelligence reports suggest that Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda’s most visible leader, is working with Iran to plan an attack on the West. The New York Post has the details on the plot:

Intelligence sources said Iran has been supplying al Qaeda with training in the use of advanced explosives, “some funding and a safe haven” as part of a deal first worked out in 2009 which has now led to “operational capacity.”[...]

Zawahiri is believed to be planning a “classic” al Qaeda attack, simultaneously on multiple locations, which would confirm the mantle he has assumed as the leader of the global jihad.

Fears Iran Is Helping Al Qaeda Plot Atrocity

Iran and al Qaeda's core leadership under Ayman al Zawahiri have established an "operational relationship" amid fears the terror group is planning a spectacular attack against the West.

There are concerns such an attack, possibly targeting Europe, would be in revenge for the killing ofOsama bin Laden by the US last year.

Sky News' intelligence sources have said Iran has been supplying al Qaeda with training in the use of advanced explosives, "some funding and a safe haven" as part of a deal first worked out in 2009 which has now led to "operational capacity".

IDF Strikes Terror Targets In Gaza After Rocket Attacks

The IDF struck targets in the Gaza Strip Wednesday night, after five rockets fired from the Strip pounded farming regions in southern Israel.

The Israel Air Force attacked "centers of terror activity in the northern and southern Gaza Strip," the IDF Spokesman's Office announced in a statement, identifying direct hits.

The IDF said Wednesday night's strikes were a response to rocket fire targeting southern communities in Israel bordering the Strip.

Two rockets exploded in the Sdot Negev Regional Council, two more fell in the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council, and a fifth fell in the Eshkol Regional Council.

A Warning Sign For The World

Right now, Greece is a warning sign for the world. Nobody wants to lend money to Greece, the Greek banking system is dying, one out of every four businesses has already shut down, unemployment is soaring and the Greek economy has now been in recession for five years in a row.

Things were supposed to be getting better in Greece by now. But instead the Greek depression is getting even worse, and very soon the rest of the world is going to be going through what Greece is currently experiencing.

Unfortunately, most in the mainstream media are treating what is happening in Greece as an “isolated incident” rather than as a very serious warning sign for the world.

Countries such as Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Hungary are heading down the exact same road that Greece has gone. Greece was the first one to experience a full-blown depression, but soon Greece will have a lot of company.

Greece is most definitely a warning sign for the world. If you keep recklessly piling up debt, eventually a day of reckoning comes. It is inevitable.