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Israeli soldiers training for chemical warfare (file)
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| By Stan Goodenough April 15, 2007 |
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For hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Israelis, agonizing death by nerve-gas-induced asphyxiation lies just minutes away.
Inside hardened concrete structures, awaiting the signal from Damascus, hundreds of long-range missiles sit on their launchers, many tipped with warheads containing some of the most lethal substances known to man.
In the Syrian-occupied part of the Golan Heights 300 SCUD missiles -- some self-manufactured by Syria -- have been deployed.
But it is in Hama, 270 km north of Israel's border, that the heart of Syria's missile program beats.
There, according to CBN reporter Chris Mitchell, whose story was referenced in The Jerusalem Post on April 13, multiple launchers and missiles are housed in more than 30 bunkers.
"Another missile site near Homs [50 km south of Hama] contains a previously undisclosed chemical warhead facility where a drive-through building leads to a facility where warheads are installed on ballistic missiles," said the Post.
Already back in 2003, the respected Jane's Foreign Report quoted a senior Israeli defense source as saying that Syria has "at least 100 long-range ballistic nerve-gas missiles aimed at central Israel."
Damascus' non-conventional weapon of choice is VX gas, one of the most toxic nerve agents ever synthesized.
The Israeli told Jane's that, with the VX, the Syrians believed they had balanced Israel's nuclear advantage.
Last summer Syria watched, enthralled, as the Lebanese Hezbollah with its small and primitive Katyusha rockets dealt devastating blows to the Israeli military, economy and political leadership.
This has led Syria to believe that it may be able to defeat the mighty IDF.
Syria is no Lebanon; the 400,000 strong Syrian military machine with its 10,000 elite fighters is no paltry Hezbollah (which has at most 11,000 fighters, only 1,000 of them full-time.)
Like his late father, Hafez, Syria's Bashar el-Assad is considered Israel's most dangerous immediate foe.
Syria has a pact with Iran and has warned that it will retaliate against Israel in the event of an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.
Jerusalem believes it is only a matter of time before those facilities give Iran the nuclear weapons it needs to destroy Israel. It is increasingly clear that they must be dealt with, but Syria is holding a poisoned gun to Israel's head.
This article is based on one which appeared in Jerusalem Newswire. |
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