A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm Written in 1996 by a group of advisors to Benjamin Netanyahu, the document breaks down Israels plan for the future of the Middle East. The strategic includes destabilizing Syria, removing Saddam in Iraq, buddying up to the Jordanian king, and changing the dialogue over the Israel-Palestine peace talks from peace for land to peace through strength. Two members of the group, Richard Perle and Douglas Feith, would go on to be advisors of the Bush White House. Clearly this document had no bearing on Israeli (and American) foreign policy in the Middle East over the next 20 years. http://www.dougfeith.com/docs/Clean_Break.pdf
As of August 2013, the approximate breakdown for Syria's conventional forces was as follows: Infantry: 304,000 Active; 315,000 Reserve. Armor: 4,800 tanks; 5,060 APC's. Air Force: 490 planes; 225 combat helicopters. Navy: 35 warships; 0 submarines.
Excerpt from the text: Syria repeatedly breaks its word. It violated numerous agreements with the Turks, and has betrayed the United States by continuing to occupy Lebanon in violation of the Taef agreement in 1989. Instead, Syria staged a sham election, installed a quisling regime, and forced Lebanon to sign a "Brotherhood Agreement" in 1991, that terminated Lebanese sovereignty. And Syria has begun colonizing Lebanon with hundreds of thousands of Syrians, while killing tens of thousands of its own citizens at a time, as it did in only three days in 1983 in Hama. Under Syrian tutelage, the Lebanese drug trade, for which local Syrian military officers receive protection payments, flourishes. Syria’s regime supports the terrorist groups operationally and financially in Lebanon and on its soil. Indeed, the Syrian-controlled Bekaa Valley in Lebanon has become for terror what the Silicon Valley has become for computers. The Bekaa Valley has become one of the main distribution sources, if not production points, of the "supernote" — counterfeit US currency so well done that it is impossible to detect. Text: Negotiations with repressive regimes like Syria’s require cautious realism. One cannot sensibly assume the other side’s good faith. It is dangerous for Israel to deal naively with a regime murderous of its own people, openly aggressive toward its neighbors, criminally involved with international drug traffickers and counterfeiters, and supportive of the most deadly terrorist organizations.
