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Thursday, July 13, 2006
Syria must be liberated
The recent kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah, and the Israeli military reaction to it, has focused many a mind on the terrorist group's ties to Iran and Syria. This, of course, makes relevant once again this corner's call for Iran's liberation from the terrorist-supporting, Communist-backed mullahcracy. However, outside of Michael Ledeen (National Review Online) and yours truly (UPDATE: Mark Levin joined in as I was writing this), hardly anyone has called for the liberation of Syria (note to readers: consider this an invitation to inform me of any other calls I have missed), despite the Syrian Ba'athist regime's ties to both terrorism and Communist China. I hope that will change, for the liberation of Syria is vital for victory in both the War on Terror and the larger Second Cold War.
Syria's support for terrorism is not exactly news. It has long been a haven for Hezbollah, and together, the Ba'athists and Hezbollah made Lebanon a virtual satellite state for a decade-and-a-half (Hezbollah still does Syria's bidding there - Small Dead Animals). What are not as well known are Syria's ties to Iran. Damascus and Tehran have been allies for over a quarter-century. In fact, the late Hafez Assad was Iran's only Arab ally during the Iran-Iraq war. Hafez's son Bashar has cemented that alliance in recent years. Iran and Syria have also aided Shiite and Sunni terrorists respectively in their battle against the American military and the Iraqi people for more than three years now (Iraq the Model).
Given Syria's closeness to Iran, it should surprise no one that it also considers Communist China an ally. The cadres have provided military aid to the Ba'athist Syrians, including aid in "nonconventional" weaponry (the old label for weapons of mass destruction). Zhongnanhai has also signed numerous economic deals with Damascus. Lastly, and perhaps mostly, it was in Syria where Hu Jintao uttered his infamous slander against Israel as a "colonialist plot aimed at detaching from the Arab nation a part that is dear to it – Palestine" (sixteenth item).
Also, for those curious, Ba'athism was the same ideology that drove Saddam Hussein to power, and fueled his lust for torture and murder. The Assad family has its own history of atrocities: Hafez once wiped out the entire city of Hama in less than a week.
Most of the focus on the Hezbollah kidnapping has been on Iran and the foreign policy goals of the Khomeinist regime. However, the Syrian dictatorship likely has its own reasons for allowing this to happen. The liberation of Iraq has given new hope to Syria's oppressed Kurdish community. Meanwhile, the rapid growth of the Syrian Reform Party has shown the regime it, too, has a domestic pro-democracy movement ready and willing to take its country back from its tyrants. Under such pressure, any dictatorship will look for something to distract its imprisoned people - and for Syria, there is no better distraction than Israel.
Sadly, the Administration, while expressing its frustration with Syria and Iran, has refused to take the next step and call for Syria's liberation (it has also given little more than lip-service to Iran's liberation, but that has been covered in previous posts). That must change, and quickly. Even if Iran were free, the Syrian dictatorship would be more than willing (and able) to provide aid and comfort to anti-American terrorists throughout the Middle East, and serve as the Communist proxy it already is.
The aforementioned strength of Syrian Reform Party makes it possible, perhaps even probable, that liberation could occur peacefully. That would certainly be preferable. However, if liberation can only come by force, than it still must come all the same. For the American troops in Iraq, for Iraq itself, for Israel, and most of all for the Syrian people, the Ba'athist regime of the Assad family must be ended. Syria must be free.
Cross-posted to the China e-Lobby
Posted by D.J. McGuire on July 13, 2006 | Permalink
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Comments
Syria must be nuked
Posted by: Duke | 2006-07-13 5:57:34 PM
Nuke, Duke ? Are you a kook ? Just kidding...Syria is in dire need of a 'backhander', as my Dad used to say. Preferably with some airplanes and really big bombs. Then maybe the Palestinians could go in and re-build themselves a nation in the new palestinian Syria....cough cough.
Posted by: MarkAlta | 2006-07-13 6:20:23 PM
No doubt about it, Syria's Assad regime is long overdue for a take down. Strangest of all, if world bodies know of the strength of the Syrian Reform party why are they not giving them support? It's such a quagmire in that part of the world,with all the different factions of radical Islam it's difficult to know exactly where to get the head of the slithering terrorist snake. We in our Western democracies have been far too trusting and tolerant for far too long. It's about time we smarten up, pull out all the stops to end the reign of terror by these sub-human wretches whatever it takes for the safety of all people everywhere.
Posted by: Liz J | 2006-07-13 8:08:52 PM
There are already more 'Palestinians' in Jordan than Jordanians and, predictably enough, they are causing problems in Jordan so I think wishing them good luck with another Middle Eastern hellhole like Syria is overgenerous. According to an interview with Mark Steyn by Hugh Hewitt, the average median age of 'Palestinians' is 15.6. The average median age in Iran is, I believe, 17 and an article by Prince Hassan of Jordan in Sunday Telegraph(London) writes of the problems the ME is experiencing due to "overpopulation," "an angry predominantly young population" and the "corruption" of ME leaders who have managed to steal several trillions of dollars (pounds, euros, etc) from their citizenry. Don't all rush for your wallets, the Prince wishes the world to know this is not an appeal for charity, that 'Arabs' must help themselves. You might be initially inclined to think, ah, a breath of fresh air, at long last! but, no, almost his first statement is that 'Islam is not to blame.' These people will never reform because they do not know from whence the poison originally emanated. So, to those who say Syria must be liberated, I could not agree more, but fail to see why the West (ie, US, Britain, Canada, Australia, the only real West in the equation) should pour yet more lives, cash and effort at saving these people. I prefer to await the Second Coming since we have it on the best authority of all that "The Gates of Hell shall not prevail."
Posted by: Centurion | 2006-07-14 11:04:42 AM
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