U.S. Senators to PM: Don't be tempted by Syrian talks offers

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"A delegation of U.S. senators, led by the Senator John McCain, a possible Republican presidential candidate for 2008, and the self described "Independent Democrat" Joseph Lieberman, met on Monday with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. McCain and Lieberman urged Israel not to be tempted by Syria's recent overtures regarding negotiations.

According to the press release issued by the prime minister's bureau, the senators expressed vehement opposition to talks with the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. They told Olmert that the Baker-Hamilton report, which recommended U.S. talks with Syuria and Iran, has not been adopted by the U.S. administration, which continues to oppose contacts with Tehran and Damascus.

McCain said the issue of the Golan Heights is completely unrelated to U.S.-Syrian relations. He said the real question is whether Syria wants a genuine peace and is willing to abandon Hezbollah. McCain said he has seen little indication that this was indeed the case.

Olmert told the senators that he wants to achieve peace with Syria but that the present regime in Damascus is not interested in a dialogue toward peace. Instead, he said, it continues to support extremists in Lebanon and Iraq and terror elements in the Palestinian Authority, and to serve as Iran's main ally. Hamas political head Khaled Meshal sits in Damascus because there is nowhere else in the region that is willing to provide refuge to him, the prime minister said."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/802723.html



Neocons: We expected Israel to attack Syria

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3340750,00.html

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

1. Oh for fuck's sake.

No, please don't engage in diplomacy! Something might get resolved!

[rollopollo]

7. Cyclical

This is the cycle of violence and distrust in the middle east that is so hard to break. But someone has to have the courage to do it. It reminds me of a story that MLK once told about how he and his brother were driving late at night and the car coming towards them on the other side of the double yellow line had its high beams on. King's brother told him to turn on his highbeams on as well to teach the other driver a lesson. King responded "No, someone has to have some sense on this road". It takes far more courage to turn the cheek than to strike back.

In the case of Syria, we have claimed that we will not negotiate with states that sponsor terrorism. However, it can be argued that the United States has had links to terrorist organizations in the past: the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan, and "freedom fighters" in Central America. We put a precondition on Syria and Iran to end its support for terrorism. Well, perhaps one of the reasons they are supporting the insurgents against us in Iraq is they perceive us as a threat with a hundred thousand US troops in their backyard. And based on the growing credibility of a US attack in Iran, maybe they have cause for concern. Iran responded to our precondition with a precondition for us "to remove occupying US troops from Iraq". Clearly this won't end unless one party is willing to stop the escalation and resolve to negotiate. The reason is that neither side will make concessions in the current environment because it doesn't suit them. But a negotiation can facillitate a trading of concessions that would be desirable for both parties.

There is a sidepoint that I'd like to make. One of the tendencies of this administration that I think has been overlooked is its kowtowing to strength but mocking weakness. For example, we haven't layed a glove on N. Korea because of their nuke program. But when Libya voluntarily abandoned its WMD program, we laughed in Khadaffi's face. We scoffed at the notion that we should reward him. What kind of message does this send to the countries of the world? To me it says, "Go nuclear as soon as possible". We take Russia to task for human rights abuses that we ignore in China. During the Iraq war, Syria's leader said in response to a set of US demands, "We will comply. We are not Iraq.". I suspect this willingness to cooperate just caused this administration to lower their opinion of Assad. This administration sees national weakness as akin to economic poverty, evidence of moral inferiority. Unfortunately, they perceive cooperation and moves towards disarmament, as weakness rather than constructive steps towards peace.

[bemildred]

2. What a bunch of f**king idiots. nt

[Gloria]

3. Oh, crap. Have I told you how much I HATE these people??

[cali]

4. The Usual Suspects

McCain and Lieberman: What a pair!

[Lurking Dem]

5. I had a sudden vision

of Laurel and Hardy. Any good cartoonists here?

[Douglas Carpenter]

6. if Peace can be made between Israel and Syria...

and I believe that is very possible not because the Baathist regime in Damascus is so nice...but because there is a long history of a raw streak of Machiavellian pragmatism ...

This could untangle all kinds of webs, defuse all kinds of tensions.

It would truly be a great leap forward and could lead to even greater things and possibly even prevent an extremely violent and destabilizing confrontation with Iran.

But on a more down to earth level...


Lunch in Damascus by Uri Avnery

07/10/06

"ONCE, WHILE traveling in a taxi, I had an argument with the driver - a profession associated in Israel with extreme right-wing views. I tried in vain to convince him of the desirability of peace with the Arabs. In our country, which has never seen a single day of peace in the last hundred years, peace can seem like something out of science fiction.

Suddenly I had an inspiration. "When we have peace," I said, "You can take your taxi in the morning and go to Damascus, have lunch there with real authentic Hummus and come back home in the evening."

He jumped at the idea. "Wow," he exclaimed, "If that happens, I shall take you with me for nothing!"

"And I shall treat you to lunch," I responded. "

link to full article:

http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1160256257

[bemildred]

8. That was one of Uri's better pieces.

:thumbsup: