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US weighs punishing Syria
By JANINE ZACHARIA
WASHINGTON
Livid over Syria's sheltering of former Iraqi Baathists who are using Syrian territory to help organize the insurgency against US forces, Washington is contemplating a range of punitive measures to use against Damascus.
"It's clear we are heading into some kind of confrontation with Syria unless the Syrians reverse their policy," a senior government official told The Jerusalem Post.
The official, while not ruling out the possibility of military action, suggested that fresh sanctions could come first.
"Not all the sanctions have been imposed," the official said, referring to the Syria Accountability Act. In May, the US imposed bans on the export of military and dual-use items to Syria, on US exports other than food and medicine and on Syrian aircraft taking off or landing in the US.
Other sanctions available under the law are restrictions on Syrian diplomats operating in the US, a scaling-down of diplomatic contacts, and a total ban on US businesses operating in Syria, which already suffer severe limitations.
"Syria is becoming a sanctuary for hostile forces in Iraq ? Baathists, other kinds of terrorists, former regime elements. And they're using Syria to organize, train and do all sorts of things. This is not something that can continue without some major consequences in US-Syrian relations," the senior official said.
"It's not just about border control. It's about what the Syrian government is tolerating inside Syria," the official added.
The US has provided Syria with a list of people it would like to see detained who are either planning attacks against Americans in Iraq or raising money for the insurgency, but Syria has failed to honor Washington's request.
"We've given them a lot of specifics through different channels and we've made the general point that even if we given them a few names, it's about more than these names. Whatever specifics we give them does not exhaust their obligation to shut down all this activity," the senior government official said.
US officials have turned up the rhetorical heat on Syria in recent days, paying little attention to Syria's public declarations that it is committed to helping the interim Iraqi government succeed.
On Friday, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the US commander in Iraq, said the Iraqi insurgency was being run in part by former senior Iraqi Baath party officials who "are operating out of Syria with impunity and providing direction and financing for the insurgency." He acknowledged that Syria has increased its efforts to patrol its border with Iraq. "But they are not going after the big fish, which is really the people that we're interested in," he said.
You can talk to these fvckers until you are blue in the face. The only thing they will understand,,,,, is a bullet in the back of the head......
US weighs punishing Syria
By JANINE ZACHARIA
WASHINGTON
Livid over Syria's sheltering of former Iraqi Baathists who are using Syrian territory to help organize the insurgency against US forces, Washington is contemplating a range of punitive measures to use against Damascus.
"It's clear we are heading into some kind of confrontation with Syria unless the Syrians reverse their policy," a senior government official told The Jerusalem Post.
The official, while not ruling out the possibility of military action, suggested that fresh sanctions could come first.
"Not all the sanctions have been imposed," the official said, referring to the Syria Accountability Act. In May, the US imposed bans on the export of military and dual-use items to Syria, on US exports other than food and medicine and on Syrian aircraft taking off or landing in the US.
Other sanctions available under the law are restrictions on Syrian diplomats operating in the US, a scaling-down of diplomatic contacts, and a total ban on US businesses operating in Syria, which already suffer severe limitations.
"Syria is becoming a sanctuary for hostile forces in Iraq ? Baathists, other kinds of terrorists, former regime elements. And they're using Syria to organize, train and do all sorts of things. This is not something that can continue without some major consequences in US-Syrian relations," the senior official said.
"It's not just about border control. It's about what the Syrian government is tolerating inside Syria," the official added.
The US has provided Syria with a list of people it would like to see detained who are either planning attacks against Americans in Iraq or raising money for the insurgency, but Syria has failed to honor Washington's request.
"We've given them a lot of specifics through different channels and we've made the general point that even if we given them a few names, it's about more than these names. Whatever specifics we give them does not exhaust their obligation to shut down all this activity," the senior government official said.
US officials have turned up the rhetorical heat on Syria in recent days, paying little attention to Syria's public declarations that it is committed to helping the interim Iraqi government succeed.
On Friday, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the US commander in Iraq, said the Iraqi insurgency was being run in part by former senior Iraqi Baath party officials who "are operating out of Syria with impunity and providing direction and financing for the insurgency." He acknowledged that Syria has increased its efforts to patrol its border with Iraq. "But they are not going after the big fish, which is really the people that we're interested in," he said.
You can talk to these fvckers until you are blue in the face. The only thing they will understand,,,,, is a bullet in the back of the head......
for you. Just because people are against the Bush warmongering agenda, doesn't mean that they are anti US. Some of us didn't support this adventure before it started, during it's action, and would just as soon as hell get out and tell them to stick it up their @ss.
