Israel Matzav

Wikileaks: In case of war, Israel may target Syrian human shields

A cable from the US embassy in Damascus disclosed by Wikileaks claims that in the event of war, Israel may target Hezbullah arms depots in Syria. Some of those arms depots are located 'among the civilian population.' So in effect, Syria has turned its own citizens into human shields to protect Hezbullah's weapons.

"If rockets were to rain down on Israeli civilians in Tel Aviv, Israel would still have powerful incentives, as it did in 2006, to keep Syria out of the conflict, but it might also face compelling reasons for targeting Hizbullah facilities in Syria, some of which are in and around populated areas," said the diplomat in the leaked cable, which is titled "Is now the time to raise Hizbullah with Syria?"

"As Washington weighs how to approach Syrian officials in upcoming engagement efforts, discussing Hizbullah from the perspective of the regional strategic landscape may help to facilitate a 'big picture' conversation in which we could challenge these assumptions and focus Damascus on the importance of taking cooperative steps with the U.S. now," the cable adds.

The diplomat said he believed that sounding a warning, "probably in a one-on-one meeting with (Syrian) President (Bashar) al-Assad, would be worth considering in pursuit of a broader, more strategic dialogue."

The cable was written in late 2009.

Ain't dictatorship great?

Labels: human shields, Wikileaks

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:02 AM