Article

2007-04-13 Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Analysis: Don't underestimate Syria's military

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Posted by Brett 2007-04-13 00:00|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Hell no! They might crash and burn even better than Saddam's!!!

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-04-13 00:52|| 2007-04-13 00:52|| Front Page Top

#2 ASIA TIMES > BACK DOOR TO DAMASCUS. Claims Dubya may had PDeniably used Nancy for discreet, politically highly sensitive diplomacy vv ASSAD + other politicos. OTOH, SAUDI ARABIA > Nancy's visit a test of future ALTERNATE PRESIDENCY???; +
WND.com > DEFECTOR - Radical Iran has URANIUM for nuke bombs, + Alabama City PREPPING LOCAL CIVIL DEFENSE FOR WMD-NUCLEAR TERROR.

Posted by JosephMendiola 2007-04-13 02:26|| 2007-04-13 02:26|| Front Page Top

#3 Whatever the situation, it's all thanks to Iran.

Posted by gorb 2007-04-13 03:55|| 2007-04-13 03:55|| Front Page Top

#4 In short, Syria is preparing to wage a terrorist war writen large against Israeli civilians, while serenly confident thet Israel will (be forced to) stick to conventional rules of war.

Posted by gromgoru 2007-04-13 04:10|| 2007-04-13 04:10|| Front Page Top

#5 Probably to take the heat off of Iran when the time comes.

Posted by gorb 2007-04-13 04:16|| 2007-04-13 04:16|| Front Page Top

#6 What say you, pelosi?

Posted by newc">newc 2007-04-13 06:13|| 2007-04-13 06:13|| Front Page Top

#7 I did it for the children.(TM)

Posted by Nancy Pelousy 2007-04-13 06:36|| 2007-04-13 06:36|| Front Page Top

#8 They may have a large, and even well-equipped military - but how well-trained is it? A gun is only as good as the trigger-puller, and that is a function of practice. Same rules apply to Scuds as .22's.

Posted by Glenmore">Glenmore 2007-04-13 07:39|| 2007-04-13 07:39|| Front Page Top

#9 Syria v. Israel is the military equivalent of a college football game between Duke & Florida.

Posted by Raj 2007-04-13 08:27|| 2007-04-13 08:27|| Front Page Top

#10 i still don't understand how every news coverage acts like the IDF had their asses handed too them in lebanon.they lost some soldiers that etnds too happen in war. how many of hezbollah where killed that was never mentioned was it?

Posted by sinse 2007-04-13 10:46|| 2007-04-13 10:46|| Front Page Top

#11 Why are 10,000 troops responsible for "operating" 300 Scud missiles? If I carried the 1 correctly each time, isn't that 333 1/3rd troops per missile? How do they keep from banging into one another, knocking elbows into switches at inopportune moments, joggling fingers setting coordinates? It's nice of the Jerusalem Post to share this information, though -- now Avi and Yossi will be prepared when they're called up to aim the Israeli response... Didn't we give Israel bunker-buster missiles last spring?

Posted by trailing wife 2007-04-13 11:46|| 2007-04-13 11:46|| Front Page Top

#12 On the other hand, don't overestimate Syria's Military. After all they've fought through proxies for decades since they had their butts handed to them by the Israelis.

Posted by rjschwarz 2007-04-13 11:52|| 2007-04-13 11:52|| Front Page Top

#13 Not only do I agree with Sinse, but would also point out that the Israelis now have troops that have actually fought. The Syrian army hasn't been out of its barracks for over 30 years.

Posted by DoDo 2007-04-13 11:56|| 2007-04-13 11:56|| Front Page Top

#14 Including the Syrian barracks that were in Lebanon?

Posted by mrp 2007-04-13 12:11|| 2007-04-13 12:11|| Front Page Top

#15 TW, that would be 33 and one third per missle.
Math, why does it hate women ?

Posted by wxjames 2007-04-13 12:28|| 2007-04-13 12:28|| Front Page Top

#16 "In satellite images broadcast this week on CBN News in the US, reporter Chris Mitchell revealed Syria's three major missile sites."

What the...Satellite images from the 700 club? Whoaa...ole Pat Robertson is truley a force to be reckoned with now. Not only is he goin high-tech he still has that whole pipeline to god thingey when the sats aren't in posisiton.

Posted by DepotGuy 2007-04-13 12:53|| 2007-04-13 12:53|| Front Page Top

#17 #1 Hell no! They might crash and burn even better than Saddam's!!!
Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-13 00:52

I say they crash like Saddam's because they were Saddam's.

Posted by kilowattkid 2007-04-13 13:01|| 2007-04-13 13:01|| Front Page Top

#18 TW,

Even at 33 & 1/3rd men per missile, the order of battle breaks down like this:

1 senior NCO or Junior Officer to command the launcher/transporter
1 Crew Chief
3 Crew Members
28 & 1/3 to guard the other five guys

Mike

Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2007-04-13 14:04|| 2007-04-13 14:04|| Front Page Top

#19 correct, because during the 6 day war the Israelis found syrian soldiers chained to their cannons or whatever they were using at that time

Posted by Spuse the Elder7296 2007-04-13 15:16|| 2007-04-13 15:16|| Front Page Top

#20 TW, that would be 33 and one third per missle.
Math, why does it hate women ?

In my case, wxjames, it's because math majors can't do arithmetic. We deal (ok, dealt -- it was long ago and far away) in higher concepts than actual real numbers. I can't do tax returns, either. That's one of the many reasons I married and engineer. ;-)

Thanks everyone for the corrections and explanations. Chained to the cannon? Oh my.

Posted by trailing wife 2007-04-13 15:27|| 2007-04-13 15:27|| Front Page Top

#21 the syrians were better in '73 than they were in '67, so it would be kinda silly to judge them in 2007 by 1967. In any case, we're not talking about Syrian troops going into maneuvers, but fighting from fixed positions, which is, IIUC, easier for less well trained troops.

I have no doubt the IDF would have an easier time of it than in Lebanon - the different political situation would mean air power could be used with less restraint, theyd probably commit large numbers of infantry sooner, and their infantry is more experienced. and theres more room to use armor. But it could still be difficult - there are still limits on how successful air power will be, and there will probably still be limited time before a UNSC imposed ceasefire. Its not at all silly for the IDF to prepare for the worst.

Posted by liberalhawk 2007-04-13 15:50|| 2007-04-13 15:50|| Front Page Top

#22 tw + math = charming fun

Posted by RD">RD 2007-04-13 15:54|| 2007-04-13 15:54|| Front Page Top

#23 Nukes screw up the equation for everyone. I do believe that Tel Aviv would be more inclined to use nukes today than they ever have been in the past. Damascus, Homs, Latakia, Aleppo, and Hama are all within range of Israeli F-16s. Syria has some aging SA-5 antiaircraft weapons, but they don't work very well against low-flying (terrain hugging) aircraft. The SA-5 was initially developed to target the B-70 high-altitude bomber, and to TRY to curtail the activities of the SR-71. We never deployed the B-70, and the SA-5 was totally ineffective against the SR-71.

No army that doesn't have air cover can prevail against one that does. The Israelis will destroy the Syrian air force, while remaining capable of inflicting heavy damage against Syrian positions. Using the Israeli incusion into Lebanon as a starting point is going to prove very disasterous for the Syrians, if they try it.

Posted by Old Patriot">Old Patriot 2007-04-13 17:56|| http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/]">[http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/] 2007-04-13 17:56|| Front Page Top

#24 Also, remember that the last time the Syrians and Israelis mixed it up in the air, the kill ratio was 88:0 in favor of Israel. Also, review the 1973 War in Golan Heights where the Syrians had complete operational surprise and the advantage of the Saggers {back when they were something new} : the Israelis lost a number of tanks but destroyed entire Syrian brigades.

Posted by Shieldwolf 2007-04-13 20:32|| 2007-04-13 20:32|| Front Page Top

23:59 JosephMendiola
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22:58 crosspatch
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22:43 Jackal
22:36 SR-71
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