Time: Israel and U.S. Coordinating How to Target Assad’s Arsenal

Jason Berger — June 17, 2013 – 10:46 am | Foreign Policy | Israel | Military Comments (0) Add a comment

On Friday, Time Magazine reported that the United States and Israel are coordinating closely on how best to target President Bashar al Assad’s chemical weapons arsenals. Earlier this month, the U.S. placed F-16s and Patriot missile batteries in Jordan. In regards to the weapons placement, an Israeli official noted, “It’s a clear, purposeful, presence of a strike force near the border of Syria. I think it’s a message, a clear message.” The U.S. also installed Patriot batteries in Turkey last year.

Most importantly, though, Israeli officials told Time that the U.S. and Israel were planning for assorted scenarios where they could conceivably search and destroy all Assad’s 18 chemical weapons arsenals. According to Time:

One scenario would be the sudden removal of Assad from the scene, be it by flight, death or if he simply disappears. That would prompt the allies to launch operations on the estimated 18 depots and other sites where WMDs are stored, the officials said. Search and destroy operations would also be launched if the weapons appeared to be about to fall into the hands of the rebels, which include Islamist extremists aligned with al-Qaeda. 

Israeli officials also emphasized that it had not been decided who would do what or if the U.S. would deploy troops on the ground. They said it is vital that all chemical and biological weapons are neutralized. Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu mentioned his resolve to BBC in April:

The main arms of concern to us are the arms that are already in Syria - these are anti-aircraft weapons, these are chemical weapons and other very, very dangerous weapons that could be game changers. They will change the conditions, the balance of power in the Middle East. They could present a terrorist threat on a worldwide scale. It is definitely our interest to defend ourselves, but we also think it is in the interest of other countries.

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