The recent stock market weakness on possible U.S. military strikes against Syria for suspected use of chemical weapons should be short-lived once any attack begins, a market strategist told CNBC on Friday.
"It's usually sell the threat and buy the bomb. Once they launch, I think the market retakes what it lost," Alec Young of S&P Capital IQ said in a "Squawk Box" interview.
(Read more: Don't hit Syria; go to Congress if you do: NBC poll)
President Barack Obama has not decided on whether to take military action in Syria, but advisers say he is prepared to act alone following the U.K. Parliament's no vote on a military strike.
The market is expecting a "surgical, tactical missile strike," Young said. "So [Syrian President Bashar] Assad stays in place but he gets the message these tactics aren't acceptable and he's somewhat degraded in the future."
Young added that traders at this point are not expecting the crisis in Syria to result in a regional flare-up in the Mideast or any Iran involvement.
—By CNBC's Matthew J. Belvedere. Follow him on Twitter @Matt_SquawkCNBC.
