Whoo-hoo… The Israeli’s have buzzed the home of the ophthalmologist.
Israeli warplanes buzzed the summer residence of Syrian President Bashar Assad early Wednesday, military officials said, in a message aimed at pressuring the Syrian leader to win the release of a captured Israeli soldier.
The officials said on condition of anonymity that the fighter jets flew over Assad’s palace in a low-altitude overnight raid near the Mediterranean port city of Latakia in northwestern Syria. Israeli television reports said four planes were involved, and Assad was home at the time
Did his glasses fall off?
UPDATE: Dept. of Yeah, Right – Syrians claim they drove the Israelis off.
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9 Comments
1. TheRealSwede:You can say what you want about the Israelis, but they do have a certain sense of style, don’t they?
Jun 28, 2006 - 11:33 am 2. JeremyR:They should have done the world a favor and blown the place up and him with it.
Jun 28, 2006 - 12:20 pm 3. kpom:You think that Bashir is having a little chat today with the commander of Syria’s air defense forces?
You think?
Jun 28, 2006 - 12:43 pm 4. kpom:We may be returning to 1970 – on January 29, 1970, the Syrians sent supersonic planes over Haifa, causing a sonic boom, and breaking many windows. The Israeli Air Force promptly retaliated by sending supersonic planes over Damascus, also breaking many windows.
Both sides, of course, were secretly funded by the International Glazier Conspiracy…
Jun 28, 2006 - 1:00 pm 5. Bruce Wechsler:It sure would be cool to have been able to see Baby Assad’s face when the sky suddenly turned loud.
But I’m concerned it wil have the opposite effect. I doubt Israel will attack Syria directly for this kidnapping even if the soldier is murdered by Hamas in any place other than Syria proper (at least that’s what I’m pretty sure Assad’s advisors are saying). So all it may really do is very publicly humiliate an already fragile muslim boy king. Whether Hamas would follow his word I don;t know, but he might just give the go-ahead for murdering the soldier.
It would be fun and cute if it wasn’t so damned serious and ugly.
Jun 28, 2006 - 2:02 pm 6. Ray Zacek:I don’t know about the glasses, but I suspect Assad had to change his underwear after that Israeli sortie.
Jun 28, 2006 - 2:43 pm 7. Daniel in Brookline:Actually, the IAF has done this recently (i.e. in the last few years… sorry, I’m not remembering the date at the moment). If I recall correctly, Hizballah had been causing quite a bit of trouble on Israel’s northern border, and the Lebanese all seemed helpless to do anything about it — while the Syrians, who of course controlled Lebanon with an iron fist, claimed that this had nothing to do with them.
The IAF buzzed Dr. Assad and broke a few of his windows. Call it the military equivalent of a bullhorn blaring “knock, knock”. Hizballah was mysteriously reined in sharply, and quickly too. (It didn’t last — such things never last in the Middle East — but it was a useful reminder of just who has air superiority in the Middle East.)
respectfully,
Jun 28, 2006 - 2:56 pm 8. joe:Daniel in Brookline
I think it was a wake up call. We know where you live and where you are. If we want you dead, you would be dead and their is not much your toy military can do about it.
I for one would hope they would take him out.
Given the PA has conducted what amounts to an act of war, I firmly believe their political leadership are now fair targets.
Jun 28, 2006 - 8:22 pm 9. Mark Poling:“So all it may really do is very publicly humiliate an already fragile muslim boy king. Whether Hamas would follow his word I don;t know, but he might just give the go-ahead for murdering the soldier.”
FWIW, Assad isn’t exactly a muslim; his family follow the alawi sect. For that matter, how much the opthalmologist actually controls is an open question. Whatever, there is a time for sabre (or in this case, window) rattling, and I think Israel picked a good one.
Jun 30, 2006 - 9:48 am