Posted on 04/09/2003 1:52:47 PM PDT by Defiant
Armitaj: we will not attack Syria.. But our relations are difficult
Syria-USA, Politics, 4/9/2003
US Department of State official, Richard Armitaj, yesterday expressed his hope that Damascus would have stopped sending supplies and fighters to Iraq and blocked its borders before any non -humanitarian supplies.
He repeated his saying that the USA does not intent to attack Syria despite the many sources of "concerns from it." Armitaj was referring to the recent American accusations and criticism to Syria accusing it of providing Iraq of equipment of military and civilian use including night vision goggles as well as permitting Arab fighters to arrive in Iraq through Syria to fight against the US.
During his meeting with Arab media correspondents in Washington, Armitaj said that his government proposed "srong complaints to the Syrian government on our positions concerning the situation on the borders in recent weeks."
Armitaj's statements were in remarks to contacts between the Syrian and American governments through their embassies, before the public statements and warnings made recently between the US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, his deputy Paul Wolfwitz and the US Secretary of State Colin Powell. On fears of countries neighboring Iraq like Iran and Syria to be exposed to military attacks in the future, Armitaj said "we will not attack Syria."
In the course of his statement on the "successive steps" following the war against Iraq, he said that the American concentration now is on supporting Iraq to rule itself. But he indicated he expects the change in Iraq to have a direct influence on the neighboring countries.
Iran is in wait and see mode. North Korea is in "give China a chance to be responsible" mode. Syria is ripe for the picking, we just need to keep going west after Tikrit. If I were them, I'd start issuing soft cooing noises real fast.
Amen! In fact way past time.
I don't trust the State Department (or Department of State) or Colin Powell. They were the main roadblock in our preventing the Sudanese Christian slaughter or helping them to defend themselves.
Syria should not only be next, they shoul just be a continuation of this current war. Syria is receiving Iraqi bad guys and war criminals fleeing Iraq. Syria is sending death squads and jihadists that just want to just kill Americans or die killing Americans...they're worse than Fedayeen and "elite" Republican Guards. Syria is home to Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hizbollah and a dozen other terrorist groups. Syria is probbably Israels biggest problem.
Personally, I don't care much for Powell, nor any of those over at the State Department. You are right, they are Clintonites and they can yet cause a big mess in the post-war Iraq with Powell and crew there all pro-U.N. and all.
It's funny they use the term "Assrya", because the old Assrya is Syria and Iraq. Let's make one big free, liberated democracy that includes Syria and Iraq with a large "state" for the Kurds.
As the controversy above shows, I used the term "assyria", not the article. I guess no one likes alliteration.
I like your idea of uniting Syria and Iraq, but it would probably get the Turks all riled up and we need them to at least stay on the sidelines right now, even if they are not acting like allies. You are absolutely right about all the terrorism headquartered in Syria, and there is little chance of reforming the regime. I have no problem with cleaning house while our army is right there. In fact, if they have received those WMDs, it is like a christmas present, because it gives us the excuse to do something we ought to do anyway.
Hmmmmm...I may adapt that joke.
A father and his young son are walking along the banks of the Sane River in EA (European America) in the year 2103.
Son: Dad, what's that tall iron thing?
Father: Son, that's the Eiffel Tower, built by the French over 200 years ago!
Son: Dad, who are the French?
No need to be defensive.
FYI: I lead a pretty happ life; thanks for your concern, though.
No, that's a silly scenario, and even a sillier waste of time to but the admin about it. Note it in a post if you can't see the alliterative virtue in the original title, but police your own threads if you don't mind and stop worrying about all those folks who get Assyrians confused with Babylonians.
What a silly thing, to actually complain to the Admin Moderator I can see that you may be upset if you think that I complained to the moderator. I did not. Moderators are there to help and correct mistakes, not just answer complaints. YOu have noticed they move threads from one part of FR to another. You may have also seen the posters themselves saying, "Ooops, I meant this article for Chat and not News; moderator, please move it there."
You may have also seen people mistyping the title and aking the moderator to correct that. I myself have made such a mistake twice and the moderator helped me out to correct my mistake.
In other words, you see offense where there was none.
Did anyone really get "misled" by the title???? YEs I was.
stop worrying about all those folks who get Assyrians confused with Babylonians.
Your remark is a good example of how little knowlege may be more dangerous than no knowledge at all.
Assyrians are a large people that have suffered greatly not just throughout history but fairly recently, in the XX centuries. It is a fractured, religously diverse group. Mostly Chirstian, they have been oppressed by Saddam, along with the Sh'ia Muslims (Saddam is from a Sunni familiy), Kurds, and other minorities.
As we pushed into Iraq, there was a great danger that SAddam will use the pretext to gas the Kurds in the north (as he did 15 years ago) and create pogroms against other minorities, such as Assyrians. Some Kurds even fled the cities two days before we entered Iraq, and the Iraqi secret police was shooting at these unarmed civilians.
When I read your title, it looked like there was a threat to Assyrians, which many people had expected. Worse, the title suggested that we took the side of Saddam against Assyrians. YOu have to agree that this is very confusing. Thank G-d, that was not true.
I can see your point of view. Thinking of Assyrians of living in the long-gone past, together with Babylonians, you thought that I was simply picking on you. I hopw you can see now that this was not the case. I can see also that you may have been offended thinking that I complained to the MOderator. I did not; I asked for help.
Perhaps in the furture, you should not be so quick with the trigger.
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