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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Swaggering Syria Shoots at Israeli Jets, Flying Toward War?
2016-09-16
To be accurate, they shot at the Israeli jets, and missed.
[Observer] Syria shot two surface-to-air missiles at Israeli jets--and they shot at the Israeli jets not even over their own air space.

These were not errant missiles or spillover shots which is military parlance for mistakes. These missiles were calculated and intentionally targeted shots from an S-200 Russian missile system aimed at Israeli jets that were, quite frankly, targeting Syrian rocket launchers.
Rocket launchers that, quite frankly, had just -- accidentally or not -- launched rockets into Israel.
This is a major change in Syrian engagement. It could signal an escalation of tensions between Israel and Syria, especially because three mortars were shot from Syria into Israel later that day.
Posted by:Besoeker

#5  I suspect Putin's people are speaking roughly with Syrian generals about the wisdom of expanding a war they are not clearly winning.

If you were to go to war with Israel i would think the opening shot would best be some kind of raid on Israeli air fields to give your own airforce some kind of chance. A smart fella would find a way to get Palestinians to stage that raid from the ground so if/when they fail it doesn't track back.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2016-09-16 14:15  

#4  Israel has a lot of folks who speak Russian. If Russia cares about these folks like they care about the folks who speak Russian in Crimea, Syria may have a problem.
Posted by: gorb   2016-09-16 11:19  

#3  Watch where the Hezbollah army moves as Pencil-neck gains more control back. That's when things might get real ugly.
Posted by: AlanC   2016-09-16 11:00  

#2  Post soviet Russians shown a willingness to be reasonable. I'm sure they'll make their Arab dog heel - if the case put to them in a right way.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2016-09-16 07:01  

#1  Large widespread wars often begin with single incidents, e.g. assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Gulf of Tonkin, etc.
Posted by: JohnQC   2016-09-16 06:56  

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