http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aeIGPPWm8FpE&refer=worldwide
Syria Considers Itself Possible Target of U.S. Military Attack By Daniel Williams Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Syria has gone from being a potential negotiating partner of the United States to considering itself a possible target of military attack, leaving the government in Damascus both worried and defiant. ``It seems to me that the administration is blind and believes only in diktat,'' Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal Mekdad said in an interview. His comments were the first high-level response to President George W. Bush's Jan. 10 speech accusing Syria and Iran of ``allowing terrorists and insurgents to use their territory to move in and out of Iraq'' and warned that the U.S. would ``interrupt the flow of support.'' Bush's speech effectively buried recommendations of the Iraq Study Group led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker and former Indiana Congressman Lee Hamilton that the U.S. should seek Syrian cooperation on a range of Middle East issues, including Iraq. Baker met with Syrian officials before the report's release to urge their support for efforts to curb the Iraq insurgency. ``The Bush people really have a block when it comes to Syria,'' said Mark N. Katz, a professor of politics at George Mason University in Virginia. ``The Syrians are just not seen as someone you can do business with.'' U.S. Accusations Mekdad, in the Jan. 18 interview at the Foreign Ministry in Damascus, said that ``the U.S. accusations are simply political agitation against Syria.'' He also warned the U.S. against a military attack on Syria. ``Even if they dream of such a thing, they could not achieve it,'' he said. ``If they tried, they would be faced with the same kind of resistance as in Iraq. They would have to be prepared for more American dead.'' Syria is an adversary of the United States in key Middle East hotspots. It borders Iraq and urges resistance to the U.S.- led occupation. In Lebanon, Syria arms and provides political support for Hezbollah, the Shiite Muslim militia and political party locked in a power struggle with the U.S.-backed government. Bush has implicated Syria in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and other Lebanese political figures. Political leaders from Hamas, the Islamic organization that took control of the Palestinian Parliament in elections last year, reside and have offices in Damascus. The U.S. and Israel label both Hezbollah and Hamas terrorist organizations. The U.S. says it has no plans to attack Syria. In a Jan. 14 U.S. television interview, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley emphasized interdiction inside Iraq rather than invasion of Syria. Iraqi Border ``They want to secure the Iraqi border?'' said Nasser Eddin Kharallah, a Parliament member from the ruling Baath party. ``Let the Americans do it from the Iraqi side.'' Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, a Delaware Democrat, has sent a letter to Bush asking whether he believes he has right to attack Syria or Iran ``without the authorization of Congress, which does not now exist.'' Mekdad, in the interview, predicted the U.S. government would eventually follow the Baker commission recommendations and talk to the government of President Bashar al-Assad. ``We thought Bush would say something about making peace,'' said Mekdad. ``His speech was a political ploy to justify its failure in Iraq.'' He repeated Syria's assertion that it does all it can to block infiltrators from entering Iraq across the border. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani concluded a six-day Syrian visit last week, issuing a joint statement with Assad calling for cooperation on security matters. ``If I were the Syrian government, I would be preparing for war, even while trying to show that Syria can provide solutions,'' said Samir Altaqi, who heads Damascus's Orient Center for Studies, a research institution that advises the Foreign Ministry. Economic Growth Abdullah Dardari, Syria's deputy prime minister for economic affairs, said it is against Syria's interest to undermine Iraq. Trade amounted to $2 billion last year, mostly exports, he said. The government plans to develop industry in eastern Syria to serve the Iraqi market, he added. Syria's gross domestic product grew by about 5 percent last year, according to government statistics. Syria would like Iraq to send petroleum through an oil pipeline that runs through Syria to the Mediterranean Sea, which would provide Syria with fees and possibly cheap deals for Iraqi oil and gas. Syria's domestic oil production has declined from about 600,000 barrels a day a decade ago to less than 500,000 barrels, Dardari said. ``We would like the oil pipeline,'' he said. ``You can imagine the U.S. is not going to approve.'' To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Williams in Cairo at [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Last Updated: January 22, 2007 19:28 EST +++ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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