Note: The translations of articles from the Hebrew press are prepared by the Government Press Office as a service to foreign journalists in Israel. They express the views of the authors.
THE VIOLENT OPTION
(Commentary by Ze'ev Schiff, "Ha'aretz", Aug 7, 1996, p. B1)
The U.S. administration is beginning to prepare public opinion for the possibility that Washington will use military force against Iran, due to severe acts of terrorism in which Americans have been attacked. They also did this in the past, before the American bombings of Libya.
U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry expressed the suspicion that Iran is behind the car-bombing in June in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, in which 19 Americans were killed. If it becomes clear that the bombing of the TWA plane is also linked to Iran in any way, an American military response will be almost unavoidable. It is doubtful if President Bill Clinton will be able to allow himself to show restraint over two such acts of terrorism.
Many ask whether Hizbullah either the organization, or one of its Iran- controlled branches is also involved in Iranian terrorist activities. And there are those who continue to ask whether there exists some form of link to Syria. President Hafez Assad would have to be a total idiot to implicate his country in terrorist action in the United States, yet we have seen intelligence services become so entangled in the past (as in the attempted bombing of an El Al flight from London). The link could be indirect, via Hizbullah, which operates in Syrian-controlled territory. Those who accept this theory say that the terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia may have ties to the Beka'a Valley in Lebanon.
As for Iran, there can be no doubt that its intelligence services are involved in terrorism, in various places around the world. This information is already in the hands of the main western intelligence services. The dispute does not involve the facts, but how to respond to them and how to address the problem and this is more than just a political question. There is knowledge of Iranian involvement in terrorist acts in Argentina, Bahrain, Sudan, the Horn of Africa, England, Tadjikistan, Lebanon and Bosnia.
Due to American pressure, most of the Iranian instructors have left Bosnia. But members of the Mujahadin who fought in Afghanistan have remained, marrying Bosnian women. The military training which the Iranians promised the Bosnians is currently being given in Iran.
The Syrian link to Iran exists, first and foremost, in Lebanon. Much has been written on this subject, but of late, there has been Iranian-Syrian activity which has been the cause of great concern. Following Operation Grapes of Wrath, the Iranians airlifted weapons to Hizbullah, via Damascus, replenishing their arsenal in anticipation of a possible flare-up in the fighting.
According to assessments, the Iranians are now arming Hizbullah with over 1,000 Katyusha rockets more than they had even before Operation Grapes of Wrath. The rockets were transported by air to Damascus, from where they were trucked to southern Lebanon.
On the one hand, Syria reached an agreement with the United States, France and Israel on the formation of an international committee to monitor the situation in southern Lebanon. Meanwhile, on the other hand, it is cooperating in the preparation of an offensive military infrastructure for Hizbullah. This shows that the Syrians and the Iranians are not amused by the American-French idea that Hizbullah be disarmed within the context of an agreement in Lebanon.
In another, more sensitive area, Syria is building with Iranian assistance a violent option against Israel in the sphere of terrorism. In recent months, Syria has agreed to grant all the Palestinian terrorist groups space for their various headquarters. In the past, only some of them were present in Damascus; now, they are all there. The new element is the transfer of Hamas' operational command to Damascus.
After being deported from Jordan, senior Hamas member Imad al-Alami moved to Sudan, ultimately building his headquarters in Damascus just as Sheikh Khalil, the operations chief of Az a-Din al-Kassam, who also set up shop in the Syrian capital. Also included on this list are Islamic Jihad, the organizations of Abu Moussa and Ahmed Jibril, and left-wing groups like the PFLP. Some of them coordinate with, and are funded by, Iran, with the Syrians' knowledge. Islamic Jihad members leave Syria to train in Iran. Hamas, which has tried to preserve some degree of independence, has also begun sending its men for training in Iran.
Damascus is conducting a two-front policy before our very eyes. While sending emissaries to examine whether there is anything new in the Netanyahu government's satchel, Syria is preparing its second, violent option toward a potential military confrontation with Israel with some things being done with assistance from, and coordination with Iran.