just goes to show the quality of leadership that resides in damascus. oh well, i guess if syria continues to harbor terrorists and conduct state-sponsored terrorism, paranoia is an expected behavior.

What a load of B.S., Israel will not strike at Syria first(not while Olmert is incharge). If anything Israel is reacting to what it sees Hezbollah doing in Lebanon and how Syria is still supplying Hez, with Rockets, ammo etc. Israel is just readying it self for what it sees Hezbollah doing and Olmert's gov. doesn't want ot get caught with its pants down, so it is increasing survilance on the border,holding excerises with the front line troops, and making sure the homefront command is ready for anything. This is how it should be the Homefront needs to be rehearsed before the rockets fly so that the response will be second nature and automatic and quickly, not like the Summer Lebanon war when we the residents of the North felt abandoned by the Government( both national and local). Every nation on earth has the right to hold military excerises and that is just what Israel is doing, it is not a sign of aggression,but a sign of want to protect its citizens!

And what is Syria's 'Air Force" doing ? Sending its last few planes to Iraq for safety ? Or driving them to Turkey? HA HA HA Israel can drop bombs on those soldiers near Leb's Bekaa Valley - and Damascus, as it did on Assad's palace in Aleppo, and its nuclear facility in eastern Syria.

Abdul Bari Atwan is a Syrian, Baathist (pro-Saddam) hack whose anti-West, anti-Israel views are often broadcast on the BBC, Sky and other media venues. Why anyone would listen to this egregious liar is beyond me.

Israel cannot be reconciled with the Mafia regime of Assad. Syria will wait till the moment that it sees chances of defeating Israel. Syria cannot efford good relations with Israel. The Assad family has established a hereditary dynasty shored up by repression within, and confrontation and terror abroad. The rule of the Assads is not aimed at improving the lot of their people or forwarding a particular ideology. They changed ideology from secular Arabism to a seemingly impossible confection of pan-Arabism and Islamist extremism because it was expedient to do so. Hafez Assad came to power following a dizzying succession of coups that had made Syria the most unstable regime in the Middle East. The Assads are seated atop a bucking bronco. They are members of the Allawi religious minority who are usually not even considered to be Muslims. They rule a country of disparate minorities with a potential for chaos almost as great as that of Iraq. The radical Muslim Brotherhood is always there, threatening to take over the country by fair means or foul, and the usual Ba'th party rivalries that have plagued all such regimes are also a threat to Assad family rule. Their rule is not about improving living standards for Syria. Syrian living standards have fallen behind the none-too-glamorous ones of Jordan or Egypt. It is not about democracy, a Western luxury Syria can't afford, according to Bashar Assad. The Assad regime is about stability, and it is about money and power for the Assad family. The regime is comparable in every way to the fictional Corleone Mafia family. Prosperity and peace would ruin the Assad regime. Therefore, Western assumptions that Syrian leadership must want peace and prosperity are mistaken, and it is pointless to "engage" Syria in dialogue except insofar as it is possible to confront them with their violations and insist that they mend their ways as explained at : http://tinyurl.com/2em5r5

This means Syria is preparing for another Hizbullah war: Hizbullah could initiate via rockets, and Syria would then preemptively defend a potential location for an Israeli ground incursion, the only response that could prove decisive given the results of 2006.

But then what else is new? Anyway, this is ridiculous. Israeli operations are pinpoint strikes. and calling up reservists has absolutely no impact on such things. This is Syria trying to threaten Israel, or possibly gathering forces to threaten Lebanon.

A preemptive military action is exactly what we should do. It would be the opening move towards a final confrontation with Iran. But WILL we? Not a chance & the Syrians know it. With our current gov't., we can't even deal with Gaza or anyone else for that matter. This is just more propaganda, a means to exert pressure on Olmert, a signal to the looney peace-jerks to call for negotiations & cede the Golan. It is also a sly military move - by creating military preparations over & over again, they lower our level of alert since repetition makes it difficult to know if it's for real in the event they are crazy enough to initiate an attack. And, when Iran has nuclear weapons, with a nuclear ally, Syria will attack us. So will Hezbollah, & so will Hamas.

.. but with Wimpy at the helm, we probably wouldn't win anyway.

Make syria willing to take a chance and intiate a strike then it will be all over

I see, you have already your gravestone with victim of preemption on.

Are these manouveres because they worry about an Israeli threat or Syria wants to an excuse to send forces back into Lebanon. If the Syrians are seriously worried about an Israeli attack then putting troops in large numbers in that area is only going to make it a prime strategic target for Israel. If the war breaks out the IDF will have to deal with as many Syrian forces as quickly as possible to reduce risk of Syrian counter attack against Israel.

THIS IS ALL MADNESS AND IS ALL FROM SATAN THE FATHER OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION.GOD CREATED US FOR LIFE NOT DEATH.