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| Middle East |
| Syria backs Iraqis against âillegalâ invasion |
| 2003-04-01 |
| Compiled by Daily Star (Lebanon) staff Edited for length The Syrians make their choice DAMASCUS: Syria said Monday it had chosen to support the Iraqi people against the âillegalâ US-British invasion of Iraq, defying a new warning against Damascus from US Secretary of State Colin Powell. âSyria has chosen to align itself with the brotherly Iraqi people who are facing an illegal and unjustified invasion and against whom are being committed all sorts of crimes against humanity,â a Foreign Ministry spokesman said. In the latest shot of the growing war of words between the two countries over Iraq, Powell said that âSyria now faces a critical choice. Syria can continue direct support for terrorist groups and the dying regime of Saddam Hussein, or it can embark on a different and more hopeful course. âEither way, Syria bears the responsibility for its choices, and for the consequences,â he said. Adding fuel to the fire, a senior Israeli intelligence officer told a parliamentary committee in Jerusalem that Iraqi chemical and biological weapons may be hidden in Syria, Israeli public radio said. âIt is possible Iraq transferred missiles and weapons of mass destruction to Syria,â General Yossi Kupperwasser told the committee Monday. He said the transfer could be one explanation as to why US-led forces scouring suspect sites in western Iraq had found nothing so far, the radio said. Kupperwasser also estimated the chances of Israel being attacked by Iraq, as happened in the 1991 Gulf War, as slim but warned that the regime of President Saddam Hussein could still try to strike once it sensed it was about to lose its fight against US-led forces. |
| Posted by:kgb |
| #6 Old Patriot: My comments were semi-cavalier and not buttressed with the analysis yours were, but we share the same sentiment. Syria is a major supporter of terrorism and does have a more modern army than Sammy, but as you state, it also has the problem of that VERY CAPABLE, HOSTILE NEIGHBOR to the south. If we were a hostile neighbor from Iraq, the hammer could hit the anvil and Syria could start to look like a horse shoe or something. On a macro level, Syria must be dealt with one way or the other. I would be more than happy for them to renounce terrorism, cooperate in the war on terror, expel Hezzbollah, and join the civilized world, but it is difficult to see them doing this. On the other hand, it is easy to see Hezzbollah declare war on the U.S. and then Syria is harboring terrs. Once that happens I could easily see the U.S. coming to blows with Syria. Then the admin says "gee... we could clean up lebanon at the same time... hmmmmm" Then Assad 2 gets to join Saddam in Sheol. |
| Posted by: Jonesy 2003-04-01 17:44:24 |
| #5 "Hopefully Syria is next." I agree that Syria is a threat to the region, and to the United States in particular. I also see the very real possibility that Hussein may have transferred SOME of his WMD to Syria. But remember the catastrophy Hussein faced when he "transferred" his Air Force to Iran in GWI? I'm not sure he'd be so willing to place all his trust in Assad. Syria will be a much harder nut to crack. There haven't been any sanctions against Syria, and Russia has continued to sell them their most modern equipment. Syria's air defense assets are far more sophisticated than Iraq's, and include some systems that can easily target - and hit - ANY US air assets. To the good, Syria has some very serious problems of its own: a weakened army, the necessity of keeping occupation forces in Lebanon (although they're not called that, that's essentially what they are), and a VERY CAPABLE, HOSTILE neighbor on its southern border. Assad I wasn't the brightest bulb on the block, and I'm not terribly impressed with Assad II. Hopefully things won't explode before we're ready to deal with them, or we may very well have a two-front war to fight. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-04-01 15:57:34 |
| #4 Hopefully Syria is next. |
| Posted by: Jonesy 2003-04-01 11:49:11 |
| #3 And the Syrian dictator supports suicide massacres. Scroll almost to the bottom of this gasbag's long address, to find the disgusting parts: http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/s-tu/po001.htm |
| Posted by: Anonon 2003-04-01 09:56:16 |
| #2 âIt is possible Iraq transferred missiles and weapons of mass destruction to Syria,â Syria now has WMD? Hmmmmmmmmm... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-04-01 08:04:30 |
| #1 Think Brown! Sand is the real resource! See my post(er)s on "Desert Waste Management" No Prisoners - Recycle Rachel! |
| Posted by: Malthusiast 2003-04-01 03:13:20 |