Middle East Updates: Syria: U.S. Attack On Syria Would Justify Retaliation Against Israel - Tel Aviv Will Be Hit If Damascus Attacked

Watching the prophetic scriptures come to life as we watch:

Syrian Army Source: U.S. Attack On Syria Would Justify Retaliation Against Israel

Syria and Iran on Tuesday threatened to attack Israel in retaliation for any Western military action, with some reports indicating strikes against the regime could begin later this week.

A senior Syrian army source told Iran’s Fars News Agency on Tuesday that a full-scale US attack on Syria would justify an attack on the Jewish state.

“If Damascus comes under attack, Tel Aviv will be targeted too and a full-scale war against Syria will actually issue a license for attacking Israel,” the Syrian army source said.

“If Syria is attacked, Israel will also be set on fire and such an attack will, in turn, engage Syria’s neighbors,” he added. “Thus, a US attack on Syria will herald frequent strikes and attacks on Israel, not just by Damascus and its allies in retaliation, but by extremist groups.”

Esmaeil Kowsari, a member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee told Tasnimthat US action against Syria would create more problems for Israel.

“If the US would make [an antagonist] move against Syria... the Zionist regime’s problems will be doubled,” he said.

Several high-ranking Hezbollah officials told the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai on Tuesday that they warned against Western intervention and that it could cause a full-scale regional war, as quoted by Fars News Agency.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Abbas Araqchi, echoed the warning in a press conference on Tuesday after meeting with UN deputy chief for political affairs Jeffrey Feltman in Tehran over the last two days.

“As regards the possibility of a military strike on Syria, he [Feltman] was frankly told that any use of military means will have dire consequences not only for Syria, but for the entire region,” he said.

Top Syrian Official: Tel Aviv Will Be Hit If Damascus Attacked

"If Damascus is attacked, Tel Aviv will become a target and a full-scale war against Syria will essentially justify an attack against Israel," a senior Syrian army official told Iranian news agency Fars on Tuesday.

"If Syria is attacked, Israel will also be set on fire and such an attack will, in turn, engage Syria's neighbors," the source added

"Thus, a US attack on Syria will herald frequent strikes and attacks on Israel, not just by Damascus and its allies in retaliation, but by extremist groups who will find a ground for staging their aspirations," he told Fars.

Also on Tuesday, the Israeli Defense Ministry held a special meeting in Tel Aviv with the participation of Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Benny Gantz and an array of top IDF officers.

"The State of Israel is prepared for every scenario," Netanyahu said after the meeting. "We're not part of the Syrian civil war, but if we'll spot an attempt to harm us we'll respond with great force."

Attack On Syria Likely To Trigger Terrorists Acts Against U.S., Israel

Some analysts say that Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militiafighting in support of embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad, likely would be inspired to ramp up operations in Iran’s “shadow war” with the U.S. and its allies.

Some Middle East analysts, meanwhile, said a U.S. strike likely would inspire the cadre of military and intelligence officials running Syria to commission their own terrorist activities with the goal of disrupting the existing U.S. military presence in the region and deepening instability surrounding Israel.

Joshua Landis, who heads the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, suggested that the Assad government in Syriaalready has backed terrorist activities in Lebanon.

“Assad is not powerless,” Mr. Landis said. “We just saw car bombs go off in Tripoli that killed many Sunni Muslims. So he can do things like that to destabilize things and inflame sectarian tensions in Lebanon.”

“The reaction of the Assad regime will depend on how hard the strike is,” said Mr. Landis, who added that the Assad government might respond by hiring Palestinian groups to target U.S. military officials believed to be in Jordan.

Video Update: It Doesn't Make Any sense

Reasons Why Attack On Syria Is A 'Really Bad Idea'

The Obama administration is pledging that the strikes will be "limited", but what happens when the Syrians fight back?  What happens if they sink a U.S. naval vessel or they have agents start hitting targets inside the United States?  Then we would have a full-blown war on our hands.  And what happens if the Syrians decide to retaliate by hitting Israel?  If Syrian missiles start raining down on Tel Aviv, Israel will be extremely tempted to absolutely flatten Damascus, and they are more than capable of doing precisely that.  And of course Hezbollah and Iran are not likely to just sit idly by as their close ally Syria is battered into oblivion.  We are looking at a scenario where the entire Middle East could be set aflame, and that might only be just the beginning.  Russia and China are sternly warning the U.S. government not to get involved in Syria, and by starting a war with Syria we will do an extraordinary amount of damage to our relationships with those two global superpowers.  Could this be the beginning of a chain of events that could eventually lead to a massive global conflict with Russia and China on one side and the United States on the other?  Of course it will not happen immediately, but I fear that what is happening now is setting the stage for some really bad things.  The following are 22 reasons why starting World War 3 in the Middle East is a really bad idea...

Below are just a few of these reasons - the article is worth reading in full:

#10 Hezbollah will likely do whatever it can to fight for the survival of the Assad regime.  That could include striking targets inside both the United States and Israel.

#11 Iran's closest ally is Syria.  Will Iran sit idly by as their closest ally is removed from the chessboard?

#12 Starting a war with Syria will cause significant damage to our relationship with Russia.  On Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said that the West is acting like a "monkey with a hand grenade".

#13 Starting a war with Syria will cause significant damage to our relationship with China.  And what will happen if the Chinese decide to start dumping the massive amount of U.S. debt that it is holding?  Interest rates would absolutely skyrocket and we would rapidly be facinga nightmare scenario.

#14 Dr. Jerome Corsi and Walid Shoebat have compiled some startling evidence that it was actually the Syrian rebels that the U.S. is supporting that were responsible for the chemical weapons attack that is being used as justification to go to war with Syria...

#16 If the Saudis really want to topple the Assad regime, they should do it themselves.  They should not expect the United States to do their dirty work for them.

#17 A former commander of U.S. Central Command has said that a U.S. attack on Syria would result in "a full-throated, very, very serious war".

#18 A war in the Middle East will be bad for the financial markets.  The Dow was down about 170 points today and concern about war with Syria was the primary reason.

#19 A war in the Middle East will cause the price of oil to go up.  On Tuesday, the price of U.S. oil rose to about $109 a barrel.

#20 There is no way in the world that the U.S. government should be backing the Syrian rebels.  As I discussed a few days ago, the rebels have pledged loyalty to al-Qaeda, they have beheaded numerous Christians and they have massacred entire Christian villages.  If the U.S. government helps these lunatics take power in Syria it will be a complete and utter disaster.

#21 A lot of innocent civilians inside Syria will end up getting killed.  Already, a lot of Syrians are expressing concern about what "foreign intervention" will mean for them and their families...

Also see:

U.S., UK, France Push For Syria Response As UN Chemical Weapons Probe Delayed

Syria Vows To Defend Itself In Ways That Will 'Surprise' The World

Islam Rises, Worldwide Anti-Semitism Surges

Jittery Israelis Overrun Gas Mask Distribution Points

IDF Employs Full Missile Defenses Against Syria

Striking Syria Will Make U.S. Military 'Al-Qaeda's Air Force'

BRICS Close To Consensus On 100 Billion Foreign Currency Reserve Fund