Does Syria just see us wrapping up in Iraq this January and freeing ourselves up for a new target in Bush's next term?
Posted on 09/22/2004 1:09:01 PM PDT by yonif
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syria has shown a new readiness to work with U.S.-led forces to stop arms, militants and money from crossing into Iraq and fueling insurgency, Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Wednesday.
"I sensed a new attitude from the Syrians," Powell told reporters after talks with the foreign minister of Syria, a nation Washington routinely accuses of supporting terrorism, seeking weapons of mass destruction and dominating Lebanon.
"But of course it all depends on actions, not just on attitudes, so we will be working closely with them," Powell added, emerging relatively upbeat from a meeting with Farouq al-Shara that he described as "a rather positive discussion."
He also welcomed Syria's moves to shift some of its troops in Lebanon out of the Beirut area and move them to the Bekaa Valley.
U.S.-Syrian relations, always strained, hit a new low earlier this year when Washington slapped economic sanctions on Damascus for its alleged support of terrorism and accused Syria of failing to stop anti-U.S. guerrillas from entering Iraq.
Given the U.S. interest in securing Iraq, where about 140,000 U.S. troops are trying to quell a bloody insurgency that erupted after U.S.-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein last year, Washington appears ready to work with Syria to secure the border despite its concerns on other issues.
U.S. officials raised the matter of cooperating on border control during talks in Damascus earlier this month.
"We discussed ... their actions along the Syrian-Iraq border and the need for all of us to do more and I think the Syrians are anxious to do more working with the coalition and especially, and more importantly, working with the Iraqi government," Powell told reporters after his meeting.
BORDER CONTROLS
"I hope that the Syrians now understand the need for all of us to do as much as we can in a tripartite manner -- Syria, the Iraqi interim government and the coalition -- to stop illicit, improper traffic across that border," he said, adding that he expected Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi to visit Syria soon.
While seeking Syrian help to control its border with Iraq, Powell praised the Syria's plans to redeploy some 3,000 of its 17,000 troops in Lebanon from the outskirts of Beirut east toward the Syrian-Lebanon border.
"We noted the redeployment of some Syrian troops ... this is a positive step," he said of the move, which appeared a bid to ease U.S.-led pressure over Syrian influence in Lebanon.
The United States and France backed a Sept. 2 U.N. Security Council resolution that demanded Syria withdraw its troops and cease interfering in Lebanon's affairs. Washington accused Damascus of pressuring Lebanese lawmakers to extend the term of Lebanon's Syrian-backed President Emile Lahoud.
Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister Issam Fares, in a speech at the U.N. General Assembly, defended the presence of Syrian troops, saying they were there at his government's request.
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom dismissed the Syrian moves. "I think the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon is only a cosmetic one," he told reporters. " We need the Syrians to comply and to leave Lebanon, and the sooner the better."
Does Syria just see us wrapping up in Iraq this January and freeing ourselves up for a new target in Bush's next term?
Yeah, I'm sure they are cooperating really well. Where are the WMDs that Saddam shipped over there Bashar al Assad?
These words by Syria do not come out of thin air. There is no doubt much going on behind the scenes. Hopefully, something good will come out of it all.
Bashar can read the polls. He's figuring out he's probably going to have to deal with W the next four years. He's certainly not changing his actions because he fears a Kerry-Chirac-Schroeder alliance.
Couldn't agree more -
From the post: "While seeking Syrian help to control its border with Iraq, Powell praised the Syria's plans to redeploy some 3,000 of its 17,000 troops in Lebanon from the outskirts of Beirut east toward the Syrian-Lebanon border."
(From reading articles of old) -If I'm not mistaken - Syria has a lot more than any WMD that Iraq may have sent them. Baby steps are being taken for a reason -
Bashar fears seeing 2,000 Abrams MBTs and 80,000 troops storming over the Iraqi border and smashing his military to pieces in matter of days. He sees himself like Saddam: in prison waiting to be put to death like a mad dog.
Or, should we maintain our relations with them, threatening the hell out of them unless they change their ways. These despots crave power more than they do ideals.
"Syria has shown a new readiness to work with U.S.-led forces to stop arms, militants and money from crossing into Iraq and fueling insurgency, Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Wednesday."
Yeah, like the French, Russians, and Germans in the Security Council were going to support us on Iraq.
Bush should send Powell on a fact-finding mission to Antarctica until after the election, then can him. He's a naive loser.
Does any reasoning individual believe Syria would be standing down if Kerry were in the lead? Get real.
Assad is a punk just like McCaulif, stand up to him, call his bluff and he'll fold cause he's full of crap.
"Does Syria just see us wrapping up in Iraq this January and freeing ourselves up for a new target in Bush's next term?"
My thoughts exactly. I would bet a weeks pay that we will be fully engaged with either Syria or Iran by March of 2005. Syria knows it would lose and lose hard and are showing signs of cooperation. However, snakes are snakes and most likely this attitude of cooperation is most likely an act.
"Bush should send Powell on a fact-finding mission to Antarctica until after the election"
BIG chuckles. That was funny and I couldn't agree more except to say it should be a permanent move into a glacier of Antarctica with no cell phone.
11 years later, Syria and Hezbollah are the “good guys”
According to Colon Bowell, they were then, too.
Syrian army is hurting due to ISIS and have now been forced to try to “work” with the U.S. They are desperate.
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