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Books on Syria
REPUBLICAN REFERENCE
Area (sq.km)
185,180
Population
17,585,540
Capital
Damascus
Currency
Syrian pound (SYP)
President
Bashir al-Asad
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Update No: 021 - (01/08/05)
And the pressure keeps building...
In July, the US stepped up pressure on Damascus diplomatically and militarily.
As Condoleeza Rice made another round of visits in the Middle East, including
Lebanon, there were no signs that the Bush administration has given any thought
to soften its regime-change policy in the Middle East particularly where Syria
(and Iran) is concerned. Ms. Rice avoided visiting Damascus to emphasize
Washington's displeasure with Syria. Ordinarily, visits to Beirut were followed
to ones in Damascus in the protocol of an earlier time. What is truly surprising
is the stubborn pursuit of the regime change attitude in spite of the fact that
the Iraq war debacle has cost the US over $200 billion not to mention the drain
on the military and the dead soldiers. Syria has strengthened ties with all of
its traditional allies - Iran - while pursuing a conciliatory policy toward the
new government of Iraq itself. In late July, amid reports of growing tensions
between Syria and Lebanon, the new Lebanese prime minister Siniora- a close
associate of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, who was murdered last February
14 in Beirut- visited Damascus to hold talks with Syrian counterpart Naji Otri.
Syria has been keen to foster cooperation with neighbors (even offering to
restart peace negotiations with Israel) to stave off US pressure. Nevertheless,
the United States have hampered these efforts in an attempt to isolate Syria.
For Siniora, this is the first foreign visit he made in his new capacity as
prime minister. Otri met Siniora at the border between the two countries in the
very area where hundreds of trucks from both countries were stranded after the
Syrians almost closed the border by imposing stringent checking methods that
caused hardship to hundreds of truck drivers and serious damage to their loads.
Apart from the Syro-Lebanese tensions following the withdrawal of Syrian troops
and the election of a generally 'anti-Syrian' government in Beirut, Siniora's
mission in Damascus is made more difficult by discussions over what to do over
weapons used by Hizbollah against Israel. Resolution 1559 (the one used to drive
Syria out of Lebanon) also provides for the disarmament of Lebanese militias
engaged in fighting Israel.
Last June, the Bush regime asked the European Union not to sign the
Syrian-European Association Agreement, a billion dollar trade liberalisation
agreement that would give Syrian products greater access to Europeans markets,
offering doubts that Damascus has withdrawn all intelligence agents from Lebanon
and concerns about its role in Iraq, as its reason. This in spite of the fact
that Syria withdrew from Lebanon ahead of the timetable agreed with the United
Nations. Condoleeza Rice herself delivered the message to European leaders last
May during one of her tours even as Diplomats said some European countries were
actually pushing to ratify the agreement to reward Syria for pulling its
soldiers out of Lebanon after 29 years. Reuters quoted a European diplomat as
saying the Americans made clear they "don't want any positive
gestures" made toward Syria at this time. Syria is one of the two countries
in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, (which brings together 25 EU countries
and their 12 Mediterranean neighbours), yet to sign such an agreement (Libya
being the other prospective official member). It is, therefore, not easy to
foresee any ease of pressure on Syria suggesting the Bush administration is
interested in ousting the Baath regime in Syria. As the last US elections made
very clear, Bush's fundamentalist Christian electoral base would welcome
heightened tensions in the Middle East as a sign of the clash of civilizations
they have long expected between Christianity and Islam. The July terror attack
on London's transportation system has heightened the civilization rift between
East and West. In July, after the attacks, Bush delivered speeches clearly
mentioning Damascus and Teheran as the last remaining obstacles to 'democracy'
in the Middle East (i.e. FBI academy speech, July 11, 2005).
Meanwhile, as the 'crusade mentality' is built into the current political
situation, the fact that the US Air Force is not actively engaged now suggests
the US leadership has the military tools and even potential support (at home) to
strike new targets in the Middle East, which would likely be Syria and/or Iran.
Of course, there would have to be a 'casus belli', a trigger making action
necessary. As the US administration persists in affirming that terrorists are
arriving to Iraq filtering through Syria, there is no want of potential invasion
building scenarios. Indeed, there has been an increasing number of skirmishes
between US troops and insurgents in western Iraq, along the Syrian border. In
July, American troops said they started to build their first long-term military
base along, what is believed to be an important 'terrorist smuggling route' near
the Syrian border with the stated purpose to stop potential suicide bombers from
reaching targets in Baghdad and other major Iraqi cities. The base is to be
built about 5 km. from the town of Rawah along the Euphrates River and at the
crossroads of routes leading to Mosul and Baghdad. US troop have been actively
operating in the area since July 16 in a growing offensive involving the
deployment of 1,800 soldiers. The Los Angeles Times said, based on a military
statement, that the goal of the Rafah base is to disrupt the organization of the
elusive 'al-Zarqawi' and facilitate Iraqi government control of the border,
isolating 'al-Qaida' from the Iraqi population and eliminating a "safe
haven" for insurgents. Plans for the base and the operation would deploy US
troops in a more permanent fashion directly along the Syrian border.
Iraqs 'oil for food' Echoes
The US has played the 'UN oil for food programme in Iraq' card against Syria. US
officials from the State Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)have
accused Syria of having secretly bought about $3.4 billion in Iraqi oil,
violating the embargo imposed after the first Gulf War, in the three years
leading up to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Naturally, those same officials have
implied that at least some of the money has been used to fund the insurgency in
Iraq. The allegations center on the Commercial Bank of Syria, the country's
central bank, which is accused of having served as the financial conduit for the
transactions. Syria said it has closed some of those accounts since the collapse
of the Saddam Hussein regime, but Elizabeth L. Dibble, deputy assistant
secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, believes some the funds are being
used to finance insurgents. It was widely acknowledged that the seven-year long
oil-for-food program, allowing some Iraqi oil to be sold for the express purpose
of buying food and humanitarian aid, was being abused and Jordan - a US ally -
bought oil from Iraq circumventing the UN sanctions, but that is being
'overlooked'. Turkey another US ally, is believed similarly to have engaged in
such purchases.
The Syrian Ambassador to the U.S. Imad Moustapha refuted charges that Syria
is funding terrorists in Iraq noting that Syria invited State and Treasury
Department investigators to Damascus for 10 days in 2004 to examine bank
accounts set up for Iraq. These accusations come on the heels of a Bush
administration block over the financial assets of Syria's interior minister and
its chief of military intelligence for Lebanon, as announced by US Treasury
Department spokeswoman Molly Millerwise. Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan and the
chief of Syrian Military Intelligence for Lebanon, Rustum Ghazali, will have all
their assets in the US frozen and Americans are forbidden from doing business
with them.
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