Alwaght- With victory of Syrians in a decade-long war against terrorism and foiling the foreign intervention that was meant to topple the legitimate Syrian government and split the country, the Syrian government and people are now in an all-out rebuilding period, with a successful example being the break of the imposed political isolation as the world countries grow increasingly interested to restore ties to Damascus. But one of the most important showcases of restoring the national power is the capability of defense against foreign violations of territorial integrity which is increasing becoming a focus of the Syrian officials. Driven by this approach, the Syrian armed forces recently staged several-day ground and air military drills on the anniversary of the 1973 war. The Syrian forces simulated a real battle situation and attacks on the enemy sites and reinforcements. Alexander Chaykov, the commander of the Russian forces in Syria, and a number of top Syrian military commanders watched the excercises.
The war, also called Ramadan or Yum Kippur War, took place ctober 6-25, 1973, was between the Israeli regime and a Syrian-Egyptian alliance. The October war was exceptional and the Arab states had planned to reverse their defeats in the previous wars. In surprise moves, they attacked Bar Lev Line fortifications in south of Suez Canal and also the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, recapturing hefty chunks of lands they lost in 1967 war. According to the treaty that followed battle, Syria’s Qunitera and parts of Golan Heights as well as Egypt’s Sinail Peninsula, were liberated. This war, the last in a series of Arab-Israeli confrontations, marked the first major victory for Arabs. It was for this reason that since then, the Israelis never dared to wage a new major war on the Arabs and only sought to keep the territories they seized in previous wars.
The Israeli casualties in October war were considerable and Tel Aviv admitted this after five decades. The Israeli foreign ministry issued a statement on the anniversary of the war, saying that the 1973 attack was surprising and Israel paid a heavy price for it. The statement continued that Tel Aviv had no enough time to prepare its reservists and lost 2,688 soldiers and 150 tanks. Haatetz newspaper revealed documents of the Israeli chief of general staff in 1973 it accessed recently. The documents portrayed the Israeli military’s state of disappointment during the war. Therefore, the large-scale Syrian military drills on the anniversary of this historic war carry important messages for the enemies.
Aimed at the Israeli regime
Although the Syrian government along with Russia and its allies in the Axis of Resistance has already conducted several military exercises, the recent one, which was purely Syrian and massive, carries highly significant points. It carries warnings to Tel Aviv as it comes on the war anniversary and because the Israeli regime over the past year has launched attacks on various Syrian regions. It tells the Israelis that Syria is no longer a war-waged country and incapable of responding to the Israeli crimes because of engagement in anti-terror fighting. The Syrian military has manged to intercept many of Israeli missiles coming to its territory but it refrained from a direct confrontation with the Israeli forces for some considerations. Now that Damascus has largely gotten rid of the crisis stirred by the West and its regional allies, it strengthened its military power, broke out of its defensive gesture and is embracing an offensive one.
By holding the major military drills at a time the international atmosphere is tense due to the Western-Russian face-off in Ukraine, the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the military try to send a message to the Israelis that if they make a mistake they will be thought an unforgettable lesson. With the Russian and Israeli relations chilly over Ukraine war, Syria has resolute Russian and Iranian support against the Israeli regime and can foist heavy losses on it in case of a direct confrontation. Also, the Israeli military occupies Golan Heights and the Syrian military tries to take back this part of the country. With the boost of Syrian power, liberation of Golan Heights is not unlikely and actually a matter of time.
Tel Aviv leaders have repeatedly tried to hold a referendum in Golan Heights and annex it forever but their plans are challenged by international objection. The Israeli repeated defeats in wars it waged against the Palestinian factions whose arms are incomparabe to those of the Israeli military are emboldening the Syrian government to secure a victory against the Israelis amid Damascus shift from defensive to offensive approach. If clashes break out between Tel Aviv and Damascus, due to the Ukraine war conditions, the West is not is a proper situation to help the Israelis. In other words, everything is now in Syria’s favor.
Resolute message to Turkish occupation
The Syrian military drills are investigable from another aspect. Turkish forces entered Syrian territories as Syrian government was busy fighting a litany of foreign-backed terrorist groups, and now that Damascus left behind the critical war conditions, it can force the occupying forces out without any obsession. Although in recent months Turkish leaders showed an interest to normalize with Damascus and took steps towards showing their good will, their forces are viewed as occupiers by Syria which several times calle for their withdrawal but Ankara has so far turned a deaf ear and continued its adventures. Therfore, the recent military exercises are a serious warning to the Turks to leave Syrian territory as soon as possible because the Syrian forces do not sit on their hands and watch their territory occupied by another country.
Having in mind that the international developments have shaped the conditions in a way that any military action by regional and world powers is likely, the Syrian forces may take a strong stance against the American occupation, too. The American forces are stationed in Syria as they have been sure Damascus will not focus on their occupation for its obsession with internal war. They have already benefited millions of dollars from plundering the Syria oil reserves. But a strong Syrian army and government make a difference, and perhaps the Americans decide to flee Syria as they did disgracefully in Afghanistan. Their withdrawal from Syria can also be driven by new Russian doctrine in opposition to the American policies in the region. Odds are the American leaders decide to pull out their forces to steer clear of further tensions with Moscow.
Despite a heavy push by the Western-Arab-Israeli camp to overthrow the Syrian government, President Bashar al-Assad and his military are now in a position of power and with their massive military drills they warned that from now on any military adventures in the Syrian territory bear irreparable consequences and they should consider all aspects before any action.
