U.S. asks Syria to stop militants: Official (US delegation met w & warned Assad personally)

CNN ^ | Sept. 25, 2004 | CNN

[FairOpinion]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A U.S. delegation directly confronted Syrian President Bashar Assad -- on the third anniversary of 9/11 -- with evidence that Syrians were aiding militants crossing the border to foment deadly violence in Iraq, a senior U.S. government official has told CNN.

President Bush had warned Syria before about its failure to police its borders, but the meeting with Assad -- as opposed to lower-level Syrian officials -- sent a more dire message, according to CNN Military Intelligence Analyst Ken Robinson, quoting the official.

Robinson said the official did not describe what kind of evidence the U.S. presented to Assad at the September 11 meeting in Damascus attended by an influential delegation of representatives from the Department of State, Department of Defense, U.S. Central Command and intelligence community.

[FairOpinion]

I think this is Assad's "Khaddaffi-moment". They probably showed him a picture of Saddam, when they captured him in his spider hole and a picture of Khaddaffi, and asked him to pick which fate he prefers, and better pick very soon, or we'll pick for him, in which case he better start digging his own spider hole.

[Gibtx]

something big is going to happen soon out of this.......

[af_vet_1981]

I think this is Assad's "Khaddaffi-moment".

Let us hope so. There should not be another warning, only consequences.

[Semper Paratus]

Will little Assad choose well or choose poorly.

He is not going to have time to 'wait out' the Novmeber election results.

[Stonedog]

Syria is going to have to choose..."You are either with us, or with the terrorists." Choose wisely grasshopper.

[NeonKnight]

Assad was reminded that Saudi Arabia is now fighting an armed insurgency of its own, after years of allowing such groups to operate openly while raising cash to support their efforts outside Saudi Arabia's borders, the high-level U.S. official told CNN. And Syria could face the same consequences.

Makes you wanna go hmmmmm........Do I remember my recent history well? Did Bush say in his SOTU address a couple years back, that we would turn our enemies against each other.?

[FairOpinion]

Related article:

U.S. MILITARY STILL BELIEVES WMD IN SYRIA
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1227190/posts

Considering that our delegation talked with Assad personally, I think this is Assad's very last warning.

[FairOpinion]

"Did Bush say in his SOTU address a couple years back, that we would turn our enemies against each other.?"

Good point!

Syria "misunderestimates" Bush at their own peril.

[WOSG]

I hope we left a horse's head on his bed to drive the point home!

[agincourt1415]

Assad needs to wake up and smell the coffee!

[hinckley buzzard]

Syria is a nonentity, militarily, and is in a tough spot with Hamas and Hezbollah operating as a sort of shadow government. It is isolated from its patron Iran, surrounded by Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, occupied Lebanon and Israel.

Syria's time of reckoning is imminent.

[pangaea6]

What would be the odds of a double attack from Syria and Iran on our troops in Iraq? Syria just removed troops from Lebanon and Iran has been blustering here lately. Could Iran want a preemptive strike on us before we/Israel hits them. Iran & Syria have got to know their time is coming. Sounds crazy but hey, so did moving an entire naval fleet across the Pacific undetected to attack Hawaii or 19 terrorists using airliners to attack us.

[FairOpinion]

Only a picture of Saddam, when we got him out of his spider hole -- framed, with a warning on it: "Assad, you are next", and hung it in Assad's bedroom.

[Fedora]

"U.S. asks Syria to stop militants"

It sounds like we did more than "ask". . .

[FairOpinion]

Then soon we will see too huge oil lakes: Lake Syria and Lake Iran.

[Jim Noble]

He chose...poorly

[pennyfarmer]

We have to put Syria in time out and then murder, maim, and kill their sons.

[reagan_fanatic]

I hope we left a horse's head on his bed to drive the point home!



"I take offense to that!!"

[Steel Wolf]

This is a picture taken from the Iraqi side of the Syrian border, west of Sinjar and Tell Afar. I had the opportunity to travel that way once or twice. The Syrians are up to no good, and as you can see, their land is flat and wide open. The Sinjar mountain range is the only real terrain obstacle, and it's on the Iraqi side. Its like a smaller version of the Mexican border with no river.

We've been keeping an eye on them for a while, and I'm hoping our diplomats are dropping manhole cover sized dimes on them. If they want to keep causing trouble, they should remember that it's a short drive from here to Damascus.

[Skywarner]

"Will little Assad choose well or choose poorly."

Sounds like Syria's "Choose or Lose" moment has arrived.