The timing and nature of a Western Intervention (specifically the US, UK and France) are unclear - today.
Western naval forces (surface ships and most probably submarines) that can launch cruise missiles are known to be in striking distance of Syria today.
The current role of Israel's signals intelligence organisation in helping the US decide to (most probably) deploy cruise missiles against Syrian Government targets is indicated on US specialist website IntelNews at http://intelnews.org/2013/08/28/01-1330/.
It is probable that Syrian use of chemical weapons, and which Syrian Government units to hit, are the major issues of Western intelligence interest.
The issue of striking Syrian chemical weapons production facilities or chemical weapons stocks involves a difficult set of targeting, including casualty decisions. Hitting production facilities with Western cruise missiles may rupture production containers or mix binary chemical weapons, possibly causing many civilian deaths.
Hitting chemicals weapons stocks (which may be chemical filled artillery shells, bombs and missile warheads) runs the risk of dispersing these weapons over wide areas, perhaps rupturing them or at least making each weapon highly unstable (hence difficult to subsequently make "safe").
Alternatively chemical weapons may be more easily disarmed by eventual ground actions - perhaps under UN or other Western military auspices.
Initial targeting of Syrian air defence units is more certain.
All not good.
Pete
Western naval forces (surface ships and most probably submarines) that can launch cruise missiles are known to be in striking distance of Syria today.
The current role of Israel's signals intelligence organisation in helping the US decide to (most probably) deploy cruise missiles against Syrian Government targets is indicated on US specialist website IntelNews at http://intelnews.org/2013/08/28/01-1330/.
It is probable that Syrian use of chemical weapons, and which Syrian Government units to hit, are the major issues of Western intelligence interest.
The issue of striking Syrian chemical weapons production facilities or chemical weapons stocks involves a difficult set of targeting, including casualty decisions. Hitting production facilities with Western cruise missiles may rupture production containers or mix binary chemical weapons, possibly causing many civilian deaths.
Hitting chemicals weapons stocks (which may be chemical filled artillery shells, bombs and missile warheads) runs the risk of dispersing these weapons over wide areas, perhaps rupturing them or at least making each weapon highly unstable (hence difficult to subsequently make "safe").
Alternatively chemical weapons may be more easily disarmed by eventual ground actions - perhaps under UN or other Western military auspices.
Initial targeting of Syrian air defence units is more certain.
All not good.
Pete