Reports emanating from Washington suggest that U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is looking into the possibility of extending the war on terror by striking Hizbullah bases in Lebanon and provoking a military confrontation with Syria.
Jane’s Intelligence Digest, a publication of the London-based Jane’s organization, reported that the administration may strike Hizbullah militant bases in southern Lebanon and Somalia. The report said benefits of such a move will include pressuring Damascus into ending its support for Palestinian resistance groups residing in the country; disarming Syria of weapons of mass destruction; pressuring Syria into withdrawing from Lebanon; and ousting the Syrian regime and crushing Hizbullah.
Syria has recently been a focal point of the U.S.’s war on terror. The Syria Accountability Act was approved by U.S. President George Bush in December allowing the U.S. to impose economic sanctions on Syria if it does not end its support for terror organizations.
The London-based Arabic daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat said the issue did not get much reportage in the Western press but that the U.S. departments of state and defense mentioned the matter in a daily publication, which analysts say is a confirmation of the reports and an indirect warning to Hizbullah and Syria.
A-Sharq Al-Awsat reported the Pentagon “did not deny” the reports.
The reports coincide with two significant episodes regarding Israel and Hizbullah. An Israeli soldier was killed by Hizbullah fire on the Israeli-Lebanese border last week when he crossed the border while neutralizing a minefield. In retaliation, Israeli warplanes struck at two empty Hizbullah bases located about six miles inside of Lebanese territory.
Hizbullah and Syria are facing international pressure, chiefly from the U.S., to prevent the situation in the region from escalating, A-Sharq Al-Awsat reported.
Also, Israel and Hizbullah are reportedly on the verge of closing a prisoner exchange deal in which 400 Palestinian prisoners and 35 prisoners of other Arab nationalities will be released in exchange for an Israeli businessman and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers.