The Syrian War: Israel and U.S. Coordinating How to Target Assad’s Arsenal

"Things are happening behind the scenes," says one Israeli official. "Things are really happening."

Earlier this month, the Pentagon announced it was sending F-16s and Patriot missile batteries to Jordan, ostensibly for an exercise ("Eager Lion"), but which would remain in the Hashemite Kingdom afterward.

"It's a clear, purposeful, presence of a strike force near the border of Syria," the Israeli official noted. "I think it's a message, a clear message." The message is also meant to be legible to Iran, which is arming Syria and the Lebanese militia Hizballah by air, as well as testing the resolve of Western powers who threaten to strike its nuclear program. "It's only a short leap to the Gulf," the official said.

Patriot batteries went into Turkey last year, under the banner of NATO. And the chief of Mossad, Israel's overseas intelligence agency, traveled to Ankara this week to meet with Turkey's National Intelligence Organization, known by its Turkish initials MIT. As opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad organize themselves to assist the rebels opposing him, Israel feels obliged to lay low. Though closely aligned with Washington, and maintaining diplomatic relations with Jerusalem, countries like Jordan and Turkey have majority Muslim populations who would not welcome overt military cooperation with Israel. "If this is to hold water, this cannot involve Israel," the Israeli official said.

Behind the scenes, however, Israeli and U.S. military officials are coordinating how to target and destroy Assad's arsenal of unconventional weapons under assorted scenarios, Israeli military and intelligence officials tell TIME. One scenario would be the sudden removal of Assad from the scene, be it by flight, death or if he simply disappears. That would prompt the allies to launch operations on the estimated 18 depots and other sites where WMDs are stored, the officials said. Search and destroy operations would also be launched if the weapons appeared to be about to fall into the hands of the rebels, which include Islamist extremists aligned with al-Qaeda.

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