It’s Time to Drain the Syrian Baath

Now that most of the fighting in Iraq is over, as Donald Rumsfeld has said, the day of rebuilding Iraq’s tattered country has begun. However, one must remember that our war on terrorism has not paused, just like we didn’t stop after dealing with Afghanistan. As the administration keeps pointing out, there is yet another country in that very same region that we must deal with. And that is Syria.

Syria is a country situated on the northern border of Israel. It is a country which has been under military-Baath Party rule since the 1963 “March Revolution” when it came to power. The party is led by the same principles as the Iraqi Baath Party, we just overthrew, which came to power in 1954. In short this party’s ideology, according to “Damascus Online,” calls for “Unity [Arab], Freedom [from colonialism], and Socialism.” In the late 1960s and 1970s it even had disputes with its sister party in Iraq over who should be the leader. President Bashar al-ASAD, the son of the first Syrian Dictator Hafiz, is the current despot of Syria.

Syria exhibits the same characteristics Iraq possessed before we were justly called into “Operation Iraqi Freedom.” It possesses weapons of mass destruction, sponsors and harbors terrorism which claimed and continues to claim the lives of many Israelis and sometimes Americans, occupies a foreign country, has waged war on its neighbors such as Israel, and in recent times aided the enemy Iraq against America.

The first and foremost attribute Syria has in its possession are weapons of mass destruction. Since the late 1970s, Syria has been developing chemical and biological weapons for possible use against Israel. In an unclassified report to the US Congress, the CIA reported that Syria has stockpiles of sarin, as well as mustard and VX nerve gas. It even has means of delivering them to targets, in the form of Scud missiles or bombs. What’s more, months before the war in Iraq begun, Iraq was reported to have transported some of its weapons of mass destruction to Syria for “safekeeping” (as well as to Libya). One must also remember that it is not a signer of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which prohibits using chemical weapons in war.

Terrorism is not a stranger in Syria as well. Syria serves as one of the main centers for terrorists. It harbors in its capital (the same capital we have an Embassy in) terrorist groups such as Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. Hamas, for example, was responsible for last year’s Hebrew University cafeteria terrorist bombing which killed seven people, including five Americans. Furthermore, it, along with Iran, funds and arms the terrorist organization Hizbullah in southern Lebanon. This organization continues to shoot Katusha rockets, anti-aircraft fire, and mortars at Israeli positions on the border and at Israeli towns and cities. Originally, Hizbullah said it was fighting Israeli occupation in southern Lebanon, but, when Israel left in 2000, it changed its stance to read it was going to keep fighting until Israel stopped “occupying” Palestinian territory.

Syria is also the occupier of Lebanon, a country which resides on its western border. It has been doing so since the 1970s. It has chosen its leaders, cracked down on media and other dissidents, and consolidated power to suit its goals. Moreover, the Syrian army is present in the capital Beirut and also in portions of southern Lebanon. Through these operations, Syria is also able to arm the Hizbullah terrorists who are on the Lebanese-Israeli border.

Syria, like Iraq, has waged war on its neighbors. Starting with the 1948 war, it has numerous times attacked Israel, along with its Arab allies. These wars include taking part in attacking the new Jewish state in 1948, 1967, and 1973. The names of these wars, through Israel’s history, are the 1948 War of Independence, the 1967 Six Day War, and the 1973 Yom Kippur War. It is also presently, as mentioned earlier, sustaining its “war” in Lebanon in order to preserve its status quo of occupation.

In recent times, it has and continues to unofficially wage war on America. Not only did it provide anti-tank missiles and other weapons to our Iraqi enemy when they fought us, it persists to give safe harbor to those enemies, such as Iraqi scientists, who were involved in Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction program. Additionally it currently is, as it did in the beginning of the war, allowing Syrian nationals and members of those terrorist groups it harbors enter Iraq to fight coalition troops. In a matter of fact, much of the fighting in Baghdad itself has and currently is revolving around coalition troop street battles with these Syrian (Jordanian and Palestinian Arab) “volunteers.”

In order to deal with Syria, we must first pursue diplomacy. Asad, in order to avert military conflict, must draw the terrorist organization, Hizbullah, away from the border with Israel in southern Lebanon. It must take apart all those long-range weapons which are in place in southern Lebanon and that are on the Syrian-Israeli border. It must stop funding terrorist groups and their operations. It must close down the “offices” of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad which are in Damascus. It must stop allowing Iran usage of its seaports to send weapons to terrorists. It must allow UN weapons inspectors, those it wanted to continue work in Iraq, into its country. And most urgently, it must surrender all those weapons and Iraqi officials, from Iraq, it has extended safe haven to.

If Syria objects, therefore turning a blind eye to diplomacy, force will undoubtedly be just. Through the above evidence, Syria can already be considered a smoking gun, just by looking at its present-day terrorist activities against Israel and by its aid to those Iraqis fighting us. If and when force is decided upon, we will have the same results of “Operation Iraqi Freedom.” Not only will we be destroying a hostile terrorist regime and overthrowing this Baath Party state, we will also free the Syrian people who have lived under tyranny for 40 years, and restore independence and freedom once again to the Lebanese people.

Yoni Freeman is a weekly columnist who usually writes about foreign affairs, specifically the Middle East. He is a strong supporter of Israel. His columns can be found in the College Voice of Connecticut College. He also has a radio show that airs on WCNI New London, 91.1FM every Wed. (when school is in session) from 11PM to Midnight. He is fluent in Hebrew and has lived in Israel, Italy, and China. He is currently a college freshman. You can visit his website at http://oak.conncoll.edu/~yrfre or email him at yrfre@conncoll.edu.

Of course Syria was a pseudo-French colony from the end of WWI until its independence.

State dinner honoring Syrian President Bashar El Assad & his wife Asma at the Elysee Palace, they are received by French President Jacques Chirac and his wife Bernadette-Photos taken July 2001 in Paris.

June 2001 : Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and wife Asma in Paris

So it looks like old Jacques Chirac would be even more in our way on Syria.

Good article on Blair/Assad meeting December 2002 - Assad is a British-trained eye doctor with a British wife (he was not expected to succeed to the presidency until his elder brother Basil died in a car crash in 1994), he berated Blair in public for Britain's unquestioning support of Israel, defended Palestinian suicide bombings as legitimate resistance against Israeli occupation, and indulged in some openly anti-Semitic rhetoric. As the insecure and underqualified heir of his father's 30-year dictatorship, Assad's priority was to establish his credibility with his Syrian audience, not to please the West.

Survival name of the game for Assad

Interesting 1990 article on the long rivalry between Saddam & Assad Sr. : Despite a visceral animosity between the two rival Baath rulers, Baathists in Jordan have urged Assad to reconcile with Saddam "to serve the interests of the Arab nation." But given Saddam's effort to humiliate Syria in Lebanon last year by arming its main foe there, Lebanese Christian Gen. Michel Aoun -- and given Assad's and Saddam's stormy history of attacks and distrust -- few analysts believe Damascus will rescue Saddam despite the popularity of his Arab nationalist stance.

Doctrine, Dreams Drive Saddam Hussein

Great work on your article! I am sure it will be a big success. Good luck.

Assad and his goons are a minority population in Syria, a very small minority, statistically. Because his reign is a socialist, despotic rule, I'm wondering why he isn't ripe for being deposed from within! We cut off the illicit oil pipeline, stopping the influx of ~$300,000,000 per year in contraband oil, the pressure should start to rise, exponentially soon. Bashar is an Ophthalmologist and not stupid. Survival may begin to come to his mind, perhaps in exile?

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.