Posted on 01/08/2005 9:19:18 AM PST by rface
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -
Former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry met Saturday with Syria's president and said he was hopeful that strained U.S.-Syrian relations could be improved, provided Washington seized "a moment of opportunity" currently available in the Middle East.
The United States has accused Syria of doing too little to stop insurgents from infiltrating into Iraq to attack coalition forces. Washington also has imposed sanctions on Damascus, accusing it of seeking weapons of mass destruction and hosting Palestinian groups Washington deems to be terrorist organizations.
Syria denies the accusations but says it cannot fully control its long, porous border with Iraq.
Sen. Kerry, D-Mass., met for two hours with President Bashar Assad and then with Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa, with both meetings centering on Iraq and how to prevent militants from moving from Syria into neighboring Iraq.
"I think we found a great deal of areas of mutual interest, some common concerns and some possibilities for initiatives that could be taken in the future to strengthening the relationship between the U.S. and Syria," Kerry told reporters after meeting with al-Sharaa.
"I leave here with a sense that we can improve our relationship. There are significant possibilities, particularly with the elections in Iraq and the elections in the West Bank ... This is the moment of opportunity for the Middle East, for the U.S. and for the world. I hope that we would seize that opportunity."
Assad stressed "the importance of dialogue between the two sides over all issues under discussion, especially those of common interest," Syria's official news agency reported.
Kerry said he and Assad discussed Iraq, security, Lebanon and weapons of mass destruction.
In September, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution calling on Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon and dismantle the Syrian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah guerrilla group. Syria, with some 14,000 troops stationed in Lebanon, is the main power broker in that country.
More recently, President Bush has warned Syria and Iran against "meddling" in the internal affairs of Iraq. Washington and Baghdad both have said that key support for the insurgency in Iraq was coming from a half brother of Saddam Hussein and Baath Party leaders based in Syria.
Kerry, who is on a two-week tour of the Middle East, arrived Friday from Iraq, where he met U.S. troops in the volatile northern city of Mosul, the scene of a suicide bombing last month on a military base that killed 22 people, including 14 U.S. soldiers and three American contractors.
Kerry, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will be in the West Bank for Sunday's Palestinian election and is expected to visit a polling place.
After Kerry left the Foreign Ministry on Saturday, 13-year-old Mustafa al-Nabulsi approached him with a drawing of the senator as a soldier in his Vietnam days.
"You have made me much more important than I was, though. You made me a general," Kerry said.
"I wish you were the president," al-Nabulsi said.
"Thank you very much. So do I," Kerry said.
That was my thought as well. But they will use it in any way they can for their own purposes.
And .. what outrages me is that the WH just sent somebody over to Syria .. and here is this TRAITOR undoing everything the WH is doing.
I can just imagine the TRAITOR's appeasing statements.
Now .. isn't that a great image to send to our enemies - confusion. I'm livid over this TRAITOR being allowed in those areas.
Since Kerry is a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, I suspect he cannot be stopped .. but I find his actions extremely egregious, petty and childish.
So he's still busy, after 30 or so years, with the same kinds of activities that made him infamous during the Viet Nam war, creating more discord than healing, cavorting with those who wish to do us harm, increasing the danger to our troops, openly condemning the President to people who are at best neutral to us and at worst our open enemies. He's scum. And treasonous.
Thank God he is not coming home to be inaugerated.
But not for lack of trying. He's working, and his cronies with him, to challenge that at every opportunity. And probably behind the scenes to create more bipartisan discord.
"Some Melkites believe that Head of Holy Prophet and Glorious Forerunner John the Baptist is in the Omayyad/Ummayade Great Mosque in Damascus, Syria. In May 2001, Pope John Paul II visited the Omayyad/Ummayade Great Mosque and prayed in front of what is believed to be the tomb of St. John the Baptist. The Mosque was a Catholic Church dedicated to the Holy Prophet and Glorious Forerunner John the Baptist. "
Hanoi Kerry meets with the enemy, AGAIN!
AND on US Taxpayers dollars!
Tired of the left lying and accusing the right of imaginary crimes?
Kerry Trashes Bush in Baghdad Jan 05
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1315333/posts
Don't be like the Silent Majority in the 60's and 70's
Demand Kerry be ousted from the US Senate!
There is no need to impeach Hanoi Kerry from the US Senate
He is there illegally!
Kerry was an illegal candidate
and is an illegal US Senator per
US Constitution 14th Amendment Section 3
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1314858/posts
Contact the GOP controlled US Senate
AND
The MAIN STREAM RIGHT WING MEDIA
Distribute these url's!
EXPOSE HANOI KERRY!
Full details on these url's!
http://tonkin.spymac.net/hanoikerry1.html
There is a backup site
if the 1st url is unavailable.
http://stophanoikerry.150m.com
The article has relevance, for in it, Sowell quotes the original JFK in a statement of position that is diametrically opposed to that of the current pretender, Kerry, and his inclination to appease.
See what you think about the following statement by Sowell, containing Kennedy's remark:
"If the time ever comes when this president, or any future president, has to hesitate in the face of a mortal threat looming on the horizon, because of fear of the word 'unilateral' and the howling of critics at home or abroad, this great nation is lost."
Sowell continued, "President John F. Kennedy said it all long ago: 'We dare not tempt them with weakness.'"
Doesn't sound like the Far Left and its candidate of 2004, does it?
I enjoyed it so much I saved it to my hard drive.
Guess he had his camera with him again (remember Vietnam?).
is this scrappleface or onion? has anyone told him that he came in second on election day?
Thanks for the ping!
Billybob, what's the criteria and process?
Tonk, this could be our second wind.
So when is Congress going to act in the removal of Mr. Jf'n Kerry????
Girlie-man alert! Kerry's got the pinkie action down pat.
He's yours. You recall him.
Aside from the obvious ethical slap in the face and lack of etiquette, is there anything illegal about this? It should be, but I really don't know if it is. It's my impression that meetings of this nature require Presidential approval. Or is that just a courtesy that most people observe?
Just reading the article sent my blood pressure shooting up a few points. It makes me furious!
I am still wanting to know if he did not have to get State Dept approval to travel into a war zone - senator or not.
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