Ease Up on Syria Threats
EDITORIAL
latimes.com
The Bush administration and some members of
Congress are saying things that make many worry that
U.S. and British forces might cross into neighboring
Syria for a preemptive attack on President Bashar
Assad's regime. The United States should take that
card off the table.
Soon after war began in Iraq, Defense Secretary
Donald H. Rumsfeld accused Syria of letting weapons
flow to the battlefields. Secretary of State Colin L.
Powell demanded that Damascus stop supporting
terrorism. And on Sunday President Bush expanded
the charge sheet against Syria, saying the nation
possessed chemical weapons -- one of the concerns
that led the United States and Britain to invade Iraq.
Bush demanded that Syria "cooperate" with
Washington and not shelter Iraqi military officials or
members of the Baath Party, which ruled Iraq under
Saddam Hussein. The White House kept up the
withering criticism of Syria on Monday, with a
spokesman calling it a "rogue nation."
It is imperative, of course, that the world hold
Hussein's top people accountable for crimes including
torture, murder and the use of chemical weapons.
Syria must understand its obligation to hand over any
accused Iraqi officials within its territory. Although the
invasion of Iraq was unpopular in the Middle East -- despite antipathy toward
Hussein -- Assad should not believe that allowing Iraqi officials and generals to
cross into Syria will make him a hero in Arab lands. Even if that were true, the
risk of angering Washington would probably be greater than any gain in stature
among Muslims.
For its part, though, the United States has plenty to do in Iraq -- trying to restrain
looters and fighting scattered Hussein stalwarts and self-proclaimed jihadists, for
example -- without letting "mission creep" push it into other countries.
Even if Syria can be trusted in saying it has closed its borders and does not have
chemical weapons, it's not above reproach. Although the Syrian army has not
played a role in Iraq, there are credible reports of Syrians and other Arabs
traveling through Syria to fight U.S. troops in Iraq. And Syria was a charter
member of the State Department's list of nations that sponsor terrorism and
continues to be a key supporter of terrorist groups devoted to the destruction of
Israel, including Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad. If it cuts ties to those
groups because of the threat from Washington, that would be a bonus from the
war. But now that the United States has made its point about what it considers
unacceptable behavior in Damascus, it should cool the rhetoric.
Powell said Monday that Washington would consider diplomatic and economic
measures to influence Syria. Unless someone shows that nation to be a clear
danger to the U.S., that approach remains the best option -- and the best way to
avoid playing into the perception of many in the world that the U.S. is an
imperialist power trying to remake the Middle East at gunpoint. |
