The “regime change” balloon has been floated. The countdown to Syria has begun.
You didn’t hear? Quelle suprise.
Boston Globe via Truthout :
The United States has cut off nearly all contact with the Syrian government as the Bush administration steps up a campaign to weaken and isolate President Bashar Assad’s government, according to U.S. and Syrian officials.
The United States has halted high-level diplomatic meetings, limited military coordination on Syria’s border with Iraq and ended dialogue with Syria’s Finance Ministry on amending its banking laws to block terrorist financing. In recent months, as distrust between the two countries widened, the United States also declined a proposal from Syria to revive intelligence cooperation with Syria, according to Syria’s ambassador to the United States, Imad Moustapha, and a U.S. official.
So let’s get this straight. Syria, a hot bed of radical terrorist groups, the people Bush is supposedly fighting a never-ending war to eliminate, was cooperating with the US in the WoT on ammending banking laws and intelligence cooperation (let alone torturing “unprivledged belligerents” when asked) until the US decided that they were a convenient next target evidently. Some may argue that it was the UN draft report about the assassination that brought this change in attitude on, but that would be ignoring the increase in rhetoric and chest thumping that has been evident on the Syrian issue for at least the last year… and of course, what the US claims the real reasons are…
The new era of hostility flows from U.S. frustration at what it considers Syria’s failure to effectively control its border with Iraq and continued support for radical Palestinian groups that threaten the chances of peace in Israel.
The Palestinian issue is old news of course and something that has been happening for years now without the need for Washington, or Tel Aviv, to resort to “regime change”. So we are left to think the real reason is Iraq… and as the US has been crossing the border into Syria and essentially instigating clashes with the Syrian military, we are presumably looking at a pretext for invasion. The UN report is icing on the cake of course and a way to get the UN resolution that is so prized by the Bush admin… hell, they used compliance by Iraq with a UN resolution (ie. they had no weapons to declare, therefore they weren’t in violation of the resolution regarding WMD’s) as a pretext to start a war, so Syria, with the PM’s assassination, is in even bigger trouble here… the Perpetual War needs a new enemy to keep it running smoothly. Iraq just ain’t cutting it anymore… too much bad news. Time for some good ol’ fashioned “Shock & Awe” ™…
I’m pretty sure there is another piece of this puzzle we are missing in this new Great Game for the Middle East… ah, here it is… Russia.
Worldnet Daily (gotta love the rightwingers for catching this one) :
[Jan 28, 2005] Russia and Syria this week signed a major weapons agreement in addition to the energy and trade deal the two countries reportedly reached Wednesday, prompting American and Israeli officials to privately voice concern over Russia’s assistance to countries accused of aiding the insurgency in Iraq.
Russian president Vladimir Putin and Syrian president Bashar Assad signed a military cooperation agreement that enables Russia to upgrade Syria’s military and sell Damascus advanced arms.
Oh boy. And with China running around the globe snatching up oil and resources like they’re going out of style, the Russians courting Syria and Iran while the US is occupying Iraq is a big deal.
So the countdown begins…
Some U.S. officials say privately that there is now an active debate about whether “regime change” should be a U.S. goal. Publicly, administration officials say that they want to see a change in behavior.
I believe the last time we heard that “privately there were debates” that led to – ‘Shut up Colin, we’re going to war’. So take it for what it’s worth.
Especially when in Bush’s major speech on Terra that conveniently occured the same day Libby was indicted, he stated the following:
Virigina, Chrysler Hall speech :
Third, we’re determined to deny radical groups the support and sanctuary of outlaw regimes. State sponsors like Syria and Iran have a long history of collaboration with terrorists, and they deserve no patience from the victims of terror.
The United States makes no distinction between those who commit acts of terror and those who support and harbor them because they are equally guilty of murder.
….
This element of our strategy in the war on terror is to deny the militants future recruits by replacing hatred and resentment with democracy and hope across the broader Middle East. This is a difficult and long-term project, yet there is no alternative to it. Our future and the future of that region are linked. If the broader Middle East is left to grow in bitterness, if countries remain in misery while radicals stir the resentments of millions, then that part of the world will be a source of endless conflict and mounting danger in our generation and for the next. If the peoples of that region are permitted to choose their own destiny and advance by their own energy and participation as free men and women, then the extremists will be marginalized, and the flow of violent radicalism to the rest of the world will slow and eventually end. By standing for the hope and freedom of others, we make our own freedom more secure.
America is making the stand in practical ways. We are encouraging our friends in the Middle East, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, to take the path of reform, to strengthen their own societies in the fight against terror by respecting the rights and choices of their people. We’re standing with dissidents and exiles against oppressive regimes because we know that the dissidents of today will be the democratic leaders of tomorrow. We’re making our case through public diplomacy, stating clearly and confidently our belief in self- determination and the rule of law and religious freedom and equal rights for women — beliefs that are right and true in every land and in every culture.
Lot’s of freedom is on the march rhetoric in this one, but some key policy notes are contained within the subterfuge of newspeak…
The President affirmed that the US views Syria and Iran as enemies. The US confirmed the goal is to “spread democracy” across the broader Middle East. How will this be accomplished? Evidently, by standing with dissidents and exiles to help them topple those regimes. Shades of Chalabi anyone?
And yet no one questioned Bush. No one asked him which dissidents and exiles? How is the US standing with them? Has Congress been informed of this? Is the CIA involved? What about Rummy’s new ‘spy’ agency? So many questions, so few journalists.
And as for the Syrian response…
But Syrian officials say they have made progress on many U.S. demands, including stepping up patrols along the Iraqi border, and that it is the United States that has broken promises to cooperate. Syrians say that powerful neoconservative policymakers in Washington have long hoped to topple their government in a bid to transform the Middle East.
And why might they think that? Well they seem to have fallen into the Saddam/ Mujahadeen/ Noreiga trap… silly Syrians, you’re only useful dictators until you’re not…
After 9/11, its chief of military intelligence, Asef Shawkat, who is Mr. Assad’s brother-in-law and a key suspect in the death of the former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri, worked closely with U.S. counter-terror agencies. Syria’s support for Hamas and Hizbullah, which has now become a major cause for complaint, was tolerated.
And finally, today, the Syrian President weighed in with his version of realpolitik, which is sounding remarkably like what Saddam was saying in late 2002…
“Our position is to positively cooperate with the international community and the UN commission,” Bashar said in a speech at Damascus University, reported Agence France Presse (AFP).
….
The Syrian leader said the UN mission investigating the killing was part of a wider international scheme to force Damascus to its knees.
“What is happening today has nothing to do with the assassination of Rafiq Hariri because they are looking for a false truth,” he said…
….
“Whatever we do or say to cooperate, the response is just going to be in a month that Syria is not cooperating. We have to be realistic, Syria is being targeted,” Bashar said.
He recalled that Mehlis had turned down a Syrian invitation to visit Damascus as well as suggestions over cooperation between the UN probe and Syria’s own commission of inquiry into the murder.
Damascus had offered Mehlis the chance to agree a legal protocol with Syria and had also proposed that his inquiry could take place on Syrian territory while still under the banner of the United Nations, Bashar said.
“I telephoned (Egyptian president) Hosni Mubarak yesterday to look at the possibility the inquiry could take place at the Arab League (in Cairo) but Mehlis refused,” he added.
Any bets on a start date for the bombing campaign?
Disclaimer – I really can’t stand the Syrian gov’t and would like nothing more than there to be democracy in Syria, but, my position has always been, and will continue to be, that it can’t come from the barrel of American guns… or chemical warfare (aka white phosphorus on Fallujah)… But what do I know, I’m just one of those strange people who are pro-life for people who are already born.
And finally, as an aside, the ultimate in Orwellian newspeak from the Preznit…
Tyrants and would- be tyrants have always claimed that regimented societies are strong and pure, until those societies collapse in corruption and decay.
And tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that free men and women are weak and decadent until the day that free men and women defeat them.
Maybe he could tell his base the same thing? Would sure save us a whole lot of grief trying to defend the Constitution.
Cross posted @ Jaded Reality
