It now appears that the Israel Air Force hit something in Syria last week. What it was remains unclear, but the U.S. government confirmed to The New York Times that it was, indeed, something. Take a deep breath here because it may be the beginning of a scary, but ultimately important change in the way the West deals with terrorists with territory.
Unlike transnational al Qaeda, Iran and Syria are traditional state sponsors of terrorism. They provide the assets terrorists/non-state actors need and benefit from the deniability for the mayhem that terrorists create. Iran, sometimes directly and sometimes through its Syrian puppet, provides territory for training and safe haven, money, passports, weapons, ideological and logistical support for its terrorist allies in Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Iraq, parts of Africa and elsewhere.
They benefit every time a Western asset, ally or friend is hurt, just as al Qaeda benefits. Functionally, Sunni and Shiite terrorists have the same goals – the spread of jihadist Islam and Sharia law. Functionally, they have the same enemy – the United States and our allies, including many in the Muslim world who see fundamentalist, violent Islam as anathema. Persian-religious-Shiite Iran has proven able to look across the differences to the similarities - supporting Arab-religious-Sunni Hamas; Arab-secular Syrian Ba’athists, Arab-religious-Shiite Iraqis; and Arab-religious-Sunni al Qaeda.
What helps to sustain this network is the jihadist operating principle that borders, while meaningless to them, are sacrosanct to us. “The war in Iraq” is understood by some Americans to exist only within the borders of Iraq, while “the war against al Qaeda” can be fought in Pakistan instead, if one is tired of doing it in Iraq. Some Americans worry about “expanding” the war to Iran or Syria, while Iran and Syria routinely send weapons and fighters into Iraq to kill American soldiers. American intelligence has located Iranian Republican Guard bases on the Iranian side of the border and traced weapons from Iran in Iraq. One reason they do is that they can with impunity. Gen. Petraeus showed slides illustrating the inflow of weapons and fighters from both east and west, and called Iranian and Syrian intrusion “malign,” an excellent choice of words.
Theories abound over what Israel hit in Syria – CNN thought it was Iranian weapons transiting Syria to Lebanon; The New York Times speculated on nuclear material from North Korea; Agence France Presse and the Middle East Times said it was an Iranian-built airbase; The Jerusalem Post quoted Kuwaiti daily Al-Jareeda saying it was Iranian missiles; others suggested that Israel was probing the new Russian air defense system and, because it is the same one Iran has, would share the information with the U.S. as prelude to an American strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.
The full story will surface eventually – the Syrians are VERY upset and one Israeli source said there was a “very big hole” in Syria. Whatever the specifics, Israel reminded us that, as President Bush wisely said but failed to follow through on, this is a “war against terrorists and the states that harbor and support them.” In order to win, the West has to be prepared to fight the war where it is, not where we are.
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