Assad prepares for US strike, redeploys forces

Syrian President Bashar Assad held emergency meetings with his top officials in preparation for a U.S.-led attack on his country, Lebanese media outlets reported on Thursday. The regime has already moved Scud missiles and launchers away from sites expected to be targeted.

According to pro-Assad Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, the embattled Syrian president told his senior staff: "We stand before a historic moment in our campaign, after which we will emerge the victors. As you know we have waited for the real enemy to raise its head and get involved since the beginning of the rebellion. I know your morale is high and that you are fully prepared to block all aggression and protect the homeland. I call on you to pass that morale to your subordinates and the Syrian people."

Meanwhile, Syrian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Jihad al-Laham urged Britain to refrain from "reckless" action in his country, saying it would serve the interests of Israel and al-Qaida. "Before you rush over the cliffs of war, would it not be wise to pause? Remember the thousands of British soldiers killed and maimed in Afghanistan and Iraq," he said, in an open letter to British MPs. "By attacking and weakening Syrian targets and institutions you would automatically strengthen our common enemy, al-Qaida and its affiliates."

The Syrian opposition's Syrian National Coalition also sent a letter to British MPs, pleading with them to deter the Assad regime from using chemical weapons, but not to fight their war for them. "We are not asking for regime change or for British troops to fight our war for us. We call upon you to send a message to the regime that it cannot gas sleeping children with impunity.

"The poison gas attack on August 21 was not the first time the regime has used grotesque force against civilians. Since the start of this conflict, it has resorted to tanks, mortars, warplanes and ballistic missiles to kill people demanding accountable and competent government."

The Syrian army has been preparing for the looming strike. The army repositioned its Scud missiles and launchers away from a base in northern Damascus, something which could be seen as a defensive maneuver, or just a redeployment of forces. Earlier the military pulled out of Damascus International Airport in fear of an attack, clearing out some of its military and air force command centers as well.

A Syrian Air Force officer told The Guardian on Wednesday that they are considering employing kamikaze tactics against Western warplanes attacking Syria. The officer said there are already 13 pilots who have signed a pledge to take their own lives in the suicidal attacks, forming "a crew of suicide martyrs to foil the US warplanes."

"We have more than 8,000 suicide martyrs within the Syrian army, ready to carry out martyrdom operations at any moment to stop the Americans and the British. I myself am ready to blow myself up against US aircraft carriers to stop them attacking Syria and its people," he told The Guardian.

Another Syrian military official denied the kamikaze reports. "Like every army facing war, we too are getting ready and preparing ourselves for the worst case scenario," he said.

Iran continues to issue threats

The U.S. should know if it attacks Syria "it would mean the immediate destruction of Israel," Iranian Revolutionary Guard Commander Mohammad Ali Jafari said on Thursday. "Syria will become a battlefield more dangerous than Vietnam and will complicate the American army even further."

Other Iranian military leaders issued their own threats to the U.S. "Every American soldier who disembarks an airplane or boat [onto Syria] should bring a coffin with him," Revolutionary Guard's Al-Quds Brigade Commander Qassem Suleimani said.

"Any military action against Syria will just bring the Zionists closer to being engulfed by flames," Iranian Chief of Staff Seyed Hassan Firouzabadi said. According to Firouzabadi, the U.S. is going to war due to its own internal problems, "There is a dramatic rise in poverty in the U.S. -- which has caused the American elected officials to start wars with other nations."

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