War (of Words) with Syria
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Sunday, Apr 20, 2003
[Next stop Bekaa Valley?]
US prepares for strike by Hezbollah
Sunday Times (UK) via Daily Times (Pakistan) -- April 20
By Tony Allen-Mills
WASHINGTON: American military planners have been told to draw up options for possible retaliatory action against Hezbollah and other Middle Eastern terrorist groups in the event of suicide attacks on US forces in Iraq, according to official sources in Washington. Intelligence specialists have concluded that the greatest threat to US military bases in Iraq may come from groups operating out of Syria.
“The opportunities for mischief-making that might make a pretext for escalation have just multiplied enormously,” said John Pike, a military specialist with globalsecurity.org, a Washington think tank.
The influx of American troops had presented the region’s terrorists with “a target-rich environment”, Pike said. Anti-American operations might include border incursions by Hezbollah guerrillas or groups operating out of Iran, and car or truck bomb attacks on US targets in Baghdad. Other sources said that if Hezbollah went on the offensive, the Pentagon would respond in kind.
[Bush on Syria at Fort Hood, Lugar on Iraq at Meet the Press, Woolsey on Syria at Fox News Sunday.]
Bush Hails Signs That Syria Is Starting to Cooperate on Iraq
New York Times -- April 20
By JOHN TIERNEY
WASHINGTON — President Bush emerged from Easter services today with unusually peaceful words for Syria, which his administration has accused of aiding Iraq during the war and sheltering its leaders as fighting ended.
James Woolsey, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency under President Clinton, criticized Syria's leader, Bashar Assad, for being "really over the line" last month by raising the prospect of terrorist attacks against American troops in Iraq. "He is on the side of the terrorists and those who would, I think, like to continue to run totalitarian regimes in the Middle East," Mr. Woolsey said in an appearance on "Fox News Sunday."
[A review of the war of words over the past week or so.]
Next Stop: Syria?
The Bush Administration applies the screws to another "rogue nation." What's behind the sudden indictment — and how scared should Damascus be?
Time -- April 28
By ROMESH RATNESAR
Just days after U.S. troops entered Baghdad, the Bush Administration was already contemplating a new scrape. A group of the President's top foreign-policy advisers — including Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld and Colin Powell — gathered in the White House to discuss the road ahead. Only half the meeting was devoted to developments in Iraq. The rest of the session was spent debating how to tackle a fresh target: Syria.
Hawks recycle arguments for Iraq war against Syria
The Washington Times -- April 16
By David R. Sands
The talk over war with Syria increasingly resembles a spring rerun of the debate over war with Iraq, with virtually the same cast of characters and plot.
Neoconservative Richard Perle, a leading hawk in the Iraq debate, yesterday called for Congress to pass a "Syrian Liberation Act" modeled on the 1998 law that made regime change in Baghdad official U.S. policy.
via a warblogging post with commentary and links
[Review of Hezbollah speech from several days ago, plus background on the organization.]
Hezbollah Vows Anew to Target Americans
Bush officials, fearing attacks, debate whether to go after the group and backers Iran and Syria.
Los Angeles Times -- April 17
By Josh Meyer
WASHINGTON -- Hezbollah, a militant Islamic organization backed by Iran and Syria, has issued a new call to arms against Americans in the Middle East, touching off fears of terrorist attacks and debate withinthe Bush administration over whether to move more aggressively against the group and its key sponsors.
The military wing of Hezbollah, long considered by the U.S. to be among the world's most dangerous terrorist groups, has focused largely on Israel because of its past occupation of Hezbollah's homeland in Lebanon and other contested territory. But the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq has triggered a spate of anti-American rhetoric from the Shiite organization and its leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah.
Bush says Syria's `getting the message' on Iraq
AP via San Francisco Chronicle -- April 20
SCOTT LINDLAW
FORT HOOD, Texas --
President Bush said Sunday that Syria is "getting the message" that it should not cooperate with the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein but should help the United States capture fleeing Iraqi leaders.
The president lowered recently intense rhetoric against Iraq's neighbor to the west. Tensions between the United States and Syria escalated after reports surfaced that members of Saddam's deposed government had crossed the border to flee the U.S.-led war.
Syria, Egypt Leaders Discuss Iraq, U.S. Pressure
Reuters -- April 20
By Inal Ersan
DAMASCUS - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad on Sunday for talks on postwar Iraq and tension between Damascus and Washington over Syria's alleged chemical weapons.
"Syria expects Egypt to use its good offices with Washington to help defuse the tension," a diplomatic source said.
Assad assures U.S. congressmen that Syria will not give asylum to wanted Iraqis
AP via San Francisco Chronicle -- April 20
DONNA ABU-NASR
DAMASCUS --
Syria will not give asylum to Iraqis wanted for war crimes and will expel any Iraqi who crosses into the country, President Bashar Assad told two U.S. congressmen Sunday, the lawmakers said.
Reps. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., and Darrell Issa, R-Calif., were the first U.S. officials to meet Assad since the recent escalation of U.S.-Syrian tensions. In an interview with The Associated Press, they described a calm Assad who is eager to address U.S. concerns raised since the Iraq war.
US Deputy Secretary of State: Syria may face sanctions; Congressman: Syria wants dialogue
Al Bawaba -- April 20
Syria will face "sanctions" if it continues to support movements such as Lebanon's Hizbullah and the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said.
"If Syria decided to maintain its support for terrorism, particularly of Hizbullah and Islamic Jihad in Palestine, we will be forced to impose sanctions and other political measures on it," Armitage told the Al-Khaleej daily, published in the United Arab Emirates
[Discussion of how several factors may affect the road map: US-UK relations, US-Syria relations, Palestinian internal politics, Israeli internal politics.]
Syria Tensions May Stall Plan
Forward -- April 18
CHEMI SHALEV
JERUSALEM — Rising tensions between Washington and Damascus may serve to delay the launch of the much-anticipated "road map" to Israeli-Palestinian peace, senior Israeli officials told the Forward this week.
An escalation in U.S.-Syrian tensions is likely to heat up Israel's northern border, the officials said, forcing Washington to concentrate on yet another Middle East crisis and to postpone the new initiative on the Israeli-Palestinian front.