WHY W BLAMES SYRIA . . .
NEW YORK POST
Editorial
July 15, 2006
President Bush yesterday said he will not call on Israel to stop its military counter-attack against Hezbollah, Syria's terrorist proxy in Lebanon, saying the Israelis - who have faced a barrage of missile fire - "have the right to defend themselves."
Why does Bush feel that way?
Just over a year ago, Bush - in an exclusive White House interview with The Post - laid down the law to Syrian strongman Bashar Assad, demanding he fully withdraw from Lebanon. "I mean all [Syrians] out of Lebanon," he said, "particularly the secret service out of Lebanon, the intelligence services."
In a matter of weeks, Assad's troops had pulled out of Lebanon, which they had occupied since 1976. But his spies and provocateurs remained behind.
And, notably, Damascus did not sever its ties to Hezbollah. Quite the opposite: The Beirut Daily Star reported last year that Assad was setting up a secret intelligence network and working with the terror group specifically to maintain its political influence in Lebanon.
Not surprisingly, the United Nations did little to investigate evidence of Syrian chicanery. And just as little to press the new post-Syrian Lebanese regime to abide by a Security Council resolution demanding that it disarm Hezbollah.
Instead, the Syrian proxy was allowed to remain in full occupation of southern Lebanon, directly across the Israeli border, with impunity. Hezbollah even was invited into the government; a senior official sits as a Cabinet minister.
At one point, the United Nations seemed poised to hold Assad responsible for the car-bomb assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. But that investigation has been put off and delayed so long that it has virtually disappeared.
Meanwhile, Assad has retained his ties to Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad - and opened his country's borders to the terrorists murdering American troops in Iraq.
Now Israel is showing that it is willing to take on Assad's lingering dominance in Lebanon by targeting Hezbollah. And, as its flyover last month of Assad's palace suggested, a more direct challenge may be in store.
Little wonder, then, that President Bush has no interest in reining in the Israelis as they undertake the difficult - but necessary - job for which the rest of the world has shown little interest.
For Israel, this is not an issue of geopolitics; it's a matter of survival and security. But the benefits will extend far beyond Israel's borders.
Clearly, Bush understands that.
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