Israel Matzav

Why does the US keep ignoring Assad?

Joel Brinkley asks - but does not answer - the question that all of us should be asking: Why is the United States so enamored with Bashar al-Assad (Hat Tip: Daily Alert).

A few weeks ago, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Assad is entirely different from Moammar Gadhafi, the embattled Libyan leader: “many of the members of Congress of both parties who have gone to Syria in recent months have said they believe he’s a reformer.”

Less than a week after that absurd remark, Clinton’s own department told congressional leaders “the flow” of terrorists crossing from Syria into Iraq, intent on killing American troops, “has lessened, though not ended.” (Embarrassed, Clinton’s recent statements have been tougher.)

Clinton is hardly the first senior official to be irrationally enamored of Syria. While secretary of state, Henry Kissinger famously remarked “there can be no war without Egypt and no peace without Syria.” Last month, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said she told Assad, “the road to Damascus is the road to peace.”

Where do these delusional views come from? For years, Washington has worked under the premise that, while Syria is unquestionably problematic, it is at least stable. Another government might be worse — the “devil you know” rule of foreign policy.

But how could any new government be worse? Consider Assad’s extracurricular activities. Since the Iraq war began, Islamic extremists have crossed his border by the busload, in full view of U.S. spy satellites.

He sells missiles to Hezbollah, the terrorist group in southern Lebanon and avowed enemy of Israel and the U.S. Last month, Defense Secretary Robert Gates noted Hezbollah now “has tens of thousands of rockets and missiles, more than most governments in the world” — all pointed at Israel.

Khaled Mashal, the Hamas leader, actually lives in Damascus and does his murderous business openly from a storefront. American intelligence shows that Syria has a vast store of chemical weapons. Assad pursued a secret nuclear-weapons development program, until Israel bombed it in 2007. More recent intelligence suggests that he is back at it, though this time the program is better hidden.

So I wonder why Washington is taking such an ambivalent posture toward Syria’s uprising, even though Assad has lifted his emergency law. Compare Syria to the other states in turmoil. Egypt was Washington’s best friend in the region. Tunisia’s leader was praised for his cooperation with anti-terror investigations, as was Yemen’s. Libya gave up its nuclear and chemical-weapons programs at Washington’s urging. Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

In fact, all of the other nations in play have tried to be American allies. To be sure, all of them have horribly oppressed their own people. But in recent years none has openly worked against Washington, as Syria does even now.

Why doesn't the US get it? Maybe because they don't want to get it. After all, if they got it, they'd have to drop the idea of 'peace' in exchange for the Golan Heights.

Labels: Bashar al-Assad, Syria

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:12 AM