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Specter's 17th Visit To Syria Again Produces Nothing
The Bulletin,
USA, January 4, 2008
By Barry Rubin
Sen. Arlen
Specter has fallen into a trap that makes him look silly and
damages U.S. interests as well as the cause of peace and
democracy in the Middle East. Mr. Specter may have been
fooled by real professionals, but given the example of so
many others who went before - including his own experience -
he should have known better.
After all, this
was his 17th visit to Syria since 1984, none of which has
produced anything. By this time how could he retain such an
innocent attitude toward that country's dictatorship?
The beneficiary
here has been Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Before
discussing what happened to Mr. Specter, let me point out a
few publicly available facts:
* Mr. Assad's
regime is a repressive one that has thrown many democracy
and human rights' activists into prison and tortured them.
* Syria is the
main sponsor of the insurgents in Iraq who have killed many
American soldiers and murdered thousands of Iraqi civilians.
Given that Mr. Assad's ally in this endeavor is al-Qaida,
Syria is the closest thing to a sponsor of Osama bin Laden's
group today.
* Damascus is
the main backer of anti-Israel terrorist groups, including
Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, directly involved in fomenting
terror attacks and sabotaging Arab-Israeli peace. It
provided arms to Hezbollah that were used in the 2006 summer
war to kill Israelis.
* Trying to
reimpose its control over Lebanon, Syria's regime has
murdered more than a dozen Lebanese politicians and
journalists, most notably former Prime Minister Rafiq
Hariri. Syria has been blocking the election of a new
president in Lebanon, demanding that the job be given to one
of its clients. Visits like those by Mr. Specter demoralize
the Lebanese. Why should they go on risking their lives if
they think the Americans are selling them out? |
