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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US Chose Bad Time to Impose Syria Sanctions-Arabs
2004-05-12

Wed May 12, 2004 11:46 AM ET

By Lin Noueihed

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The United States, battling a prisoner abuse scandal and insurgency in Iraq, could not have chosen a better worse time to slap new sanctions on Syria, Arabs whined said Wednesday. Many warned that the sanctions, welcomed only by Syria’s justified arch-foe Israel, would only fuel anger against America. "If they are having such trouble in Iraq, they should at least appease calm down Iraq’s neighbors," said Mohamed al-Sayed Said of Egypt’s al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Wife Beating Studies.

"Whoever is ruling Syria would be foolish not to toe the line try harder to embarrass the Americans in Iraq. Anyone seeing his regime so severely undermined and humiliated would have no option but fold like a house of cards to try and spoil it for the Americans in Iraq." Labeling Syria "an unusual and extraordinary threat," President Bush Tuesday signed an order imposing sanctions long in the pipeline on Damascus for backing anti-Israeli groups and allowing anti-American insurgents to cross the Syrian border into Iraq. Damascus has repeatedly threatened said the sanctions would only harm the handful of American firms in Syria and would not persuade it to end backing for terror groups it defends as legitimate resistance.

Many Arabs said the widely-expected move was the latest in a series of Middle East policy escalations mistakes driven by Washington’s necessary support blind bias toward democratic Israel, the only country in the region to routinely kill terrorists welcome the sanctions. "This is an important decision that proves, once again, the resolve of the United States to wage all-out war -- not just against terrorist groups, but also against the countries that harbor them," the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement.

NO EFFECT

The sanctions ban exports except for food and medicine, freeze assets of Syrians and Syrian entities suspected of links to terror or weapons of mass destruction and ban Syrian flights to and from the United States. Bush will consider further sanctions unless Damascus ends its support for anti-Israeli militant groups such as the Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon’s Hizbollah, pulls its troops out of Lebanon, ends development of forbidden weapons and cooperates fully with U.S.-led efforts to stabilize Iraq.

"(The sanctions) are only going to increase repercussions for supporting terror tension in the region, and we have not gotten enough of that," Kuwaiti Islamist parliamentarian Nasser al-Sane told Reuters. "Because Syria is an Arab terror facilitator country there’s going to be an Arab knee jerk reaction sympathetic to Syria, because its a member of the Arab terror family this is only going to increase the penalties conflict." Damascus, which bitterly opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, has described the sanctions as economically damaging "unjust and unwarranted." It says it has done absolutely nothing its best to control the border but would still pursue a policy of terrorism "dialogue" with Washington.

"When they say the Syrians should be more careful about the border, they forget to mention chemical attacks on Jordan that they (the Americans) are on the other side. Why aren’t they doing a better job?" an Arab League saboteur official said. "I don’t think this is the right amount of pressure approach. The right approach is through appeasement dialogue, especially since they have recently indicated they have seen the Syrians assist terrorists cooperate." Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, whose country is under heavy political and military influence from Hizbollah Syria, said the sanctions were expected "wrong in both content and timing" and were further proof that Washington pandered to Israeli interests.

"This decision poses the question of whether the series of mistakes the American administration is committing in the region will lead to more tensions, escalation and feelings of kicked @ss injustice on the Arab side," he said in a statement. Some dismissed the sanctions as little more than symbolic, given Washington’s economic and political ties with Damascus. "The American pressure on Syria is a long-term plan and this is part of it," said Saudi political analyst Abdullah al-Otaibi. "U.S. image in the Middle East is already distorted in the Arab press bad," said another Gulf analyst. "It just solidifies the Arab conviction that Israel and their nuclear weapons is running the show in the Middle East."
Posted by:Zenster

#7  Finally! Something I can agree with the Arabs on. The U.S. did choose a bad time to impose sanctions on Syria. It should have been done long before now.

What? That's not what they mean?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2004-05-12 7:46:37 PM  

#6  Excellent move. Perfect. Consider the recent record:

1. We kick the living shit out of the Fallujans, and their outside support evaporates. Then, when it's to OUR advantage we bring in a basically toothless force of Iraqis in to calm the place down...while not giving an inch of true strategic territory.

2. Our actions in Fallujah, where we showed no hesitation about killing our enemies as well as a willingness to negotiate with the Sunnis, frighten the Shiites (who desperately want us to back them in their quest for power) and causes the Shiites to dump Sadr...whose "rebellion" has simply collapsed.

3. Turn up the pressure on Syria. And they're quealing.

Yes. No more screwing around with these miserable bastards and their allies in Syria and Iran. Make them pay, make them pay dearly.

"L'audace, tousjour l'audace" - Gen Geo. Patton.
Posted by: RMcLeod   2004-05-12 6:45:59 PM  

#5  in the arab it is never a good time - screw 'em...tighten the screws on syria..either she plays ball or plays ball with the marines..
Posted by: Dan   2004-05-12 6:40:35 PM  

#4  Ah, the lovely blue glow of Cherenkov radiation above the glassy craters...
Posted by: mojo   2004-05-12 5:49:55 PM  

#3   "It just solidifies the Arab conviction that Israel is running the show in the Middle East."

Boy, they have this fixation on Israel, don't they? These arabs do not have the ability to look inward and fix their mistakes. In the end, that will be their fatal flaw. They will need to hit and stay at rock bottom for a while before they or at least a few of them have the sense to crawl out of their holes, instead of digging them deeper. Insh'allah, MoFo....
Posted by: Alaska Paul in Wales, Alaska   2004-05-12 4:39:06 PM  

#2  How about: "Islamists piss off America one too many times, says radioactive glow over Mecca"
Posted by: AllahHateMe   2004-05-12 4:32:57 PM  

#1  How about this:

"Islamofascists chose bad time to attack Americans, says American street"
Posted by: Mike   2004-05-12 4:29:52 PM  

00:00