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US considering multiple strikes against Hizbullah, says Jane`s

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, Jan 23, IRNA -- US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was 
reported Friday to be considering plans to expand US global war on 
terrorism with multi-pronged attacks against suspected militant bases 
in countries such as Lebanon and Somalia. 
Jane`s Intelligence Digest, quoting what it described as reliable 
sources in Beirut, suggested that the plan to launch multiple attacks 
against Hizbullah could be directed at provoking a response from 
Syria. 
While sending US special forces into Somalia would be nothing new,
"deployment of special forces in Lebanon (the Bekaa Valley being a 
likely location) would be highly inflammatory and almost certainly 
involve a confrontation with Syrian troops," it said. 
The monthly said that such a conflict may well prove to be the US 
objective, arguing that there would be a myriad of strategic benefits 
- pressuring Syria into dropping support for Palestinian groups, to 
abandon weapons of mass destruction and withdraw troops from Lebanon. 
It could stimulate a situation where Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad
can be ousted, it suggested, pointing out that the US administration 
has long considered Damascus as a prime candidate for `regime change`.
"Syria, once a powerhouse of Arab radicalism that could not be 
ignored, has been seriously weakened, both militarily and politically.
Washington may feel that the time is coming to oust Bashar al-Assad," 
Jane`s proposed. 
It said that targeting Syria via Lebanon, the only concrete 
political influence Damascus has to show following decades of radical 
diplomacy, could prove to be a means to that end. 
The magazine warned that it was likely to prove to be a highly 
risky undertaking that would fuel Muslim and Arab hostility towards 
the US at a time of its continuing occupation of Iraq. 
"However, given the Bush administration`s doctrine of pre-emptive 
strikes, it remains entirely possible that Washington will soon launch
military strikes against Lebanon, regardless of the consequences for 
wider regional stability," it believed. 
/AA/210 
End