“Libya
is also a target in what is now to be called the ‘Middle Eastern
Axis of evil’ in a bid to secure both oil and strategic regions for
the strengthening of the U.S. Empire and the making of a greater
Israel in the Middle East,” Abdullai Rauf, a political analyst told
IslamOnline.net on Wednesday.
“The
warnings to Syria, Iran and Libya are part of the plan and is the
strategy that will now be adopted by the anti-Arab nation (Israel) in
a bid to create a larger, greater Israel that will extend beyond its
current borders,” said Abdullai.
He
was joined in his fears with comments from another professor from
Indonesia; Dr Gatut Priyowidodo Msi, who told Antara news agency that
he feared Ariel Sharon, the Israeli premier was setting the stage for
a “greater Israel” after the fall of Baghdad.
In
Padang, where professor Priyowidodo is attached to the Internasional
Universitas Ekasakti (UNES) and who is a political analyst there,
added that Sharon is waiting for the “highway” to be opened to
realize his dreams.
The
invasion of Iraq opened the doors for a greater Israel and any attacks
on Syria or a taming of the Syrian regime will add to the theory of a
greater Israel, Priyowidodo added.
The
professor said on Tuesday, April 14, that the warnings given to Syria
by the U.S. were strong enough to indicate that the Middle Eastern
nation was the next target in a “cleansing” of the region.
Syria
has been accused of producing chemical weapons, of hiding Iraq’s
weapons of mass destruction - which should include nuclear war heads -
said Professor Abdullai, and of harboring former members of the
defunct regime in Baghdad.
The
U.S. has warned Syria that it should not support the Hizbullah
resistance group in Lebanon in its fight against Israel and that the
country should also not assist any other “terrorist groups”
against the Zionist state.
Britain
has also warned Syria that it was high time to join the
“international” community and to abandon support for terrorism and
to prevent a war against Damascus.
The
U.S. and British interest in Syria after the rapid fall of Baghdad has
spurred surprise and disdain in South East Asia, with several high
officials of Malaysia and Indonesia expressing their fears of another
war for regime change in the Middle East.
According
to Professor Priyowidodo, the U.S. is also setting the stage for a
“security tampon” for Israel, a country which U.S. supports
militarily and economically.
He
added that it would not be surprising that the U.S. attacks other Arab
states in order to secure Israel, which in turn will become the bigger
and most powerful nation in the Middle East itself.
Israel
is already considered the mini-super power of the region with its
arsenal of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, said
other experts in Asia.
“A
change in regime in Syria, a greater Israel, will have a huge impact
on the entire world and the South East Asian region with Malaysia,
Indonesia, Brunei and other Muslim nations here will not be safe
anymore,” said Abdullai.
Israel
once occupied some territories from its wars with the Arabs in 1967
and 1974. It controlled part of the Sinai in Egypt, the Golan Heights
in Syria, the Gaza strip and the West Bank. Today, the Golan Heights
is still in its hands and it has imposed its occupation on the West
Bank following the Palestinian Intifada against the Israeli
occupation.
In
1982, it invaded southern Lebanon but was pushed out thanks to the
struggle by the Hizbollah, aided by the Syrian army.
According
to Priyowidodo, Sharon has killed the peace process in Palestine and
is now aiming at a greater Israel but with the explicit assistance of
the U.S. and British forces in the region.
He
believes the ‘greater Israel’ will see the day since the U.S. is
now being lobbied by pro-Jewish influence in Washington that has led
to the Iraq war and is now turning towards Syria and other Muslim
nations in the Middle East.
“To
realize the dream of a greater Israel, Sharon will lobby that the U.S.
and British forces be used to invade Syria and Iran,” he added.
These
two nations, he added, were the cornerstones in the dream of Sharon.
