Syria: The First Tipping Point?

We should always keep in mind the promises that Syrian leader Assad has made on many occasions - that if any "foreign intervention" takes place against his regime in Syria, he will strike Israel. It is beginning to look like such intervention is just at the early stages or will be beginning very soon:

First Foreign Troops In Syria Back Homs Rebels

British and Qatari special operations units are operating with rebel forces under cover in the Syrian city of Homs just 162 kilometers from Damascus, according to DEBKAfile’s exclusive military and intelligence sources.

Our sources report the two foreign contingents have set up four centers of operation - in the northern Homs district of Khaldiya, Bab Amro in the east, and Bab Derib and Rastan in the north. Each district is home to about a quarter of a million people.

The British-Qatari troop presence in Homs was at the center of Assad's talks in Damascus Tuesday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian SVR intelligence chief Mikhail Fradkov. Senior Syrian intelligence officers laid their updates from the field before the Russian visitors and received SVR data and evaluations in return.

International 'militarisation' In Syria Growing Closer, Warns U.S. Official

...the debate in Washington has shifted away from diplomacy and towards more robust action since Russia and China blocked a United Nations resolution condemning Syria.

The Pentagon’s Central Command has begun a preliminary internal review of US military capabilities in the region, which one senior official called a “scoping exercise” that would provide options for the president if and when they were requested.

Influential figures in Washington have recommended setting up a “humanitarian corridor” or safe haven, while others, such as Senator John McCain, have said it was time to consider arming the rebels of the Free Syrian Army.

Any plan to supply aid or set up a buffer zone would involve a military dimension to protect aid convoys or vulnerable civilians.

“The decision-makers have not determined we are at a point of no return,” the senior official told The Daily Telegraph. “There is still a window, it is just that that window is closing.

Also see:

U.S. Military Beginning Review Of Syria Options

The race towards the first tipping point is continuing. One day it seems like it will be the Iranian conflict and another day it appears to be Syria - all while missiles continue to flow into Lebanon (Hezbollah) from Syria and Libya and while missiles continue to be launched from Gaza into Israel.

Today, Syria inches ahead in this approach to a tipping point. If Syria does indeed launch missiles into Israel, particularly chemically tipped missiles, then we may be well on the way to the Isaiah 17 scenario. And if that happens, Gog-MaGog won't be far behind.