June 3, 2005
COOL, MORE PRETEXT:
Syria Test-Fires 3 Scud Missiles, Israelis Say (STEVEN ERLANGER, 6/03/05, NY Times)
Syria test-fired three Scud missiles last Friday, including one that broke up over Turkish territory and showered missile parts down onto unsuspecting Turkish farmers, Israeli military officials revealed Thursday.These were the first such Syrian missile tests since 2001, the Israelis said, and were part of a Syrian missile development project using North Korean technology and designed, the Israelis contend, to deliver air-burst chemical weapons. The missiles included one older Scud B, with a range of about 185 miles, and two Scud D's, the Israelis say they believe, with a range of about 435 miles.
Little was especially startling about the tests, Israeli officials said, except the embarrassment to Turkey - a member of NATO - and the timing, during the Lebanese elections.
The Israeli military officials said they interpreted the launchings as a gesture of defiance to the United States and the United Nations by the Syrian president, Bashir al-Assad, who has been pushed in a humiliating fashion to remove Syrian troops from Lebanon since the assassination of the anti-Syrian politician, Rafik Hariri.
Saves cooking up WMD myths. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 3, 2005 12:01 AM
baby assad is the howard dean of the middle east, 2 left feet and 0 frontal lobes.
Posted by: cjm at June 3, 2005 12:36 PMWow, they really make it easy, don't they? Talk about putting up a big sign that says "I'm a doofuss, overthrow me now."
Posted by: Mikey at June 3, 2005 2:04 PMIt's a twofer: Syrian Scud built with NORK technology.
Posted by: Luciferous at June 3, 2005 4:59 PMwe should get a few scuds and put nukes on them.
whenever the norks or syria launch one of theirs, we
can send one of ours back and claim they blew themselves up.
"see what happens when you play with matches, prometheus ?"
Posted by: cjm at June 3, 2005 6:51 PM