Assad has become Bush's toy -- Haaretz

[TexasLawyer]

Tue., October 25, 2005 Tishrei 22, 5766| |Israel Time: 00:07 (EST+7)

A toy called Assad

By Zvi Bar'el

Like a cat that tortures a lizard it found in the yard, first plucking its tail, then tearing off a leg before finally boring with it, seems to be U.S. President George W. Bush's attitude toward Syrian President Bashar Assad. Since the beginning of the war against Iraq, Assad has become Bush's toy - until he succeeded in building him up to an enemy on the scale of Saddam Hussein, or at least the president of Iran.

This inflation of the Syrian doll has been so successful that today, without a doubt, if there is someone to blame for the failure of the war against terror in Iraq, it is Assad. If there is someone who threatens the peace of the region, it is Assad. And if there is a leader whose deposal would make all of the U.S.'s problems in the region vanish - lo and behold - it is Assad. Thus, a head of state who is considered a weakling in the eyes of several important Arab leaders and whose deposal the administration in Washington allows itself to publicly contemplate has managed to become such a global threat that he is the subject of complete paragraphs in all of Bush's declarations. And not only in these declarations.

For example, when the president of Turkey visited Washington in June, Bush scolded him for his warm relations with Syria. A substantial part of the conversations Bush conducts with Putin revolve around "the problems Assad is causing in Iraq."

<snip>

The building of the American file against Assad is so blatant that there are already those who are sketching scenarios of peace with Syria in the post- Assad era, or at least looking into who would replace him. But don't hold your breath. Assad is a weak leader and it can't be said he possesses any great political insight, but he is an Arab leader and therefore Mubarak and the Saudi King Abdullah were quick to publicly declare two weeks ago that they would not lend a hand to isolating Syria. Neither would Iran and Russia.

But that is not the important thing. Because Syria is not just Assad.

<snip>

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=632978&contrassID=13

[Kagemusha]

1. I could've sworn this article was published a month ago...

I know the date says Oct. 25 up there, though...

[madrchsod]

2. the intelligence services across the middle east

do not want syria to fall. bush is playing a dangerous game and his people don`t care what happens. i guess they think the muslim brotherhood is better than assad.

[tocqueville]

4. France put a break on the story today... again

BEIRUT (Reuters) - France said on Monday it was too early to seek sanctions against Syria, whose officials have been implicated by a U.N. report in the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

The U.N. Security Council meets on Tuesday to discuss the report, and Paris said the body should demand Damascus cooperate fully with the U.N. inquiry that ends in mid December.

................................

Britain said on Friday the council would consider sanctions but acknowledged it would be hard to win consensus.

The United States has also demanded action, but France, which has a veto on the council, said it would not consider sanctions until the end of the probe

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051024/wl_nm/hariri_syria_protest_dc

[tocqueville]

3. The ball is now in Syria's court

By Sami Moubayed

DAMASCUS - The findings of the United Nations-sanctioned Mehlis commission have ripped like a thunderstorm through Syria and Lebanon.

When parts of the 53-page report began to emerge at about midnight (Damascus time) on October 20-21, everybody turned on Arabic satellite TV. People were waiting to hear a clear sentence saying: "Syrian Mr X pressed the explode button on February 14, 2005, killing former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri, under orders from Damascus."

Such an explicit statement was not made. A threat, rather than an accusation, was fired at Damascus in the Mehlis report, making it clear that it could not find concrete evidence against Syria.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GJ25Ak02.html