[lbo-talk] Re: Former Sec. of State Lawrence Eagleburger: Bush

[Michael Pugliese]

AMERICA: SYRIA COULD BE PHASE THREE
 
LONDON , April 13 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – As the U.S.-led Iraq 
invasion is almost done, it seems Washington is getting serious about its 
“daily” series of threats against Syria . The pretext now is to “persuade” 
Israel - the U.S. protégé – to support the U.S.-drafted roadmap peace plan, 
a British paper said.
The United States has pledged to tackle the Syrian-backed Hizbollah group 
in the next phase of its “war on terror” in a move which could threaten 
military action against President Bashar Assad's regime in Damascus , The 
Observer reported Sunday, April 13.
It would be part of a deal designed to entice Israel into the so-called 
U.S.-drafted roadmap peace package that would involve the Jewish state 
pulling out of the Palestinian West Bank, occupied since 1967.
As Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Sunday that the collapse of the 
Iraqi regime “could” pave the way for a settlement to the Palestinian- 
Israeli conflict and that he was ready to make some “painful” concessions 
to that end, Washington has promised Israel that it will take “all 
effective action” to cut off Syria's support for Hizbollah, sources in the 
Bush administration have told The Observer.
The new U.S. undertaking to Israel to deal with Hizbollah via its Syrian 
sponsors has been made over recent days during meetings between 
administration officials and Israeli diplomats in Washington .
“If you control Iraq , you can affect the Syrian and Iranian sponsorship of 
Hizbollah, both geographically and politically,” says Ivo Daalder of the 
Brookings Institution think-tank in Washington .
“The United States will make it very clear, quietly and publicly, that 
Baathist Syria may come to an end if it does not stop its support of 
Hizbollah,” he added.
The U.S. undertaking dovetails into “phase three” of what President George 
W. Bush calls the “war on terror” and his pledge to go after all countries 
accused of harboring terrorists.
It also fits into calls by hawks inside and aligned to the administration 
who believe that wars on Afghanistan and Iraq were first stage in a wider 
war for American control of the region.
U.S. Hawks Fish In Troubled Waters
Hawks in and close to the Bush White House have also prepared the ground 
for an attack on Syria by alleging that Syria harbors the remnants of the 
Iraqi regime.
U.S. Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld charged that senior Iraqi leaders 
were fleeing to Syria , which he claimed was continuing to send military 
assistance into Iraq .
And his deputy Paul Wolfowitz - regarded as the real architect of the Iraqi 
war and its aftermath - said on Thursday, April 10, that “the Syrians have 
been shipping killers into Iraq to try and kill Americans”, adding: “We 
need to think about what our policy is towards a country that harbors 
terrorists or harbors war criminals.”
“There will have to be change in Syria , plainly,” said Wolfowitz.
Washington intelligence sources claim that weapons of mass destruction that 
Saddam was alleged to have possessed were shipped to Syria after inspectors 
were sent by the United Nations to find them, the daily said.
One of the chief ideologists behind the war, Richard Perle, warned 
Saturday, April 12, that the U.S. would be compelled to act against Syria 
if it emerged that weapons of mass destruction had been moved there by 
Saddam's fallen Iraqi regime.
Syria , for its part, frequently rejected the U.S. accusations as 
unfounded, arguing that the Bush administration wanted to exaggerate 
matters concerning the Middle East to show that the security of the United 
States was really in danger.
On Mon, 14 Apr 2003 14:19:47 -0700 (PDT), mike larkin 
<mike_larkin2001 at yahoo.com> wrote:


> Could be they're just trying to keep people's minds
> off the looting, etc. until it dies down, at which
> point they'll announce they've seen some heartening
> improvements in Damascus's behavior.
>
>
>
> Thomas Seay wrote:>What is to keep the White House
> from attacking Syria
>
>
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-- 
Michael Pugliese

"Without knowing that we knew nothing, we went on talking without listening 
to each other. Sometimes we flattered and praised each other, understanding 
that we would be flattered and praised in return. Other times we abused and 
shouted at each other, as if we were in a madhouse."
-Tolstoy