- As for the call for suicide attacks, by Sheikh Ahmad Kaftaro,...
Why do you suppose this fellow doesn't stand first in line?
In the Great Mosque of Umayyade,
Greeting the Mufti of Syria, Sheikh Kaftaro
Posted on 03/28/2003 4:39:32 PM PST by Rams82
Syria and the United States traded harsh words today, as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he hoped the US would fail to depose Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld accused Syria of sending military supplies to Iraq.
In an interview published in the Lebanese daily As-Safir, Assad also predicted that, if the United States and Britain were to take over Iraq, they would be confronted by a "popular resistance" that would prevent them from controlling the country.
Syria, the only Arab member of the UN Security Council, voted for Resolution 1441, which paved the way for the resumption of weapons inspections in Iraq. It said it did so on assurances that this would avoid a war.
But as war approached, it joined China, France, Germany and Russia in preventing a new resolution specifically authorising an attack on Iraq.
Assad, never known for his diplomatic language, publicly predicted that the US would become bogged down in Iraq as it had in Vietnam, or would be forced to abandon the country as it had, in the 1980s, abandoned Lebanon, which is now under Syrian dominance.
His words made analysts wonder precisely what Syria's intentions are, especially since the interview was published the same day as a call by the country's religious mufti for suicide attacks against US forces.
But while those intentions were being debated, US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld spoke ominously of what he said were concrete actions.
He told a press briefing that Syria was shipping military supplies to Iraq, and termed this a "hostile" act.
"We have information of shipments of military supplies crossing the border from Syria into Iraq," Rumsfeld told journalists at the Pentagon, adding that the equipment included night vision goggles.
"These deliveries pose a direct threat to the lives of coalition forces," he said. "We consider such trafficking as hostile acts and will hold the Syrian government accountable for such shipments."
He declined to say whether the Syrian government was behind the shipments, but stressed, "They control their border. We're hopeful that kind of thing does not happen again.
"There is no question but that to the extent military supplies, equipment or people move borders between Iraq and Syria that it vastly complicates our situation," he said.
As for the call for suicide attacks, by Sheikh Ahmad Kaftaro, they must necessarily have had the approval of Assad's regime. They echoed a warning by Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Lebanon's Syrian-backed Lebanese Hizbollah movement, that such attacks might be expected.
Although Syria is not included in US President George W. Bush's "axis of evil", which groups Iran, Iraq and North Korea, it is still on the State Department's list of countries supporting terrorism.
And like Iran, it fears it may be the next US target in Washington's "war on terrorism".
"America wants to remodel the region to its own liking," Assad alleged, repeating the common Syrian line that thew US is acting in the interests of its ally, Israel, and implicitly stressing that his government will have no part in it.
Analysts said Syria was determined to see the return of the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in 1967, and to continue its influence over Lebanon, not to mention the lasting grip on power by the ruling Baath party.
But one analyst, who did not wish to be named, said it was unclear yet whether Syria would try to do a deal with the US or if it would back guerrilla groups that might emerge to fight the US presence in Iraq.
Assad accused the United States of responsibility for the present "unstable" relations between the two countries, citing Secretary of State Colin Powell's statement to a House of Representatives committee on March 14 that Syria was "occupying" Lebanon.
Assad's remarks, however, prompted the Lebanese press to recall an old Arab saying from 50 years ago: "No war without Egypt, no peace without Syria."
'Cause his ass ain't far behind!
Churchill thought highly of the Germans and their army. By the same token, he wanted to beat them. Don't know if he thought of Russians much, if at all. But Uncle Joe sure had to beat on Churchill and FDR forever to get the Western Front opened. Seemed like a long delay at the time. Maybe it was.
Are you Bennie from "The Mummy"?..."Like I never heard that before.."...
BWAHAHAHA!!!
FMCDH
YOU'RE NEXT
Why do you suppose this fellow doesn't stand first in line?
Dead man squawking.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.