Iranian President Ahmadinejad and Syrian President Assad confirmed late last week that they have formed a Military Alliance and said, "...our nations are united in a frontier facing common enemies of the peoples of the region...Syria and Iran are inspiring this Summer to be Hot by virtue of the victories that will be attained by the peoples of the region...and the enemies...are on their way to perdition and defeat."
Syria has threatened a War in the region by August/September if Israel does not vacate the Golan Heights, President Assad said last week, "...Syrian fighters will immediately launch resistance operations against Jewish communities in the Golan Heights."
The "Baath Party" has reportedly sent messages to the United States saying, "...that we demand the return of the Golan Heights through negotiations but if the Golan is not in our hand by August/September, we will be poised to launch a resistance, including raids and attacks against Jewish positions." Former Syrian Minister Mahdi Dakhlallah said in June that, "...Syria is preparing to use Hezbollah guerrilla tactics..."
The Baath Party said a new group called the "Committees for the Liberation of the Golan Heights" has been training and was ready to mount attacks...Syria is ready for a war...and has the capability of firing hundreds of missiles at Tel Aviv."
The Golan Heights is about 38 miles long and about 13 miles wide, mountains run from the upper Jordan rift valley and Lake Kinneret to the West, the Yarmuk valley to the South and Mt. Hermon to the North. On Israel's side of the Golan is a steep incline from the Golan plateau down to the densely populated Hula Valley and the Eastern shore of Kinneret. The Golan Heights is 1 of 3 sources of Israel's fresh water supply.
In 1964 Syria attempted to divert water away from Israel in a blatant attempt to cripple Israel's fresh water supply.
Today the Israel Defense Force (IDF) conducts surveillance throughout the Golan Heights visually and with radar watching the Golan as Syria continues to mount its Army at the Boarder. The Golan Heights is a natural defensive buffer zone for Israel.
Should Syria attempt to launch an attack (as they have done before, the IDF has learned) that the area is channeled by only two passes in which armored vehicles may pass. During the 1973 Yom Kippur War about 150 Israel Tanks stopped invading Syrian columns of more than 1,400 tanks in the "Bottleneck Valley of Tears" pass in the North and through the Volcanic Hills to the South. The outnumbered IDF Tanks were able to hold off the vastly larger Syrian deployment for 48 hours as Israel mobilized sufficient forces to defeat the Syrian invaders.
A pullback from the Golan Heights would leave Israel vulnerable to attack again by Syria and its partner Iran.
IDF Major-General Eyal Ben Reuven, speaking last week at the "Israel Institute for Natl. Security Studies" said, "...that when War breaks out Syria is prepared to suffer mass casualties, while playing on Israel's sensitivity to civilian losses by striking at Israel's home front with as many missiles as possible...Syria will try to hit Israel's home in order to win diplomatic gains...Israel is training for a swift and overwhelming invasion of Syria to knock out the areas from where missiles are launched against Israel as quickly as possible."
The U.S. Navy recently announced that a 3rd Carrier Strike Group has been positioned off of Iran's coast led by the Aircraft Carrier USS Enterprise. The United States considers both Iran and Syria state sponsors of terrorism and has repeatedly stated the two regimes are financing insurgents in Iraq.
The new military alliance formed between Iran and Syria is eerily reminiscent of the pacts executed on the eve of the Six Day War and Yom Kippur War.
