Mere Rhetoric: This Summer's War With Syria - Syria Aims Chemical And Biological Weapons At Israeli Cities, Complains That Israel Might Attack It To Prevent It From Launching Chemical And Biological Weapons

They're not even being subtle about it:

Damascus does not believe Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's public statements of reassurance that Israel has no intention of attacking Syria, and is genuinely concerned about an Israeli preemptive attack, according to official Israeli assessments. Olmert's attempts over the last few weeks to calm Syrian jitters have not been overly successful, and Syrian President Bashar Assad still believes he plans to attack, according to these estimates... Despite these assurances, the Syrians, according to these assessments, fear that Olmert will attack, in large part, to make up for the failure of last summer's war in Lebanon and to counter what is expected to be a damming final report issued later this year by the Winograd Committee looking into the Second Lebanon War.

... "to make up for the failure of last summer's war." It's like they've already printed the press releases that the NYT and LAT will then print up as sophisticated and nuanced insights into the domestic Israeli political situation.

Ah well. At least Syria hasn't weaponized their biological stockpile, supplemented it with chemical munitions, and aimed the entire thing at Israel's dense population centers. That's the kind of thing that's likely to cause Israel to preemptively strike Syria's military targets in order to save the lives of literally tens of thousands of Israelis.

Hey, you don't think that Assad is intentionally stoking Israeli security fears on one end and then bleating pathetically to the world about the mean and militaristic Jews on the other? That would be dishonest. To say nothing about what it would imply about the international community's balanced and even-handed approach to Middle East peacemaking... Anyway, happy Monday:

Military sources said intelligence shows Syria was nearing the end of an accelerated deployment of a large rocket arsenal of Katyusha and Scud missiles, including Scud D and other improved missiles supplied by Iran, that can deliver 500-kilogram payloads to Tel Aviv with a destructive force large enough to damage entire blocks of buildings. According to the military sources, launchers now known to be located on the Syrian side could potentially unleash a barrage on IDF installations, infrastructure and civilian targets with missiles numbering in the hundreds within an hour... Hizbullah was paying exorbitant prices to buy up large areas from Christian and Druze owners on the northern bank of the Litani River in southern Lebanon, where its fighters were then fortifying positions and stock-piling missiles in anticipation of a second round of hostilities with Israel. This was taking place, according to the report, just beyond the reach of UNIFIL patrols.

Let's get the UN in on this. They're peacemakers.

References:
* Syria now capable of sending chemical and biological warheads to Israel [Israel Insider]
* IDF assessment: Syria thinks Olmert wants to launch war [JPost]

Previously:
* This Summer's War With Syria - Peace Deal Rumors Are Suspiciously Incoherent
* This Summer's War With Syria, Iranian Coordination Edition
* This Summer's War With Syria - Syria Says They're "Actively Preparing For War With Israel"

Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit