The Syria Temptation—and Why Obama Must Resist It

Commentary Magazine ^ | March 2009 | Bret Stephens

[Jbny]

“Start with Syria.” Thus did Aaron David Miller advise the incoming Obama administration on where its Mideast peacemaking priorities should lie. Miller, a former State Department official who first made a name for himself as a leading American negotiator in the Arab-Israeli peace processes of the 1990’s, had lost his faith that a deal between Israel and the Palestinians was possible, at least in the near term. But he was more sanguine about the prospects of an Israeli-Syrian deal, and confident about the good that could come of it. As he put it in a Washington Post op-ed in November 2008:

[mrmeangenes]

I don’t much like Syria - and, candidly, would not weep much if they were to become “ancient history” - but they are an important player, and pretending they don’t exist seems a bit foolish to me; especially since we negotiate with truly horrendous regimes all the time : over or under the table.

[SJackson]

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[SJackson]

they are an important player, and pretending they don’t exist seems a bit foolish to me; especially since we negotiate with truly horrendous regimes all the time : over or under the table.

We don't ignore them. We have diplomatic relations with Syria, always have. I believe our Ambassador is Michael Corbin, an interim appointment pending BHO's decision on GWB's withdrawl of our Ambassador in 2005 due to their actions in Iraq. Syria did break relations with the US after the Zionist aggression of 1967, but they were reestablished after the Zionist aggression of 1973. Syria has an Embassy in DC, their Ambassador, Michael Corbin , has been engaging in high level meetings with Jeffrey Feltman, asst SOS for the Middle East, the last few weeks. We don't ignore them, obviously the relationship is hostile. Personally, given their actions against our troops, I consider them an enemy, but diplomatically we don't ignore them at all.

[SJackson]

Sorry, our Ambassador to Syria is Michael Corbin, their Ambassador to the US, who wasn’t withdrawn in 2005, is Imad Mustafa.

[Cronos]

Syria was 12% Christian, but now with the Christians fleeing Iraq, they've gone up to 20% Christian (1/5th of the population) and that's increasing -- there was recent news about a film by Syrian Christians about Paul's conversion that was felicited by the government of Syria.

Also, Assad is an Allawi -- they are considered heretics by mainstream Sunnis (Saudis and most Palestinians in the West Bank)

[mrmeangenes]

There are quite a few Druze there too,if memory serves.

[Cronos]

my mistake for leaving them out — you are correct. Druze too are more syncretic than Islamic