By Ryan Mauro
It turns out that there are second acts in international politics. Four years after the Bush administration severed diplomatic relations with Syria, in the aftermath of the Damascus regime’s suspected involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, the unofficial member of the “axis of evil” has received a warmer reception from the Bush administration’s successor. President Obama has expressed his intention to engage Syria, and the administration took a decisive step in that direction last month when it announced plans to send an ambassador to the country.
But as the U.S. prepares to engage the Assad regime, it must be aware of the potential dangers of such a move. By extending an olive branch to Syria, the Obama administration risks legitimizing a dictatorship that has brutally suppressed democrats and human-rights activists while fueling the insurgency in Iraq and aiding al-Qaeda affiliated terrorists – all while casting itself as the only reasonable choice to rule the country.
Syria’s long-standing relationship with terrorists has been obscured by conventional wisdom. That wisdom, which holds that a relationship cannot exist between the secularist Baath state of Syria and the radical Islamic forces linked to al-Qaeda, is easily debunked. It is well-known that the majority of foreign fighters in Iraq, including those linked to al-Qaeda, entered via Syria. The public antagonism the two forces present towards each other may be genuine, but it has not prevented cooperation when their interests coincide. Read more ...
It turns out that there are second acts in international politics. Four years after the Bush administration severed diplomatic relations with Syria, in the aftermath of the Damascus regime’s suspected involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, the unofficial member of the “axis of evil” has received a warmer reception from the Bush administration’s successor. President Obama has expressed his intention to engage Syria, and the administration took a decisive step in that direction last month when it announced plans to send an ambassador to the country.
But as the U.S. prepares to engage the Assad regime, it must be aware of the potential dangers of such a move. By extending an olive branch to Syria, the Obama administration risks legitimizing a dictatorship that has brutally suppressed democrats and human-rights activists while fueling the insurgency in Iraq and aiding al-Qaeda affiliated terrorists – all while casting itself as the only reasonable choice to rule the country.
Syria’s long-standing relationship with terrorists has been obscured by conventional wisdom. That wisdom, which holds that a relationship cannot exist between the secularist Baath state of Syria and the radical Islamic forces linked to al-Qaeda, is easily debunked. It is well-known that the majority of foreign fighters in Iraq, including those linked to al-Qaeda, entered via Syria. The public antagonism the two forces present towards each other may be genuine, but it has not prevented cooperation when their interests coincide. Read more ...
Source: FPM
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