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12/19/2004:

"The Neo-Cons: Are they Serious About Syria?"

by Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON -- Just when it appeared that Syria was complying in earnest with U.S. demands to secure its border with Iraq and even making unprecedented peace overtures to Israel, key neo-conservative opinion shapers are calling on President George W Bush to take stronger measures against Damascus, possibly including military action.

The media campaign was launched last week, when three analysts associated with the Foundation for the Defence of Democracies (FDD), a neo-conservative group that generally backs positions of Israel's right-wing Likud Party, published an article in the 'Washington Times' titled 'Syria's Murderous Role: Assad Aides (sic) Iraq's Terrorist Insurgency'.

Then William Kristol, the influential chairman of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) and editor of the Rupert Murdoch owned 'Weekly Standard', devoted his lead editorial, 'Getting Serious About Syria', to the same subject, concluding that, despite the stresses on the U.S. military in Iraq, ”real options exist (for dealing with Damascus)”.

”We could bomb Syrian military facilities; we could go across the border in force to stop infiltration; we could occupy the town of Abu Kamal in eastern Syria, a few miles from the border, which seems to be the planning and organising centre for Syrian activities in Iraq; we could covertly help or overtly support the Syrian opposition...”

On Wednesday the 'Wall Street Journal' followed up in its lead editorial -- always a reliable indicator of neo-con opinion on the Middle East -- charging, ”Syria is providing material support to terrorist groups killing American soldiers in Iraq while openly calling on Iraqis to join the 'resistance'.”

The editorial, 'Serious About Syria'? accused the Bush administration of responding to these provocations with ”mixed political signals and weak gestures”, and urged it to at least threaten military action, much as Turkey ”mobilised for war against Syria” in 1998 over Damascus' support for Kurdish rebels.

Within hours, Bush himself was talking tough on Damascus. Asked during a White House photo-op with visiting Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi about accusations by Iraq's defence minister of alleged Syrian and Iranian support for the Sunni insurgency, the president warned the two countries that ”meddling in the internal affairs of Iraq is not in their interest”
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