Mustard gas, SCUD missles and other nasty surprises await those who take over after Assad leaves. Who will be in control of this weapons cache is, at this point anyones guess but one thing is for sure; it will be Islamists and jihadists who will ultimately have their finger on the trigger.
Israel is worried most, as the missles in Syria have a range where they can easily hit targets within Israel, and do some major damage when they hit. The Israeli military expert Yaakov Katz believes the scenario could be a little brighter, "If Assad will fall, the supply line to Hezbollah will be cut off and Iran will find itself more isolated without the friend it used to have in Syria. That could be a very good outcome for Israel. At the same time though, Israel is very concerned [that] no one in the world can say who will be the potential successor in Syria..."
Whatever the outcome in Syria, and it appears Assad is gone, the fear factor will remain high for a while, only to escalate drastically when we see who is taking charge.
From AINA August 23
Mideast Expert: Syria's WMD Could Fall to Islamists
Israel is "very concerned" over the potential fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, according to Yaakov Katz, Israeli military expert and defense correspondent for the Jerusalem Post.
"All of this extensive, advanced weaponry that Assad has manufactured and hoarded over the past decade will find itself in the hands of people who might even be more radical than Assad, and who don't have the political calculations that he had."
In an exclusive Newsmax interview, Katz also suggests a more positive scenario: "If Assad will fall, the supply line to Hezbollah will be cut off and Iran will find itself more isolated without the friend it used to have in Syria. That could be a very good outcome for Israel. At the same time though, Israel is very concerned [that] no one in the world can say who will be the potential successor in Syria.
"[Assad] has an extensive chemical weapons program, and thousands of SCUD missiles . . . that could do a lot of damage against Israel," Katz says, reasoning that western powers were able to militarily intervene in Libya because, "There was basically no place for Libya to respond to. On the other hand, If the United States or NATO starts to bomb Syria, Assad could fire SCUD missiles into Israel.
"It's an extremely dangerous time, mostly characterized by uncertainty . . . a level of which hasn't been seen for years. Israel could find itself as not only the only democracy in the Middle East, but the only country that's not run by radical Islamists.
"Since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel hasn't faced enemies on its northern and southern fronts," says Katz, regarding the tense situation on Israel's border with Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, where a Palestinian terror attack last week killed eight Israelis and ignited a round of fighting between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
"Sinai has turned into a lawless Wild West of sorts. The Egyptians have completely lost the Sinai and are now trying to restore law and order...
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