It is, but they have always been fierce rivals. Syria was part of the Desert Storm coalition.
The only thing I can think of is that Syria is somehow trying to position itself as the new radical power in the arab world, the leader of the "arab street."
They're going to be sandwiched in between an American-controlled Iraq and Israel, so I can't imagine they'd have to opporutnity to get too radical.
Dog, that makes an awful lot of sense.