War (of Words) with Syria
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Tuesday, May 27, 2003
[One of the recurring themes of today's sampling of articles is the tremendous variation in tone from different media outlets carrying the same basic stories.
Earlier today a couple of articles about the third anniversary of the Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon were posted to this page. The Daily Star article focuses on Hizbullah's defiant stand against Israel, which invaded as deep as Beirut, and occupied parts of Lebanon for 22 years. The Ha'aretz article mentions a desire by the Sharon government to strike at Hizbullah during the recent US invasion of Iraq -- a desire that was thwarted by the US govenment. (Of course, we know from an earlier UPI article that Sharon government officials were helping Rumsfeld lobby within the Bush cabinet for "hot pursuit" forays by US forces into Syria.)
Here's another view, from the US Christian right, with an interesting choice of headline.]
Lebanon Abandoned: Broken Promises Three Years Later
CBN -- May 27
By Chris Mitchell
Middle East Bureau Chief
Several hundred Israeli soldiers died over the years protecting Israel's northern border. The pullout created major changes in both people and places.
CBN.com – on the ISRAEL-LEBANON BORDER — Three years ago this month, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak pulled Israeli troops out of the south Lebanon security zone. While Barak made good on a campaign promise, the pullout had a devastating impact on thousands of south Lebanese, many of them Christians.
[Detailed article about the neocons' war of words with Iraq. Reporter Jim Lobe names names.]
Neo-cons move quickly on Iran
Asia Times -- May 28
By Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON - Reports that top officials in the administration of President George W Bush will meet this week to discuss US policy toward Iran, including possible efforts to overthrow its government, mark a major advance in what has been an 18-month campaign by neo-conservatives in and out of the administration.
Overshadowed until last month by their much louder drum-beating for war against Iraq, the neo-cons' efforts to now focus US attention on "regime change" in Iran have become much more intense since early May, and have already borne substantial fruit.
A high-level, albeit unofficial, dialogue between both countries over Iraq, Afghanistan and other issues of mutual interest was abruptly broken off by Washington 10 days ago amid charges by senior Pentagon officials that al-Qaeda agents based in Iran had been involved in terrorist attacks against US and foreign targets in Saudi Arabia on May 12. Tehran strongly denied the charge.
Now, according to reports in the Washington Post and the New York Times, the administration is considering permanently cutting off the dialogue - which included its senior envoy for both Iraq and Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad - and adopting a far more confrontational stance vis-a-vis Tehran that could include covert efforts to destabilize the government.
Pentagon hawks, particularly Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Undersecretary for Policy Douglas Feith, who have long been closely associated with neo-conservatives outside the administration centered at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), reportedly favor using the heavily armed, Iraq-based Iranian rebel group, the Mujahideen-e Khalq Organization, which surrendered to US forces in April, as the core of a possible opposition military force.
They are also pursuing links with the Iranian exile community centered in southern California, which has rallied increasingly around Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former Shah of Iran who was overthrown by the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
According to a recent story in the US Jewish newspaper The Forward, Pahlavi has cultivated senior officials in Israel's Likud government with which the neo-conservatives in Washington - both in the administration and outside it - are closely allied.
Besides charges - considered questionable by the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) - that Iran may be sheltering al-Qaeda operatives allegedly involved in the May 12 attacks in Riyadh - the administration has voiced several major concerns about the country's recent behavior.
Senior officials have accused Tehran of accelerating a major nuclear program that they say is designed to produce weapons and of infiltrating "agents" into Iraq in order to create problems for the US-dominated occupation there. They have also continued to call Iran a major supporter of international terrorism, primarily due to its backing for Hezbollah in Lebanon.
It was Tehran's backing for Hezbollah that earned it a prominent place on the target list produced by the Project for the New American Century in an open letter to Bush on September 20, 2001, just nine days after al-Qaeda's attack on New York and the Pentagon.
The letter's 41 mainly neo-conservative signers urged Bush to retaliate directly against Iran if it failed to cut off Hezbollah. The same letter anticipated virtually every other step so far taken by the administration in its "war on terror", including invading Afghanistan, severing ties to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq.
In October, 2001, influential figures at the AEI and like-minded think tanks launched a new line of attack on Iran by publishing articles in sympathetic media, most notably on the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal, arguing that the Iranian people were so disillusioned by the ruling mullahs in Tehran, including the "reformists" around President Mohamed Khatami, that they were ready to rise up against the government in a pro-US revolution.
"Iran is ready to blow sky-high," wrote AEI scholar Michael Ledeen back in November 2001. "The Iranian people need only a bright spark of courage from the United States to ignite the flames of democratic revolution."
When, much to the State Department's dismay, Bush named Iran as part of the "axis of evil" in late January, 2002, both Israel and the neo-conservatives pressed their advantage, arguing repeatedly that dialogue even with Khatami was a waste of time and that Washington should cast its lot instead with "the people" against the regime.
Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former CIA officer and Ledeen's AEI colleague, argued last August in the neo-conservative Weekly Standard that the mere presence of US troops in Iraq would bring about revolution next door.
"Popular discontent in Iran tends to heat up when US soldiers get close to the Islamic Republic," he wrote. "An American invasion could possibly provoke riots in Iran - simultaneous uprisings in major cities that would simply be beyond the scope of regime-loyal specialized riot-control units."
But the intensity and frequency of the campaign against Tehran picked up dramatically earlier this month. On May 5, Standard Editor William Kristol, whose office is six floors below the AEI, wrote that the United States was "already in a death struggle with Iran over the future of Iraq" and that "the next great battle - not, we hope, a military battle - will be for Iran".
The very next day, the AEI hosted an all-day conference entitled "The Future of Iran: Mullahcracy, Democracy and the War on Terror", whose speakers included Ledeen, Sobhani, Gerecht, Morris Amitay of the neo-conservative Jewish Institute for National Security Studies and Uri Lubrani from the Israeli Defense Ministry.
The convenor, Hudson Institute Middle East specialist Meyrav Wurmser (whose husband David worked as her AEI counterpart until joining the administration), set the tone: "Our fight against Iraq was only one battle in a long war," she said. "It would be ill-conceived to think that we can deal with Iraq alone ... We must move on, and faster."
"It was a grave error to send [Khalilzad] to secret meetings with representatives of the Iranian government in recent weeks," Israeli-born Wurmser said, complaining that, "rather than coming as victors who should be feared and respected rather than loved, we are still engaged in old diplomacy, in the kind of politics that led to the attacks of September 11."
Just days later, the Khalilzad channel was abruptly closed, and a Christian Right ally of the neo-conservatives, Senator Sam Brownback, introduced the "Iran Democracy Act" that sets as US policy the goal of "an internationally monitored referendum to allow the Iranian people to peacefully change their system of government".
"Now is not the time to coddle this terrorist regime," he said. "Now is the time to stand firm and support the people of Iran - who are the only ones that can win this important battle."
Russia presses Iran over nuclear fuel
Financial Times -- May 27
By Guy Dinmore in Washington
Russia has responded to US pressure by telling Iran it will not supply nuclear fuel for the reactor it is constructing unless the Islamic republic agrees to intrusive inspections of all its nuclear facilities, say US and European officials.
Moscow's move was seen in Washington as a big step in the Bush administration's efforts to hinder Iran's development of nuclear weapons. Russia had resisted US pressure to stop construction of the Bushehr plant.
The policy change was also seen in the context of President Vladimir Putin's efforts to ensure a harmonious summit with George W. Bush in St Petersburg on Sunday, following their differences over the Iraq war.
Moscow Says Will Not Back out of Iran Nuke Plans
Riyadh Daily -- May 28
Moscow will not drop plans to build Iran’s first nuclear plant despite growing US pressure over fears Tehran is seeking to develop nuclear arms, Russia’s atomic energy minister was quoted on Tuesday as saying. Russia’s technology sales to Iran and the construction of the Bushehr power station have been a major irritant in relations with Washington, adding to unease over Moscow’s refusal to back US military action in Iraq. "Russia does not see any reason now to review its stance and its role regarding construction of the first nuclear reactor," Prime Tass news agency quoted Alexander Rumyantsev as saying after talks with visiting Iranian nuclear officials on Monday.
[To hedge bets on which is the next country to be liberated, this page follows news about Iran from time to time.]
U.S. dismisses Iran's claim that it arrested suspected al-Qaida members
Knight Ridder Newspapers -- May 27
By Jonathan S. Landay
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration on Tuesday dismissed Iran's claim that it had arrested suspected al-Qaida members but said the United States would use diplomacy to pressure the Islamic regime to stop harboring terrorists.
"It's a diplomatic course that the president is pursuing and it's a course that trusts the Iranian people, at its core, that the future of Iran will be determined by the people of Iran," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
Fleischer reiterated U.S. charges that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, rejecting Tehran's assertions that its nuclear program is for civilian energy production.
"They don't need nuclear energy for their electric grid," he said. "They have sufficient energy from . . . gas and from oil."
[One shouldn't debate a topic as important as national security.]
Hezbollah threats alarmist: Lebanese community
Australian Broadcast Company, The World Today -- May 27
Reporter: Tanya Nolan
HAMISH ROBERTSON: Claims made by the Federal Government that the Lebanese-based Hezbollah group poses a terrorist threat to Australia have been met with confusion and alarm amongst some members of the Arab-Australian community.
Federal Attorney-General, Daryl Williams, is seeking to ban the terrorist-wing of the Hezbollah organisation on the basis of what he says is ASIO intelligence suggesting the group has a capacity to carry out an attacks here in Australia.
Members of the Lebanese community say Hezbollah sympathisers are resident here in Australia and spokespeople for Australia's Jewish community say Hezbollah does pose a serious threat, as demonstrated by its past attacks around the world.
But Lebanese community leaders also say that they're committed to the war on terrorism, and are concerned that the Government's claims are alarmist and may generate a backlash.
Tanya Nolan reports.
TANYA NOLAN: Attorney-General Daryl Williams has bipartisan political support for the threat he perceives to come from the Lebanese-based and Iranian and Syrian sponsored group Hezbollah, but asked on our sister program, AM, today what that specific threat is, the Attorney-General wouldn't elaborate
DARYL WILLIAMS: The question you're asking is one that successive governments would have declined to answer on the basis that you're asking questions relating to national security
[Ashcroft's Australian counterpart: Although your perfectly reasonable compromise meets our immediate goal to ban Hezbollah, you oppose a change in law that will increase the power of the Attorney-General. Why do you hate Australia?]
We're in reach of Mid-East terrorists: A-G
news.com.au -- May 28
By John Kerin and Cameron Stewart
The militant Lebanese-based terror group Hezbollah, which maintains an open threat to kill Australians in the Middle East over the Iraq war, has the global reach to mount an attack in Australia, the Federal Government has warned.
Pumping up pressure on the Federal Opposition and the Labor states to support a ban on the terrorist wing of Hezbollah in Australia, Attorney-General Daryl Williams said yesterday the group was one of the few with the resources to harm Australians at home.
But Mr Williams did not produce evidence of active terrorist cells in Australia.
It is understood that although there are people with links to the organisation in Australia, the Government believes there are no active terrorist cells here.
A high-level US government report states that Hezbollah is active in Lebanon and other parts of the Middle East and has terrorist cells in Europe, North and South America and Asia, but does not mention Australia.
Hezbollah may be trafficking drugs in South America
San Jose Mercury News -- May 23
By TIM JOHNSON
WASHINGTON - A recent arrest in Paraguay is raising concern on Capitol Hill about links between the radical Hezbollah group and drug trafficking in South America.
Police in Asuncion arrested a relative of Assad Ahmad Barakat, the chief of Hezbollah in South America, with about five pounds of cocaine hidden in an electric piano that he allegedly intended to smuggle into Syria.
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, brought up the arrest in a hearing this week that examined links between drug trafficking and international terrorism. The arrest of Barakat's relative, Hatch said, demonstrated "the narco-terrorist financing operations needed to support Barakat and Hezbollah."
Hezbollah condemns bombings in Riyadh, Casablanca: Newspaper
Zee News (India) -- May 25
Cairo -- The leader of Lebanon's Shiite Muslim fundamentalist movement, Hezbollah, condemned this month's suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco for having targetted "innocent people," an Egyptian newspaper reported today.
"In principle, we do not approve of this kind of operation," Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said in an interview with the government daily al-Ahram.
Israel's propagandists target Hizbullah
Yellow Times -- May 26
By Sharif Hikmat Nashashibi
Much was made in the British media on May 23 of the alleged Israeli capture of a Hizbullah boat, supposedly laden with weapons, weapons-making material and instructions, and supposedly destined for the occupied Palestinian territories. However, an analysis of the reports points to sloppy, highly selective journalism in the face of Israeli propaganda.
Hizbullah hospital wins praise along border
Facility embodies ‘softer’ side of jihad
The Daily Star -- May 27
Nicholas Blanford
In marked contrast to the general lack of development in the border district since Israel’s troop withdrawal three years ago this week, the Hizbullah-run Saleh Ghandour Hospital in Bint Jbeil is proving a rare success story.
With international attention focused on Hizbullah’s military presence in the border area, the hospital represents the often overlooked aspect of the party as it quietly dispenses low-cost healthcare to local residents, regardless of their faith.
Bassem Sidawi, a Christian doctor from Ain Ibl, worked at the hospital during the years of occupation, treating locals as well as the occasional Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army militiamen who had been wounded by Hizbullah’s resistance fighters. Today, Sidawi still treats patients at the hospital and will not hear a word against the party.
“It makes me very angry when I see Hizbullah being described as a terrorist organization, “Sidawi said. “It’s a manipulation of what is happening here. Hizbullah is not a terrorist group.”
Australia plans to ban Hizbullah
Al Bawaba -- May 27
The Australian government said Tuesday that it is planning to ban the Lebanon-based Hizbullah group, “due to intelligence suggesting members of the group have been involved in various terror activities.”
Justice Minister Daryl Williams said that while the US and Britain had banned Hizbullah, Australia hadn’t, “The Australian laws regarding terror groups permit us to ban only groups that are enlisted on the list of terror organizations published by the UN Security Council (UNSC)”, he explained.
According to Australian anti-terror laws, a group must be declared a terrorist organization by the United Nations Security Council before it can be proscribed in Australia.
Williams added that Australia should prepare itself to cope with expected terror threats. “The US is conducting an all-out war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban, but it seems it is not tackling other organizations which have a similar political doctrine to that of Al Qaeda. Hizbullah is a dangerous terror group and we ought to fight it,” Williams told the Australian parliament.
HAMAS RUNS INSURGENCY OPERATIONS FROM SYRIA
MENL -- May 25
WASHINGTON -- Hamas has employed its offices in Syria for the financing and planning of insurgency operations, a new report says.
The report by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy said Hamas leaders use their Damascus headquarters for the planning of major operations against Israel. The report, authored by Matthew Levitt, said Hamas leaders in Damascus have acknowledged their central role in insurgency operations.
"From their Syrian safe haven, Hamas leaders Khaled Mashaal, Mussa Abu Marzouk, Imad Al Alami, and others actively launch terrorist operations." the report said. "Hamas leaders have acknowledged the central role that their group's Damascus-based 'political' leaders play in operational decision-making."
The report cited a statement from the late Hamas military commander Salah Shehada in the Gaza Strip. Shehada, who was assassinated last year in an Israeli air attack in Gaza City, had asserted that "the political apparatus is sovereign over the military apparatus, and a decision of the political [echelon] takes precedence over the decision of the military [echelon], without intervening in military operations."
U.S. sees signs Syria curtailing 'terror support'
Reuters via Ha'aretz -- May 23
WASHINGTON - The United States sees some signs that Syria is curtailing its support for "terrorism" but not the kind of dramatic moves Washington has been looking for, a senior State Department official said on Friday.
Syria and Iran remain among the seven nations that the United States lists as state sponsors of terrorism, in part because of U.S. allegations that both nations support anti-Israel groups like Hezbollah.
"We are not going to look fondly toward nations such as Iran or Syria which serve as origination and transshipment points for weapons (that are going to) Hezbollah and we have made that clear to both of them," the U.S. official, who asked not to be identified, told reporters as U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell flew home from a two-day visit to Paris.
Lebanon marks Israeli withdrawal
Ha'aretz -- May 25
By Daniel Sobelman
Lebanon celebrated Liberation and Resistance Day yesterday, a national holiday first declared after Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon three years ago.
Hezbollah held its main rally in the city of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah stressed in his speech that Lebanon must not give up the arms of Hezbollah, and explained that Israel and the U.S. have aggressive intentions and that Israel is refusing to recognize Lebanon's rights. "Yesterday, when we wanted to drink the water of the Wazzani River and Sharon threatened war, was it because of our weapons? ... Whenever any source of power is conceded, this is suicide," Nasrallah said.
He was referring to an article in the Hebrew edition of Haaretz on Friday, according to which Israel meant to target his organization during the war in Iraq, but was held back by the U.S. administration.
Nasrallah issues call to arms to face Jewish state
‘When the country faces aggression, we must be fully ready’
The Daily Star -- May 27
by Morshed Ali
Hizbullah secretary-general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah called Sunday on the resistance, the army and national forces to arm themselves in the face of a possible attack by the Jewish state.
Addressing thousands at Ras al-Ain in Baalbek on the third anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from South Lebanon, he said, “when the country faces aggression, we must be fully ready to resist.
FM Shalom to Ministers of Syria and Lebanon: I Come In Peace
Maariv via Virtual Jerusalem News -- May 27
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom received an unusual amount of attention in the conference of foreign ministers that took place in Crete. For the first time since the Intifada began the foreign ministers of Morocco and Tunisia agreed with him. For the first time the foreign ministers of Syria and Lebanon chose to listen to the Israeli Foreign Minister’s speech rather than taking their usual step of leaving the auditorium in protest.
“I’ve come here today with a message of peace from Jerusalem. Yesterday the Israeli government approved the roadmap and President Bush’s vision for peace. This step brings hopes of peace to peoples of the region,” said Shalom. “The Palestinian Prime Minister needs to now stop incitement and fight terror. Without this we will not be able to progress. The Palestinians need to understand that Israel will never agree to the return of Palestinians to its territory. I call upon my colleagues in the Arab world to take this opportunity to build a better future.”
The Syrian Foreign Minister gave a moderate speech saying that Syria is prepared to return to the negotiating table with Israel if certain conditions are met based on Un resolutions 242 and 338.
U.N. official: No changes of 'road map'
UPI -- May 27
By Dalal Saoud
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- A top U.N. official said Tuesday the "road map" for peace in the Middle East, designed to settle Israel-Palestinians relations and formally establish a Palestinian state, will not be changed or renegotiated.
Terje Roed Larsen, U.N. special coordinator for Middle East peace, spoke as President George W. Bush prepares to meet with a number of Arab leaders to discuss the plan's implementation.
Larsen said the peace plan was more broad than the 1993 Oslo agreements between Israel and the Palestinians because it takes into account Lebanon and Syria.
Jordan confirms Palestinian-Israeli summit in Aqaba; Syria excluded from US-Arab summit
Al Bawaba -- May 27
US President George W. Bush is planned to meet the Israeli and Palestinian premiers at one summit next week and hold another summit with several Arab heads of states.
The Israeli-Palestinian summit will take place in Jordan, Petra news agency confirmed Tuesday. The US-Arab summit will be held in Egypt. Both summits would take place after Bush attends the G-8 summit of the world's wealthiest countries in Evian, France from June 1-3.
Jordanian Information Minister, Mohammad Affash Adwan, was quoted as saying by Petra that Bush would meet a few Arab leaders, including Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah II, in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
The Jordanian minister conveyed the US leader was also due to attend a separate summit with Sharon and Abbas, in Jordan's resort of Aqaba. Adwan said consultations were under way to "specify the dates of both summits."
Syria expresses skepticism of Israel's acceptance of road map
Ha'aretz via Virtual Jerusalem News -- May 27
DAMASCUS, Syria - Syria's official media expressed skepticism Tuesday of Israel's acceptance of the road map plan for peace with the Palestinians, saying the Israeli aim is to gain time and smash the Palestinian opposition.
The Israeli Cabinet gave its conditional approval to the
plan on Sunday, adding demands that the Palestinians have
previously rejected. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had earlier declared his reluctant support for the plan, subject to assurances from Washington that Israel's reservations would be taken into account in the plan's
implementation.
SYRIA PREZ: WHAT QAEDA?
New York Post -- May 26
Syrian President Bashar Assad - who has promised Washington that he would help in the war on terror - said yesterday that al Qaeda does not exist and that Arab countries should not deal directly with Israel
"Is there really an entity called al Qaeda? Was it in Afghanistan? Does it exist now?" Assad asked in a wide-ranging interview published yesterday by the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anba.
Syria Denies Existence of Al Qaeda
Talon News via GOPUSA -- May 26
By Jimmy Moore
KUWAIT CITY -- Syrian President Bashar Assad revealed in a newspaper interview on Sunday that he does not believe there is a terrorist group called al Qaeda, the organization widely believed to be the perpetrators of the hijackings on September 11, 2001 as well as the recent attacks in Saudi Arabia and Morocco.
"Is there really an entity called al Qaeda? It was in Afghanistan, but is it there anymore?" Assad asked.
Is there really an Al-Qaeda group?
The Strait Times -- May 27
KUWAIT CITY - Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview published on Sunday that he doubts the existence of Al-Qaeda, the terror group the US blames for the Sept 11, 2001 attacks and suspects of involvement in more recent strikes in Saudi Arabia and Morocco.
'Is there really an entity called Al-Qaeda? Was it in Afghanistan? Does it exist now?' Mr Assad told Al- Anba, a Kuwaiti daily.
Syria says ''roadmap'' should include Lebanese, Syrian tracks
Al Bawaba -- May 27
The US-backed Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, known as "road map" should be expanded and its guidelines should also be implemented in Syria and Lebanon, Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa said Tuesday.
"The roadmap... has to address the Lebanese and Syrian tracks," Shara was quoted as saying.
Al-Sharaa spoke on the sidelines of a meeting of the European Union and Mediterranean nations held in Crete, Greece. "The two tracks are united and they will be a part of the whole solution in the Middle East," he told reporters.
Israel's Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom speaking at the event Monday, said that Israel was prepared to ink a peace agreement with Syria if Damascus abandons its support for "terrorism."
In his Monday's address to the conference, Shara underlined that the explosive situation in the Middle East was a result of the absence of peace, the developments in Iraq and the continuation of the Israeli occupation of Arab territories, SANA reported.
He pointed out that the Israeli rejection of peace is hindering the establishment of a Euro- Mediterranean region that enjoy peace, stability and welfare.
Shara pointed out that for peace to be comprehensive it should include disarming the region of weapons of mass destruction.
Syria blames Israel for U.S. "differences" -paper
Reuters -- May 25
KUWAIT - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in remarks published on Sunday, blamed Israel for the tense ties between his country and the United States.
"The only problem between us and the United States is the issue of Israel. There is no bilateral problem," Assad told Kuwait's al-Anbaa daily.
via Pulp Non Fiction