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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Syria still the main conduit for foreign fighters |
| 2005-05-19 |
| Syria is the main conduit for foreign militants fighting for al Qaeda-ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq, a senior U.S. administration official said on Wednesday. "We're concerned that Zarqawi is supported by a foreign fighter network that gets foreign fighters largely through Syria," the official said to a small group of reporters on condition of anonymity. Syria has taken "some cosmetic steps" to address the concerns of Iraq and the United States about the infiltration of foreign fighters into Iraq, but "not nearly what they ought to be doing," the administration official said. The Bush administration has made building democracy and stability in the Middle East a top priority but has had little success in its efforts to engage Syria. "There are locations in Syria where foreign fighters and money and logistics come together and then transit to Iraq, and those foreign fighters and money come from elsewhere in the Muslim world. That's really been the Zarqawi connection we have been most focused on," the official said. "They are a major disruptive force, they are disruptive in Iraq, they are disruptive of the efforts between Palestinians and Israelis to come up with a Middle East peace," he said. The United States has also appealed to Syria to stop interfering in Lebanon, let elections move forward and stop supporting militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, the official said. "Syria in some sense has been a source of instability in the region, it is time for them to make a strategic choice and get on the other side on these issues," the official said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #3 Heh, "kinetic". Melike. Says it all, lol! |
| Posted by: .com 2005-05-19 11:51 |
| #2 We have warned the Syrians enough. Any more warnings is a sign of weakness on our part. The Syrians duplicity and or looking the other way is resulting in US AND Iraqi casualties. Syria needs a kinetically strong message sent that they understand. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2005-05-19 11:25 |
| #1 How 'bout some sadAss kicked?! |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2005-05-19 03:04 |