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Syria-Lebanon | ||||
Rice actions on Syria disputed | ||||
2003-05-03 | ||||
Anna Perez, White House communications counselor, Friday sharply contested a United Press International report that national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and political adviser Karl Rove shut down a Pentagon plan to expand the Iraqi ground war to Syria in closing days of combat. "That never happened," she said. "It is a complete fabrication."
Hitting Syria then would have been foolish. A lot of Americans would have said, "what the hey?"
"We ain't talkin'!" The hawks proposed punitive raids because Syria and the United States already were bristling at each other, and the war simply took an unfortunate series of circumstances and brought them to a point of crisis, administration sources said. In spite of Syria's heightened cooperation in the war on terror, with Syria giving the United States much useful information about al-Qaida, it was still supporting Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in the war. Former CIA Middle East expert Bob Baer told UPI that Syria possesses "a chemical arsenal that is much more lethal than anything Saddam has," and explained that "in Israeli strategic thought, the most dangerous threat is the geographically closest" — which would mean Syria. | ||||
Posted by:Steve White |
#2 ... and at the same time as 1AD is being deployed to Iraq. The 82nd is pulling out. International peacekeepers are pouring in. That's going to leave us with 1AD, 3ID, 4ID and 101AAD in the 'army' sector, which is to say, Baghdad and north. Powell can definitely afford to speak softly. |
Posted by: Dishman 2003-05-03 17:48:52 |
#1 Good cop/bad cop leaks to get Syria's attention. "Deal with Colin today -- that's the best deal you're going to get!" |
Posted by: Tom 2003-05-03 08:50:29 |