War (of Words) with Syria
View current page...more recent posts
Monday, Apr 14, 2003
[More from Rumsfeld. Review of Fleischer's comments]
Al Bawaba -- April 14
US directs additional hostile rhetoric at Syria: Rumsfeld speaks about chemical arms tests
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Monday accused Syria of carrying out tests involving chemical weapons over the past 12 to 15 months and allowing some Iraqis to flee into Syrian territory.
Further increasing U.S. pressure on Iraq's neighbor, Rumsfeld said the United States has "intelligence that indicates that some Iraqi people have been allowed into Syria, in some cases to stay and some cases to transit."
"I would say that we have seen chemical weapons tests in Syria over the past 12, 15 months," he said. "We have intelligence that shows that Syria has allowed Syrians and others to come across the border into Iraq, people armed and people carrying leaflets indicating that they'll be rewarded if they kill Americans and members of the coalition."
Rumsfeld made his comments during a news briefing outside the Pentagon after meeting with visiting Kuwaiti Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammad al-Salem al-Sabah.
Financial Times -- April 14
Israel demands US take action against Syria
By Sharmila Devi in Jerusalem
"We have a long list of issues that we are thinking of demanding of the Syrians and it is proper that it should be done through the Americans," Shaul Mofaz, Israeli defence minister, told the Maariv daily.
"It starts from removing the Hizbollah threat from southern Lebanon."
He also called for "an end to Iranian aid to Hizbollah through Syrian ports".
[More reactions to US statements.]
BBC -- April 14
US warns of Syria sanctions
The United States has stepped up its pressure on Syria, warning of possible sanctions against Damascus over its suspected chemical weapons programme and alleged help for fugitive Iraqi officials.
A Syrian foreign ministry spokeswoman, Bouthana Shaaban, insisted that "the only country in the region which has chemical, biological and nuclear weapons is Israel".
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair told Parliament he had received an assurance from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that no fleeing Iraqi officials would be allowed into Syria.
"He assured me that they would interdict anybody who's crossing over the border from Iraq into Syria," he said. "I believe they are doing that."
Russia has urged Washington to tone down its criticism of Syria.
Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said :"Harsh statements being made in Washington may considerably complicate the situation in the Middle East".
Department of State -- April 14
WHITE HOUSE WARNS "SYRIA NEEDS TO COOPERATE"
The White House called Syria a "rogue nation" and a
"terrorist state," and White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer
reiterated President Bush's warning that "Syria needs to cooperate."
[New statements on Syria by Fleischer and Powell.]
CNN -- April 14
White House steps up criticism of Syria
From Dana Bash
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Rejecting Syria's denial that it harbors senior Iraqi leaders, the Bush administration on Monday hinted at possible sanctions against Syria as it raised anew accusations that Damascus is engaged in chemical weapons programs.
Secretary of State Colin Powell alluded to "possible measures of a diplomatic, economic or other nature" against Syria.
At the White House, Press Secretary Ari Fleischer declined to say what actions, if any, the United States might take against Syria if it does not "cooperate," but he refused to rule anything out.
"There are acceptable standards of behavior that the world and certainly the free Iraqi people hope will be followed by its neighbors including Syria and part of that is not to harbor Iraqi leaders ...Syria needs to cooperate and not harbor Iraqi leaders," Fleischer said.
Fleischer quoted from a 2002 public CIA report that Syria "already held nerve gas... but is trying to develop more toxic and persistent nerve agents."
"Why should they have chemical weapons?" asked Fleischer, noting that they are not signatories to the Chemical Weapons Treaty that bans them.
Reuters -- April 14
Britain's Straw Says Syria Cooperated with Saddam
KUWAIT - British Foreign Minister Jack Straw said on Monday there was evidence that Syria cooperated with Saddam Hussein's toppled administration in recent months and urged Damascus to change its attitude now that he was gone.
Straw said on Monday Syria was not "next on the list" for military action, but said there was evidence that Syria cooperated with Saddam's toppled administration. He urged Damascus to change its attitude now Saddam was gone.
[British recap of Ha'aretz interview, plus settler reaction.]
The Guardian via Dratfink -- April 14
Sharon softens stance on Palestine
by Conal Urquhart in Jerusalem and Nicholas Watt
Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, gave his strongest indication yesterday that he expected to see a Palestinian state and was willing to evacuate controversial settlements to achieve peace.
But Mr Sharon was given a taste of the dangers of taking a moderate stance. Ezra Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the Yesha Council, the settlers' pressure group, described his remarks as "pathetic".
"He has completely divorced himself from the history of the Jewish people. If you do not have the right to live in Shiloh and Beit El, you don't have the right to live in Tel Aviv. The UN declaration in 1948 is not the justification of the state of Israel, it is Jewish history."
National Post (Canada) via AEI --- April 5
A Peaceful Approach to Regime Change
By David Frum
So--what's next? The question may seem premature: Allied troops have barely begun, let alone won, the battle for Baghdad. Yet already you hear anti-war critics demanding to know who will replace Iraq in the Bush administration's gunsights. These critics fear that the administration is determined to launch an endless sequence of wars to reshape the whole Middle East.
But while reshaping the region is very much on the administration's mind, more wars in the region are not. Instead, the administration's long-range thinkers are planning three different approaches borrowed from the recent past to the area's three most troublesome states--and all three approaches are non-military.
For Iran, the approach might be compared to the approach the United States and other democratic states took to Poland in the 1980s. ....
For Syria, think Libya in the 1980s ...
As for Saudi Arabia, it shares more than a set of initials with South Africa. ...
Today's summary and conjecture. The war of words is heating up. After letting lower level officials till the ground, Bush is speaking up on Syria. Lists of current and past offenses by Syria are circulating in the US media. Increasing US pressure on Israel to make concessions to Palestine is likely to increase Israeli pressure on the US to do something about Syria. US is likely to continue to ratchet up pressure, but has little international backing for this rhetoric. Assad may be forced to allow US strikes against anti-Israeli organizations in Syria and Lebanon to prevent full-scale invasion.
[Report on Israeli-Syrian War of Words]
Ha'aretz -- April 14
Mofaz: Syria must lift Hezbollah threat to Israel
By Daniel Sobelman and Nathan Guttman, Haaretz Correspondents and Agencies
Syria must lift the threat of Hezbollah attacks against Israel and expel the leaders of terrorist organizations from Damascus, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz was quoted as saying Monday, amid fast-rising tensions between Syria and the United States.
"We must monitor what it happening there. The Americans have taken out a 'yellow card' on them, and were right to do so," he said in remarks broadcast on Army Radio, referring to a soccer referee's warning card for players who have broken the rules of the game, and, if infractions continue, may be expelled.
Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk a-Shara said Sunday that if the United States decides to attack Syria, Israel will also be harmed as a result. Shara also rejected claims that Syria was providing shelter to senior Iraqi leaders, and said that the Americans "know well that these accusations have no basis."
Former prime minister and foreign minister Shimon Peres, currently in the United States, said Washington no longer tolerate "two faced policies" regarding terrorism. "A nation can either fight terror or aid terror. They will not allow a nation to pretend it is fighting terror, while it actually aids it."
Peres said that some 10 headquarters of terrorist organizations in Damascus. He added that Washington's approach to Syria was likely to be "uncompromising," but "I don't think that the next step will be use of military force. I think that what America will try to do is to truly forge a coalition to tell Syria to decide where it's really headed."