This page is a narrow-focus warblog. In fact, it's a blog of a war that is only verbal, so far. The content consists primarily of pronouncements by various government officials in the US, Syria and around the world, as well as analysis and commentary from media outlets.

Archive

Sources (non-exhaustive)

AFP -- France
Al Bawaba -- Jordon, UK
Al Jazeera -- Qatar
Arab News -- Saudi Arabia
Arabic News
Asia Times -- Hong Kong
Associated Press (AP) -- USA
BBC -- UK
CNN -- USA
The Daily Star -- Lebanon
Financial Times -- UK
Forward -- USA
The Guardian -- UK
--- The Observer
Google News
Ha'aretz -- Israel
.......... Ha'aretz vs. haaretz.com
The Hindu -- India
IRNA -- Iran
IslamOnline -- Qatar
Maariv -- now in English -- Israel
Monday Morning -- Lebanon
New York Post -- USA
New York Times -- USA
Reuters -- UK
Scoop -- New Zealand
United Press International (UPI) -- USA
US DoD Defense Link
US Dept. of State Int'l Information Programs
US White House, Press Briefing Archive
Washington Post

Cast of Characters

Syria
.......... CIA Factbook
.......... Global Security, Syria Special Weapons News Archive
.......... BBC, profile
Bashar al-Assad, President
.......... BBC, profile
.......... Slate, profile
.......... Arabic News, biography
.......... Forward, profile
Farouk al-Shara, Foreign Minister
Imad Moustapha, Deputy Syrian Ambassador to the US
.......... Boston Globe, profile
.......... personal page?
.......... Greta's Fox News show, photo

USA
George W. Bush
.......... US White House, biography
.......... A&E, biography
.......... Iraqi News, biography
.......... Realchange.org, Skeletons
.......... awolbush.com
.......... bushwatch.com
.......... whitehouse.org, biography, may contain satire
.......... bartcop, profile of Bush's military career
Ari Fleischer, Press Secretary
.......... A & E, biography
.......... The New Republic, profile
Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense
.......... US DoD, biography
.......... Wikipedia, biography
.......... ABC News, profile
Colin Powell, Secretary of State
.......... US White House, biography
.......... Behind Colin Powell's Legend
Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense
.......... US DoD, biography
.......... US DoD, transcripts
.......... American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, biography
.......... Slate, profile
.......... Foreign Policy in Focus, track record in Asia
.......... The Australian, profile
Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor
.......... US White House, biography
.......... Hoover Institution, profile
.......... BBC, profile
John R. Bolton, Under Secretary of State, Arms Control and International Security
.......... US Dept. of State, biography
.......... Foreign Policy in Focus, profile
Douglas Feith, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy
.......... US DoD, biography
.......... Middle East Infromation Center, profile
.......... American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, biography
Richard Perle, Defense Advisory Board
.......... AEI, biography
.......... Center for Cooperative Research, biography -- scroll down
.......... Slate, profile
Richard Armitage, Deputy Secretary of State

NGOs
AEI
AIPAC
PNAC
.......... PNAC's website
.......... pnac.info

UK
Tony Blair, Prime Minister
.......... 10 Downing St., biography
Jack Straw, Foreign Minister
.......... 10 Downing St., biography


Israel
Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister
.......... Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, biography
.......... Electronic Intifada, biography
Shaul Mofaz, Defense Minister
Silvan Shalom, Foreign Minister
Dov Weisglass, Sharon's chief of staff
Ephriam Halevy, National Security Adviser

Palestine
Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen)
.......... Middle East Information Center, profile
Hamas
.......... UPI, background on Hamas/Israel connection
.......... Terrorism Research Center, profile

Lebanon
.......... CIA, profile
.......... Dept. of State, profile
Emile Lahoud, President
.......... Lebanese Embassy to the US, biography
.......... American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, profile
Rafiq Hariri, Prime Minister
.......... Lebanese Embassy to the US, biography
.......... BBC, profile
.......... The Estimate profile
Nabih Berri, Speaker of the Parliament
.......... Lebanese Embassy to the US, biography
.......... Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, biography
.......... Encyclopedia of the Orient, biography
Jean Obeid, Foreign Minister
Hizbullah
.......... Hizbullah's website
.......... US Dept. of State, profile
.......... Momkey Media Report, Hezbollah links
.......... Yellow Times The History of Hizbullah

Multi-national Organizations
United Nations
European Union
Gulf Cooperation Council
Arab League

Reciprocity

::: wood s lot :::
Providence Journal
random walks
blogs against war
The Memory Hole


War (of Words) with Syria

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Friday, May 16, 2003

Lebanon Says Foils Plot Against U.S. Embassy
Reuters -- May 15


By Joseph Logan
BEIRUT - Lebanon has arrested nine people plotting an attack on the U.S. embassy and kidnappings to try to force the release of Islamic militant prisoners, military intelligence officials said on Thursday.

News of the arrests came three days after suicide bombings on foreigners' housing compounds in Saudi Arabia killed at least 34 people, including seven Americans, the first major attack on U.S. targets since the war in Iraq.

- mark 5-16-2003 8:52 am [link]

Thursday, May 15, 2003

[A tangent into Iran-al-Qaida connection.]

U.S. checking whether Saudi bombings were planned in Iran
Knight Ridder Newspapers via Miami Herald -- May 14


By JOHN WALCOTT
WASHINGTON - U.S. intelligence agencies are investigating whether senior al-Qaida leaders hiding in Iran may have helped to plan or coordinate the terrorist bombings that killed 34 people, including eight Americans, late Monday in Saudi Arabia.

Intelligence officials said several al-Qaida leaders, including Saif al Adel, who's wanted in connection with the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa and may now be the terrorist group's third-ranking official, and Osama bin Laden's son Saad have found refuge in Iran, where they remain active.

- mark 5-15-2003 12:50 pm [link]

Khatami opposes escalation, destabilizing the region
Arabic News -- May 14


The Iranian President Muhammad Khatami yesterday in Beirut expressed his opposition to any escalation in the Middle East and anything that destabilize the region.

In a speech he delivered in Arabic before a large audience of 50,000 at the sport stadium in Beirut, Khatami said "we do not want to take part in escalating tension in the region or getting involved in destabilizing events."

- mark 5-15-2003 12:26 pm [link]

Has Iran bartered Hizbullah with US for Iraq-based Iranian opposition group?
Al Bawaba -- May 14


14-05-2003 Analysts speaking to Al Bawaba assessed that the main reason behind the recent Lebanese visit of Iranian president, Mohammad Khatami, was to pressure and curb the Lebanese Hizbullah in its struggle with Israel. The visit was also believed to have come following a deal Iran has struck with the US under which the latter will rein in the Iranian rebel group, Mujahideen Khalq, which useed Iraq as a base for its attacks against Iran.

According to analysts, Khatami was in Lebanon to deliver a message to Hizbullah using diplomacy, effectively communicating to them that the era of ‘armed struggle’ has now passed, and that they should be prepared for the anticipated and drastic changes the region will undergo.

- mark 5-15-2003 12:21 pm [link]

Israeli overflights draw fire from Hizbullah
The Daily Star -- May 15


Israeli warplanes flew over southern Lebanon on Wednesday, drawing fire from Hizbullah fighters, Lebanese security officials said.

The fighters fired anti-aircraft guns at two Israeli fighters that flew over the western sector of South Lebanon but they missed, the officials said.

In Jerusalem, Israeli military officials said Hizbullah had fired anti-aircraft shells at “the western sector of the Israeli-Lebanese border,” but declined to comment on the alleged flights by Israeli jets. “No injuries were reported,” an Israeli Army spokesman said.

- mark 5-15-2003 12:19 pm [link]

Hizbullah ‘not dependent on any foreign force’
‘What we have is solidarity’

The Daily Star -- May 14


by Alia Ibrahim and Nafez Kawas
Hizbullah is a Lebanese reality, and it doesn’t receive instructions from any country, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said during his press conference at the Phoenicia Inter-Continental Hotel Wednesday.

“Hizbullah is not receiving instructions from any country and it does not depend on any foreign force,” Khatami said, adding that Iran also enjoys good relations with Syria and Lebanon, but “that doesn’t mean the three countries interfere in each other’s internal affairs.”

- mark 5-15-2003 12:08 pm [link]

Powell Says U.S. Won't Use Force on Iran, Syria, North Korea
Bloomberg -- May 14


Moscow -- The U.S. plans to use diplomacy rather than military force to persuade Iran, Syria and North Korea to abandon terrorism and shut down nuclear programs, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said, Itar-Tass news service reported.

The U.S. ``don't intend to use the Iraqi model on Iran, Syria or North Korea,'' Powell said, according to the news service. ``We don't plan to use this model to solve other problems. The U.S. isn't studying the world map to start a war.''

- mark 5-15-2003 12:04 pm [link]

Toronto terrorists snuffed by Syria
Calgary Sun -- May 14


By STEPHANIE RUBEC
OTTAWA -- A Toronto-based al-Qaida terrorist cell dismantled in late 2001 was plotting attacks on major government institutions in Canada and the U.S., according to a new report.

The Washington Post reported Monday the Syrian government played a crucial role in helping Canadian and American authorities take down the key players in the al-Qaida cell before they launched their attacks.

A source in Damascus told the Post that Syrian security officers alerted Ottawa of the plot to attack Canadian institutions in late 2001, after they arrested and interrogated an al-Qaida suspect upon his arrival in Syria. He had already passed through two European airports.

- mark 5-15-2003 12:02 pm [link]

[Transcript of Rice's press briefing yesterday.]

National Security Advisor Rice briefs foreign journalists
US Department of State -- May 14


QUESTION: Amal Chmouny, Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper. How genuine is the statement by the American administration for Syria to withdraw its troop from Lebanon? And where do you put the relation between USA and Syria?

DR. RICE: Well, the relationship between the United States and Syria has been problematic because the policies and behavior of Syria have been problematic: the Syrian support for terrorism, particularly for Hezbollah, but also other rejectionist organizations where it comes to peace in the Middle East; the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, which has long been U.S. policy that it should end.

And the Syrian relationship has been very difficult. Now, it doesn't have to remain difficult. There is a path that could create conditions in which this could be a much better relationship, but we are not there.

We were very concerned about Syrian activities closing in on the end of the Iraq conflict. It was obvious that people were escaping into Syria. It was obvious that they were not being stopped. There was some improvement in that after we raised the issue, but there is a lot of work to be done. Syrian weapons of mass destruction programs have to be accounted for, and Syria should stand up and renounce those and make it possible to verify that they have given up any aspirations to weapons of mass destruction.

But it is, frankly, a very difficult relationship and it is not one that is likely to improve without some major changes in Syrian behavior.

- mark 5-15-2003 11:52 am [link]

Rice chides Syria, Iran for supporting terror
Reuters via Ha'aretz -- May 14


WASHINGTON - The United States chided Syria and Iran on Wednesday for their support for "terrorism" and urged Syria to show its commitment to Middle East peace by pulling its troops out of Lebanon.

Speaking at the Foreign Press Center in Washington, White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice described the relationship between America and Syria as a difficult one because of its support for terror activities.

"The relationship between the United States and Syria has been problematic because of the policy and behavior of Syria - Syria's support for terrorism," Rice said.

- mark 5-15-2003 10:18 am [link]