Confronting the Syrian threat

By Carol Devine-Molin
web posted October 13, 2003

Although Iran and its emerging nuclear capacity are generating
the big media headlines, Syria is proving to be a significant threat
to the security of the Middle East as well. Bashar Assad's regime
could very well trigger a flashpoint in the region by its escalating
aggression, particularly those acts aimed at Israel. The heart of
the matter is that Syria is a rogue nation that aids and abets
terrorism with alacrity. According to Sky News, a spokesman
for the Israeli Foreign Ministry noted that "Israel views every
state which is harboring terrorist organizations, and the leaders of
those terrorist organizations who are attacking innocent citizens
of the state of Israel, as legitimate targets out of self-defense."

In light of the most recent suicide bombing that killed 20 people
in Haifa, Israel engaged in a well-warranted military response
that rained Israeli air strikes upon a reputed terrorist training
camp just outside of Damascus last week. The Islamic Jihad
organization, which claimed responsibility for the Haifa attack, is
being harbored and trained in Syria along with other terror
groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah. (And make no mistake,
Hezbollah does have a salient terrorist component, even if it
incorporates political and social-welfare branches within its
larger organization). Israel rejected the subsequent ire and
carping of the Syrians, citing Syria's collusion with terrorist
groups that continue to target Israeli civilians.

But the truth be told, Syria got just what it deserved. In fact, the
Israelis have demonstrated considerable restraint in response to
Syria's history of bellicose actions. Strikes and counterstrikes are
all part of the ongoing battle being waged between the two
nations for more than fifty-five years. Three major conflicts
(1948, 1967, and 1973) have been initiated by Syria since
Israel's inception, and Syria continues to perpetrate low-intensity
warfare against Israel by-way-of terror assaults staged from
Syrian-occupied Southern Lebanon. There are palpable
indications that another major conflict is brewing between Syria
and Israel, of that there is no dispute.

Syrian-based terrorists have now threatened to "escalate"
attacks upon Israel from their pivotal perch in Lebanon. As
noted in the UK Telegraph, these terrorists view the Israeli
assault near Damascus as the "first round in a new Middle East
war". Apparently, the Syrian pro-terror contingent believes that
the Israelis have no right to protect themselves. It's unfortunate,
but this is the type of perverse thinking that the Israelis have had
to contend with over the years. And the logic of the UN and the
European Union is not much better. They are miffed that last
week's Israeli air strikes could possibly derail future negotiations
between the two embattled nations. Does anyone with wisdom
really think that the long-standing enmity between Israel and
Syria will be resolved through diplomatic "peace talks"?

Syria, and other Mid-East nations for that matter, want Israel
utterly annihilated, expunged as a nation. No effective
negotiations can be conducted with terrorists or governments
that work in tandem with terrorist cohorts. Certainly, Israel's
experience with Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat is proof-positive
of that truism. Ultimately, the Israeli-Syrian situation will have to
be resolved militarily, with Israel imposing peace after it subdues
Syrian forces and their terrorist allies, and any other Middle East
forces that enter the fray.

The terrible reality is that an Israeli-Syrian war could ignite a
larger conflagration within the Middle East. Tremendous efforts
to bring about peace in the region by the US and the world
community have heretofore failed. I'm not optimistic. The
downward trajectory appears to be set, barring some propitious
change such as the Iranian freedom fighters overthrowing mullah
rule. "Regime change" in Iran (in conjunction with the improving
prospects of Iraq and Afghanistan) could be the "tipping point",
which creates a new synergy in the region. The Middle East
needs to move toward freedom rather than embracing rage,
warfare and terror activity. The young population of Iran
understands what this is all about.
 
The US is also fed up with Syria's aggression and pro-terror
ways, noting that the nation is "on the wrong side of the terror
war". Therefore, the House International Relations Committee
has crafted and approved legislation seeking sanctions against
Syria in response to its possessing WMD's arsenals, occupying
Lebanon, financing of terrorism, and permitting Jihadis to cross
the border into Iraq for the purpose of waging combat against
US troops and other American led-forces. Reportedly, types of
sanctions are under consideration for the "Syrian Accountability
Act", which is still being fine-tuned. Unfortunately, it's doubtful
that an unscrupulous outlaw state such as Syria is going to mend
its ways due to sanctions.

Carol Devine-Molin is a regular contributor to several online
magazines.

Enter Stage Right -- http://www.enterstageright.com