The Obama Administration and the Civil War in Syria by Zaki Shalom INSS Insight No. 368, September 5, 2012 (ISRAHELLI ZIONIST THINK TANK) INSS Insight No. 368, September 5, 2012 The Obama Administration ...

As a state hostile to the United States, Syria's weakening in the civil war is a clear American interest. Conversely, as Iran's ally, Syria's weakening means the undermining of the Iranian-Syrian axis, which is likewise a welcome development for the United States. Syria is also a close ally of Russia and China, rivals of the US on the international arena. From America’s perspective, this is by no means an undesirable situation.Syria’s enemies in the region, also allies of the United States – Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan – share an essential interest in seeing Syria weakened. These states view Syria as hostile and as endangering their interests at varying levels of intensity. The civil war is causing tremendous damage to Syria’s economy and Syrian military power..Even if American forces were not to be directly involved, they would almost certainly be tainted by association. Should the rebels win, they will likely seek serious revenge from the Alawites. Here too the United States would not be able to evade responsibility should it step up its involvement now. All of these considerations are almost certainly deterring the administration from intensifying its involvement in Syria at this time.
Israel Confronts a Dramatic Decision Zaki Shalom - INSS by DR Zaki Shalom
It is not clear to us, or, we can assume, to Prime Minister Netanyahu, how Iran’s allies in the region—Syria, Hezbollah, and to some extent, Hamas in Gaza—would respond. Would they join the battle, and if so, would they content themselves with a limited response just to fulfill their obligations to their allies,or would they also seek to demonstrate their loyalty to Iran through massive firing of rockets and missiles at Israel? In Israel, the prevailing view is that Hizbullah has enormous quantities of missiles and rockets that can reach the center of Israel. If it seeks to use all the means at its disposal, there is no doubt that Israel will be dealt a heavy blow. As for Syria, it is very possible that the Bashar al-Assad regime would seek to take advantage of the conflictwith Iran in order to enter the battle against Israel. The regime can present the battle as a fateful struggle against the “Zionist enemy.” It is likely to call on the insurgent forces to lay down their arms and to stop their campaign against the regime in order to unite against the common enemy, the State of Israel
[ed notes;On Syria...not likely because Assad knows israhell is backing those insurgents,however,to expose them further then sure,he migth to test and expose their allegiances..dr zaki shalom also published this paper recently... Syrian Turmoil Convenient for the U.S., Says ( Z - THENAKEDFACTS also see..  Older Post - THENAKEDFACTS Israel doesn't fear regime change in Syria (IT'S...

.