Radiofree West Hartford -- Syria: Our next target? Let the bombing begin! by Tom Evers

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Syria: Our next target? Let the bombing begin!

By Tom Evers

April 26, 2003

If you've been watching your television set lately (and I know you have), then you've been hearing some very strong statements by both President Bush and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld regarding the behavior of another nation-state knee deep into terrorism - Syria.

Syria presents a far more challenging assignment than the average person might assume. While it's true that Syria is clearly a terrorist state with a history of Islamic tyranny a mile long, its population, unlike Iraq, appears to be quite complacent with its current leadership and current President, Bashar al Assad. Al Assad is an unabashed Ba'ath party leader, and one of the chief antagonists in the Middle East region.

Endless years of both anti-Israeli and anti-western rhetoric and activity including the supplying of military supplies have been funneled through the Syrian government to rogue terrorist groups. Damascus has a long history of hatred for the United States and its allies, with the notable exception of France, which seems to have good relations with the terrorist state.

Also in the same manner that Hussein's Iraq occupied Kuwait, Syria has invaded and occupied sections of neighboring Lebanon. The difference was the clever and convenient manner in which Syria acted - with the full support of the Arab League, and working under the banner of "ridding the infidels occupying Lebanon." Today Lebanon remains under the stronghold of the Syrian government, if not more by acceptance than by threat, which shows the extent of Syria's strength in the region.

And let us not forget that Syria is also in league with Iran, a member of the axis of evil. An entire article could be devoted to the Iranian question, but for now let's recognize the growing collaboration between Tehran and Damascus and except the danger as real, tangible, and a serious threat to U.S. interests.

The world of Al Assad.

According to CIA officials, Assad is known to be providing safe harbor for key Iraqi officials. In fact, several key figures including Iraqi Ambassador to the United States, Mohammed Aldouri took flight to France, and then took a second flight to Syria. It's also rumored that Saddam Hussein's wife and family have been in Syria for months before the outbreak of war.

But more alarming is the well-accepted fact that Syria has a chemical and biological weapons program, and a well-respect missile delivery system. U.S. Military officials also have information that a considerable amount of Iraqi military hardware has been shipped to Syria for safekeeping.

Al Assad has much in common with Saddam Hussein. If religion and party are one in the same (and they are in this case), we know that al Assad is a member of the ruling Ba'ath party. And with the Baathists being removed from power in Iraq, al Assad clearly sees the writing on the wall.

It was apparent over the past several weeks, when Syria opened its borders to Iraq and permitted loyal Islamic extremists referred to as "martyrs" to cross over into Iraq to either fight as military soldiers against the coalition, or serve as suicide bombers against coalition and pro-western targets. Syria is also linked to supplying Russian built missiles and military hardware to Iraq in support of the fallen regime. All of this appears to be activity behind the curtain, but let's not forget that publicly President al Assad has called for the defeat of American troops by Iraqi loyalists.

The latest stunt according to intelligence officials is that Syrian Ba'ath party extremist have been entering Iraq for the purposes of undermining American effort to set up a pro-Western government. Syrian agents, through intimidation and anarchy, are stirring up riots, organizing demonstrations and creating chaos at every turn. The Syrian influence is so evident, that the United States has issued stern warnings to Syria to cease and desist its efforts to further destabilize Iraq.

It's not surprising that only hours after Iraq's military defeat both Iran and Syria are engaged in efforts to undermine western efforts to democratize Iraq. But this is the expectation, not the exception. The last thing that either Syria or Iran want to see is another American influenced neighbor like Qatar, ruining their plans to create a Jihad State - dedicated to murdering Americans and westerners alike.

The answer to the puzzle is right in front of our eyes.

The current predicament isn't good for Syria. But it isn't much better for the United States and its allies either. This leads us to the next question, which is how long is it before the clock runs out on Syria? And should it?

The answer is "expensive", but the logic of the argument is clear. If the goal of the United States is to remove terrorism, dangerous tyrannical rogue nations, and their access to weapons of mass destruction, then barring some miracle -- military action against Syria, Iran, and others is imminent. And the activity should occur sooner rather than later.

First of all - logistically, we are already there. Pulling out of Iraq for at least two years would be a huge mistake. A U.S. military presence is necessary to apply pressure to villains in waiting, both in Iraq and outside of it. If Syria continues down its current road of obstruction and interference (and there's no reason to expect anything different), we would be better to address the problem from 200 miles away rather than gearing up to go across the globe. We already have the opportunity to set up permanent military basis on Iraqi soil, and we should do so to establish a permanent presence in the region.

The other reality is the resilience of the current Republican administration to "do something" about the threat from either Syria or Iran. Americans can be a fickle people, its always possible that the Democrats could (and will) use the sagging economy (although caused by acts of terrorism and war) as a weapon in the coming election. They will make the case that there is no connection between foreign and domestic policies and lay the woes of a sluggish economy at Bush's feet; claiming an inability to focus or handle domestic affairs, etc, etc. This is the similar tactic that Democrats used against Bush I and since it was effective propaganda, I'd expect it to standard operating procedure for the Dems in the coming Presidential race. The bottom line is that a Democratic administration will do little about foreign threats from Hussein like characters regardless of the size or type of threat. If you noticed, Democratic leaders were very outspoken in their opposition to deposing Hussein. Democrats would rather dangerous dictators be left to their own devices; they see no threat to civilized societies. Democrats also empower useless organizations such as the United Nations to muddle through existing problems with little hope of clear and distinct resolution.

To put it simply: a Democratic victory in the coming Presidential election would be a welcome break for terrorists from Syria to North Korea.

The third and most obvious issue is the fact that as each day goes by countries like Syria and Iran continue to perfect their weapons of mass destruction program and their missile delivery capability. It would be more effective to deal with a potential threat in its infancy, then to risk a greater danger down the road.

Nation-states friendly to U.S. and Western interests may be far more resistant and fearful to permitting a coalition army to attack a Syria armed to the gills with intercontinental chemical warheads. Stomping out this threat now and forever, and planting the seed of democracy is the necessary course of action. In the new era, history shows that democratic nations rarely commit war on each other. Democratic nations in disagreement negotiate and work out disagreements in a civil and reasonable manner. This would be a welcome political resolution to a region tired and warn from endless military conflicts with outsiders and with each other.

We all have a choice, as the saying goes: "Pay me now or pay me later". As in most situations, pay me later tends to run higher costs in both money and blood. Negotiating and receiving empty promises from rogue nations and tyrannical dictators must be declared a thing of the past. Chamberlain style politics is the philosophy of the foolish.

Let's complete the real task before us. Let's root out all the terrorists before the threat grows. Freedom and democratization is the only key to a lasting peace. If it's meant to be carried out through force, then let's not delay. Inaction feeds hungry dictators' dreams.

I recommend the reading of this insightful April 22, 2003 article at the Middle East Media Research Institute webpage (http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD49503) , which details some very specific allegations that the current Syrian regime is far more criminal than Saddam Hussein's regime ever was.

Until next time!