War (of Words) with Syria
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Tuesday, Oct 07, 2003
Sharon Threatens to Hit Israel's Enemies Anywhere
Reuters -- October 7, 2003
JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon threatened Tuesday to hit Israel's enemies anywhere following an air raid deep in Syria, drawing words of support and caution from President Bush.
"The decisions that he makes to defend her people are valid decisions. We would be doing the same thing," Bush told reporters in Washington when asked about Sharon's remarks.
U.S. takes harder line with Syria
San Jose Mercury News -- October 7, 2003
WASHINGTON - After Israel's weekend attack on an alleged terrorist training camp in Syria, a harsher policy toward Damascus is taking shape on Capitol Hill and in the Bush administration.
President Bush on Monday refused to criticize Israel's raid early Sunday on the camp outside Damascus. The raid came a day after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 19 people and wounded 50 others in Haifa, Israel.
Bush said he told Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ``Israel's got a right to defend herself, that Israel must not feel constrained in terms of defending the homeland.''
The president added that he reminded Sharon ``that it's very important that any action Israel takes should avoid escalation and creating higher tensions.''
Critics say the White House stance gives the Israeli leader virtually a free hand to conduct more strikes on Syria -- which might further destabilize the Middle East -- and identifies the United States too closely with Sharon's policies.
Hawks at the Pentagon haven't given up on the idea of ``regime change'' in Damascus and recently asked the CIA to come up with a list of Syrian notables who might one day succeed Syrian President Bashar Assad, said a U.S. official who requested anonymity.
U.S. officials and lawmakers say Syria has failed to heed warnings to stop Islamist militants from crossing its border into Iraq to attack U.S. troops, and has resisted demands from Secretary of State Colin Powell and others to shut down Palestinian militant groups operating on its territory.
An alleged espionage ring at the U.S. detention facility in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, also may involve Syria. A U.S. airman arrested in July faces charges of providing information on the camp and its detainees to the Syrian government.
Syria ``is living on borrowed time,'' a State Department official said recently, referring to the mood in Washington. He spoke on condition of anonymity.
On Capitol Hill, the House International Relations Committee is scheduled Wednesday to approve the Syria Accountability Act, which would encourage Bush to impose new economic and diplomatic sanctions on the government of Assad.
Syria sanctions poised to sail through US Congress
Sydney Morning Herald -- October 8, 2003
The Bush Administration, which essentially endorsed Israel's bombing of Syria, has given the all-clear to the US Congress to approve economic sanctions against Syria.
Sources said the Administration, frustrated with Syria's failure to crack down on alleged terrorists, had dropped its opposition to the stalled Syria Accountability Act. The House of Representatives international relations committee will approve it today, staff members said on Monday.
Robert Fisk on the Israeli Attack on Syria
CounterPunch -- October 6, 2003
[Another story on the US pay-off of Lebanon. It's a bit convoluted. This time its about the nexus of Waterworks of Mass Desertification and guerilla warfare/terrorism. If Lebanon proceeds with plans to take water from the Wazzani River, a tributary of the Hatzbani River, which flows in to the Jordon River, then Israel may attack.
Keep in mind that Israeli military strikes against Arab water facilities occured during the period of escalation proceeding Israel's pre-emptive war in 1967, and that the Golan Heights, captured during that pre-emptive war, and since annexed by Israel, provide much of Israel's water supply.
To defuse the current cold water war, the US will pay to build a pumping station on the Litani River. But to do so means that Hizbullah, who have militia forces in southern Lebanon, must be disarmed.]
Lebanon Offered U.S. Aid to Disarm Hezbollah, Lawmaker Says
Bloomberg -- May 29
May 29 (Bloomberg) -- A U.S. lawmaker, citing Bush administration support, will propose to Lebanon that it disarm the Hezbollah militia and cancel a water project opposed by Israel in return for $500 million in American aid.
The aid, intended to help defuse tension in the region, would be used to build a water-distribution facility in southern Lebanon that would avoid the need to tap a river that flows into Israel, Representative Darrell Issa of California said.
A background story on the Wazzani ...
AP via ENN -- September 17, 2002
Hezbollah flay ban plan by Australia
Reuters via Gulf News -- May 30
Lebanon's Hezbollah fighters yesterday said that Australia's push to ban the group as a "terrorist" organisation showed it had fallen in line with a smear campaign orchestrated by Washington and Israel.
U.S. Offers To Pay For Peace
Arutz Sheva -- May 30
Syria, which still appears on the American list of terrorism-supporting countries, and Lebanon are liable to receive a half-billion dollars each from the United States. Two Congressmen - Darrell Issa (R-Ca.) and Robert Wexler (D-Fl.) - have been sent by the White House to visit the Middle East next week and offer Damascus the money in exchange for "participating" in the Middle East process. Syria will be asked to end its support for terrorist organizations such as Hizbullah and Islamic Jihad, and end the occupation of Lebanon by Syrian troops.
Lebanon, for its part - from where Rep. Issa's grandparents hail - will be asked to disarm Hizbullah, station its forces along the border with Israel instead of Hizbullah, and "express willingness" to reach a water-rights agreement with Israel.
US reportedly offering deal to neutralize Hizbullah
‘$500m on table’ if Beirut complies
The Daily Star -- May 30
Nicholas Blanford
Special to The Daily Star
The United States is reportedly making a fresh attempt to strike a behind-the-scenes
deal to neutralize Hizbullah, offering the government half a billion dollars if the resistance is dismantled and Syria pulls its troops out of Lebanon.
The offer is reportedly being conveyed by Darryl Issa, a Republican congressman for California, and Democrat Robert Wexler during a visit to Beirut Friday, the daily As-Safir said Thursday. The two congressmen will also travel to Damascus to discuss the offer with Syrian officials, the paper said.
As-Safir said the $500 million would be delivered in phases as Lebanon fulfilled a number of demands. An initial $100 million would be disbursed if Lebanon agreed to settle its water disputes with Israel, namely the allocation of water from the Hasbani River.
A further $250 million would be handed over for development projects in the border district if Hizbullah’s military wing is dismantled and the army deployed along the UN-delineated Blue Line. The remaining $150 million would be allocated to water and agricultural projects in the South.
There was no immediate official comment on the offer, but few believe that Lebanon and Syria will accept the alleged deal.
If the report is true, it would not be the first time that the US attempted to cut a deal to curb Hizbullah’s military activities. After Sept. 11, 2001, Issa reportedly delivered a message to Hizbullah’s leadership on behalf of the US administration, asking the party to withdraw from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, publicly distinguish between Islam and terrorism and share information it has on groups the US considers terrorist organizations. In return, the US administration would forgive Hizbullah’s alleged past involvement in anti-Western attacks.
The deal was rejected by Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who described it as a “political hand grenade hurled to finish us off.”
Nasrallah also said that the US attempted to buy off Hizbullah in early 2000, offering millions of dollars, a guaranteed political role in Lebanon and international recognition if it abandoned the struggle against Israel after the Israeli Army withdrew from the South.
Meanwhile, the daily Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported Thursday that Iranian Revolutionary Guards have been removing weapons from the border district around Marjayoun. The newspaper also said that Iran has stopped training Hizbullah pilots, apparently hang-glider pilots trained to carry out suicide operations inside Israel.
Timur Goksel, UNIFIL’s spokesman and senior adviser, said that Indian peacekeeping troops deployed in the Marjayoun area had seen no unusual movement.
He also said no hang-gliders had been seen in south Lebanon.
“The only things flying around here bigger than a bird are Israeli jets,” Goksel said.
The only known incident of a hang-glider being used in an attack on Israel happened in November 1987.
The Third Phase of the War on Terror
BBC World News -- May 30
During a BBC report on Hizbullah and Lebanon Dr. Loren B. Thompson of the Lexington Institute had this to say ...
From the viewpoint of the United States, a country that cannont prevent its territory from being used as a base for attacks against other countries is by definition a failed state. It lacks sovereingty, and therefore external powers have the legitimacy of acting in order to prevent them becoming a threat.
Blair in Kuwait Before Iraq Trip; Warns Iran, Syria
Reuters -- May 28
By Mike Peacock
KUWAIT CITY - British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived in Kuwait on Wednesday before he was due to make the first trip to neighboring Iraq by a Western leader since the war that toppled Saddam Hussein.
He also delivered a warning to neighbors Iran and Syria not to meddle in Iraq's future or support militants who could upset hopes of progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace moves
"It's particularly important that Iran and Syria cease to support any terrorist groups," he said.
Britain has taken a more measured approach than Washington to Damascus and Syria, favoring dialogue with both.
On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld stepped up charges that Iran was harboring wanted leaders of the Islamic militant network al Qaeda. Insiders say he is pressing for a U.S. policy shift to support "regime change" in Tehran.
The UK premier stopped well short of that.