Syria Threatens to Send Israel Back to 'Stone Age'

(Isaiah 17:1) The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. (Jeremiah 49:24-25) Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail. How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy! Can the Rapture be far behind?

Syria has threatened to "send Israel back to the era of prehistoric man" if the Jewish state attacks it with unconventional weapons. A source close to decision-makers in Damascus was quoted by Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai on Saturday as saying that, "If Israel uses unconventional weapons, we'll respond in a similar fashion." Earlier this week, an Israeli minister told the Sunday Times that Syria would be "sent back to the Stone Age, if Hezbollah launches ballistic missiles into Israel. The Syrian official said Damascus has upgraded its military capabilities and has prepared for a number of possible scenarios in case a war against Israel breaks out. "Despite the fact that Syria has been outside the cycle of war since 1973, it did not sit idly by for even one day and is still working to develop its capabilities via missiles," he was quoted by the Kuwait paper as saying. The official said Syria has drawn lessons from Hezbollah's "success" during the second Lebanon War and has since then developed "advanced methods of warfare."

'War could break out tomorrow'

The Syrian source said Damascus' wartime strategy is based in part on the possibility of opening a broad front against Israel, from Rosh Hanikra to the Golan Heights. In addition, said the official, Syria is capable of launching 60 ballistic missiles deep into Israeli territory if the Jewish State will "dare to try and undermine Damascus' sovereignty." "Syria can also launch 600 short-range tactical missiles into Israel in one day," he said, while detailing plans to attack Israel's coastline if a war breaks out. In this framework, he said, Syrian forces would employ sea-to-surface missiles against Israeli civilian and military targets, including ports. The official did not address claims that Syria was transferring scud missiles to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hezbollah political bureau member Ghaleb Abu Zainab said during an interview with NBN television on Friday that his group does not need Scud missiles to defend Lebanon. “The resistance possesses arms that can reach deep into Israel,” Abu Zainab said, adding that Hezbollah is completely ready to confront the Jewish State. According to Abu Zainab, Washington and Jerusalem are using their accusations of the Scud transfer to attempt to divert attention away from Israel’s "violations" in the Palestinian territories. Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem said Saturday, "We are ruling out the possibility of an imminent (Israeli) attack, but the resistance is operating under the assumption that a war could break out tomorrow, so that we will not be caught by surprise in any way." Another senior Hezbollah figure, Lebanese Agriculture Minister Hussein al-Hajj Hassan, said Saturday that allegations made by the US and the "Zionist enemy" regarding the Scud missile transfers are aimed at "applying pressure on Syria, Lebanon and the resistance.

Israel Threatens to Send Syria Back to Stone Age

(According to report in Sunday Times, Israeli minister said if Hezbollah dares to attack with ballistic missiles, responsibility will fall on Syria's shoulders, Israel will mercilessly attack strategic targets. 'Assad playing with fire)

After Foreign Minister Avignor Lieberman threatened that Syrian President Bashar Assad will lose his power should he provoke Israel, recent reports of advanced missiles being transferred from Syria to Hezbollah have led to more serious threats being made. "We will return Syria back to the Stone Age," an Israeli minister was quoted as saying in British paper, the Sunday Times. The paper reported that this sentiment was communicated to Damascus via a third party. According to the report, the minister, speaking off the record, warned last week that Israel will do so by "crippling its power stations, ports, fuel storage and every bit of strategic infrastructure if Hezbollah dare to launch ballistic missiles against us." The reason behind increasing tensions in the Israel-Syria arena broke last week in a report in Kuwaiti newspaper, al-Rai, that the Syrian military trained members of Hezbollah in how to fire advanced Scud ballistic missiles. In response, it has been reported that Israel directed pointed warnings to Syria via Turkey and Qatar that it will attack targets in Syria and Lebanon if the missiles reach Hezbollah. On this backdrop, the Syrian minister in Washington was summoned for a warning. Washington has voiced contradictory viewpoints on the Scud issue. The State Department reported that they are "very concerned" by reports of the transfer of advanced weaponry to Hezbollah. However, over the weekend, senior administration officials expressed doubts as to whether the Scuds really made their way across the border Syria-Lebanon border. According to the report in the Sunday Times, Israel "now regards Hezbollah as a division of the Syrian army and that reprisals against Syria will be fast and devastating." As such, Israel has decided to hold Syria directly responsible for Hezbollah's activities following intelligence assessments that Beirut has lost control over the strengthening Shi'ite organization. Until now, Israel has said that Lebanon will be responsible for any attack made by Hezbollah on Israel. “We’ll not hesitate to attack Syria if our national security is in jeopardy,” said the same Israeli minister. “Assad knows that, and he’s playing with fire.”

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