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| Syria-Lebanon |
| Syria Blames U.S. for ’Terrorism’ in Iraq |
| 2003-11-06 |
| BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - The Syrian foreign ministry called on the United States to pull its troops out of Iraq, saying their presence has led to chaos and terrorism, according to remarks published Wednesday. Sure, Bushra, we can load ’em up at Latakia. Nice port, Latakia, should meet our needs for all the equipment and people we’ll bring through to get them out of Iraq. Bushra? Hello? There was no terrorism problem in Iraq when the United States entered the country, a spokeswoman for Syria’s foreign ministry said in an interview with the London-based Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat. ``Now, there is the problem of terrorism and of al-Qaida,’’ Bushra Kanafani said in published remarks. And then his lips fell off! In Washington, State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli downplayed Kanafani’s comments. ``The analysis is faulty, to say the least,’’ Ereli said. But say more please! The United States has repeatedly accused Syria, long on the U.S. State Department list of countries sponsoring terrorism and an opponent of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, of not doing enough to ensure Muslim militants do not slip across its border into Iraq. Syrian officials say the long, porous border makes it hard to stop infiltrators. ``The problem here is not Syria, but America,’’ Kanafani was quoted as telling Asharq al-Awsat. Kanafani said the United States can help restore order if it accepts a timetable for withdrawing its troops from Iraq and allows a greater peacekeeping role for the United Nations. No doubt Syrian and Pakistani ’peacekeepers’ would participate -- hmmm, which ones would I trust less? Syrian President Bashar Assad has also blamed the U.S.-led occupation for instability in Iraq. ``The world has discovered that the war of ’liberation’ of Iraq has liberated the Iraqi citizen of the state, the institutions, sovereignty, dignity, food, water and electricity,’’ Assad said in a speech at the Organization of the Islamic Conference summit in Malaysia last month. Not to mention the secret police, political detentions and the shredding machine. ``The Iraqi citizen has become ’liberated’ from the gift of life, and everyone, without exception, has discovered that the excuses which led to war lacked credibility,’’ Assad said, referring to the U.S.-led coalition’s failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Mind if we look in your country for them? Some crazy rumors floating around, Bashar, we just want to be thorough. In addition to Iraq, Syrian-U.S. ties have been strained over Syrian support for We have some ideas, though. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #9 BAR: I was actually thinking in terms of the Syrian forces on the border, and their rapid (very, very rapid -- unimpeded by equipment & uniforms) advance in the general direction of "anywhere away from those M1A2s". |
| Posted by: snellenr 2003-11-6 6:10:22 PM |
| #8 To be honest, I think it would get a lot more porous if that happened. Ah, but the rub would be that the porous border would be as far as the crossers would get into Iraq before being filled with lead. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-11-6 4:50:19 PM |
| #7 Anyone care to bet on how long that "porous border" would remain porous if U.S. forces began to gather there? To be honest, I think it would get a lot more porous if that happened. |
| Posted by: snellenr 2003-11-6 1:11:32 PM |
| #6 It would seem to me that the western desert at night would be an infared target shooting gallery. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-11-6 11:33:05 AM |
| #5 The Syrian foreign ministry called on the United States to pull its troops out of Iraq, saying their presence has led to chaos and terrorism, according to remarks published Wednesday. Since when did chaos and terrorism in Iraq become something of great concern in Damascus? There was no terrorism problem in Iraq when the United States entered the country, a spokeswoman for Syria’s foreign ministry said in an interview with the London-based Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat. No terrorism by external organizations, no doubt. Of course, that just leaves that nagging little problem of Saddam Hussein..... Syrian officials say the long, porous border makes it hard to stop infiltrators. Anyone care to bet on how long that "porous border" would remain porous if U.S. forces began to gather there? |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-11-6 11:00:24 AM |
| #4 Ah, the western desert, as the Iraqis call it. Flat and empty. Hell of a place to do a little weapons testing, huh? Wasn't there something about autonomous robotic "Guardian" development in "Evil Empire News"? |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-11-6 10:41:00 AM |
| #3 snellenr - You almost got your wish when Richard Boucher made his now famous chocolate makers remark. He didn't double over with laughter, but I'm sure most of us did! I think we're headed toward that day - in our simplisme way, of course. ;-) |
| Posted by: .com 2003-11-6 9:25:52 AM |
| #2 The time to hurl threats over the back fence is nearly over. Time to change to rocks (precision guided of course). Dorf |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-11-6 7:52:40 AM |
| #1 I suppose it's all part of diplomacy and all that... but I hope that I'll live to see a government official just collapse with laughter when asked for the U.S.'s response to statements like this. |
| Posted by: snellenr 2003-11-6 1:06:47 AM |