by Stephen Zunes -- -April 15, 2003
Recent statements by top Bush administration officials have accused
the Syrian government of aiding senior Iraqi officials to escape,
possessing chemical weapons, and committing "hostile acts" against
the U.S. by allegedly supplying military equipment, such as night-
vision goggles, to the Iraqis. On April 10th, Deputy Secretary of
Defense Paul Wolfowitz told Congress, "The Syrians are behaving
badly. They need to be reminded of that, and if they continue, then
we need to think about what our policy is with respect to a country
that harbors terrorists or harbors war criminals, or was in recent
times shipping things to Iraq.
People should keep in mind the following points in response to
administration claims:
- Syria, despite being ruled by the Baath Party, has historically
been a major rival of Iraq's Baath regime. Syria was the only Arab
country to back Iran during the Iran-Iraq War. It was one of the
only non- monarchical Arab states to have backed the United States
against Iraq during the first Gulf War. Iraq and Syria backed rival
factions in Lebanon's civil war. As a member of the United Nations
Security Council, Syria voted this past November in favor of the
U.S.-backed resolution 1441 that demanded full cooperation by the
Baghdad government with United Nations inspectors, with the threat
of severe consequences if it failed to do so. However, Syria--like
most countries in the world-- has strongly opposed the U.S. invasion
of Iraq.
- Syria's long, porous border with Iraq has been the entry point of
hundreds of volunteers from around the Arab world, many of whom are
Iraqi exiles, who have come to fight what they see as the conquest
of an Arab country by a Western power. There is no evidence that the
Syrian government has been directly sending mercenaries or other
soldiers into Iraq to fight U.S. forces. Allowing armed individuals
to assist a neighboring state against an invading army is considered
legitimate under international law.
- There is no evidence that Iraq has moved any weapons of mass
destruction or related technology and raw materials into Syria. With
open deserts, mostly cloudless days, and detailed surveillance by
satellites and aircraft, the movement of such material would likely
have been detected. The United Nations Monitoring and Verification
Commission (UNMOVIC), empowered by the United Nations Security
Council to verify the destruction of Iraq's WMD programs, disputes
Bush administration claims that such proscribed materials have made
their way out of the country.
- There is no evidence that Syria has developed chemical weapons of
its own. While it certainly cannot be ruled out, Syria is no more
likely to possess such weapons than Turkey, Israel, Egypt, and other
regional powers, underscoring the need for a multilateral approach
to arms control by the international community. Syria has never
used-- nor has it ever threatened to use--chemical weapons or other
weapons of mass destruction.
- The Bush administration has not presented clear evidence that
large numbers of Iraqi leaders have escaped to Syria. Even if they
have, Syria has no legal obligation to hand them over to U.S.
authorities, given that the U.S. occupation of Iraq has not been
recognized by the international community. Until an internationally
recognized authority in Baghdad, the International Criminal Court,
or other duly-constituted body makes such an extradition request,
Syria is not obliged to turn over any suspects from the former Iraqi
government.
- Syria, with less than half of Iraq's population and only a tiny
fraction of Iraq's oil resources, was never as powerful militarily
as was Iraq during the height of Baghdad's military prowess in the
1980s. Syria's military strength has declined since that period, as
a result of the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, which had
supplied the Damascus regime with large-scale military aid,
including armaments, training, and other military assistance.
- According to U.S. State Department officials, the Syrian
government has not been directly involved in any acts of
international terrorism since the 1980s. Damascus has been the home
base of a number of small and largely moribund radical Palestinian
exile groups, some of which engaged in terrorism in the 1970s and
1980s.
- The United States initially supported Syria's 1976 invasion of
Lebanon, which was authorized by the Arab League as a means of
preventing victory by the radical Lebanese National Movement and its
Palestinian allies in the civil war. Syrian forces have remained in
Lebanon ever since and Syria exerts enormous political leverage over
the Lebanese government, particularly regarding the country's
foreign affairs. During much of Lebanon's civil war, Syria actively
supported Amal, a militia based in the country's Shiite community
that engaged in military campaigns against the Palestinian Al-Fatah
militia, the Iranian-backed Hizbollah militia, and the Maronite
Phalangist militia, among others. Since the end of the civil war in
1990, the Syrians have provided limited support to Hizbollah in its
ultimately successful campaign to force Israeli occupation forces
out of southern Lebanon, and is believed to continue to back the
radical Shiite group's scaled-down militia today. There is still
some periodic fighting between Hizbollah militiamen and Israeli
occupation forces in the disputed Shebaa Farms area on the border
between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied section of southwestern
Syria.
- Syria has agreed to grant full diplomatic relations with Israel,
demilitarize border areas, allow for international peacekeepers, and
provide other security guarantees to Israel, as part of a peace
agreement where Israel would withdraw from Syrian territory seized
by Israeli forces in the 1967 war. A peace agreement between Israel
and Syria based upon this formula came close to fruition in the late
1990s until talks broke down over a relatively minor dispute on the
actual placement of the border resulting from conflicting
demarcation maps from the colonial era. Since then, a right-wing
Israeli government has come to power and has rejected such a peace
treaty, refusing to resume negotiations.
- Syria has an authoritarian government that has been charged by
reputable human rights organizations with widespread and systematic
human rights violations. The government has liberalized somewhat in
recent years, however, both economically and politically. While
still denying its people basic democratic rights, the current level
of repression by the Damascus government is less than it has been in
previous decades, less than that of Saddam Hussein's Iraq, and less
than that of Saudi Arabia and other American allies.
[These FPIF Talking Points were compiled by Stephen Zunes. Zunes
is Middle East editor for Foreign Policy In
Focus, an associate professor of politics at the University of San
Francisco, and author of Tinderbox: U.S. Middle East Policy and the
Roots of Terrorism (Common Courage Press). A longer version of this
article is available and will be periodically updated on FPIF's
website (online at www.fpif.org).]
By Ben Russell, Political Correspondent
published 14 April 2003 - Independent/UK
Syria faced renewed warnings from America not to provide safe haven
for senior figures in Saddam Hussein's regime.
Colin Powell, the Secretary of State, increased the diplomatic
pressure on Damascus while Donald Rumsfeld, the Secretary of
de fence, extended his rhetoric against the Syrians, insisting that
"there's no question" that some senior Iraqi leaders had fled to
Syria. "We certainly are hopeful Syria will not become a haven for
war criminals or terrorists," Mr Rumsfeld said.
President George Bush added to the pressure, saying: "Syria just
needs to co-operate with the United States and our coalition
partners, not harbour any Baathists, any military officials, any
people who need to be held to account."
Speaking to reporters later, he appeared to threaten Syria with
possible military action, by pointedly saying that Damascus held
chemical weapons, and that the Iraq war showed that "we're serious
about stopping weapons of mass destruction".
Asked by a reporter whether Syria could face military action if it
did not turn over Iraqi leaders, Mr Bush said: "They just need to
co-operate."
On Saturday a gunman who shot dead an American Marine guarding a
hospital in Baghdad was found to have a Syrian identification card
by US military officials. Marines shot and killed him.
Dominique de Villepin, the French Foreign Minister, who is visiting
Lebanon, said the international community should focus on rebuilding
Iraq and reviving Middle East peace efforts. Asked about American
accusations against Damascus, he said: "The time is not correct. The
time is to work together."
His comments coincided with visits by Jack Straw, the Foreign
Secretary, and Mike O'Brien, a Foreign Office minister, to Iraq's
neighbours to discuss the future of the region.
Hawks in the Bush team have raised the prospect of action against
Syria. Mr Rumsfeld warned that Syria would be "held to account" if
it provided military equipment to Iraq.
General Powell, considered amoderate within the administration,
joined the chorus of disapproval despite concern over deteriorating
relations between Syria and the West. He said: "We think it would be
very unwise ... if suddenly Syria becomes a haven for all these
people who should be brought to justice who are trying to get out of
Baghdad ... nor do I know why Syria would become a place of haven
for people who should be subject to the justice of the Iraqi
people."
General Powell told the BBC's Breakfast with Frost: "Syria has been
a concern for a long period of time. We have designated Syria for
years as a state that sponsors terrorism.
"We are concerned that materials have flowed through Syria to the
Iraqi regime over the years. We are making this point clearly and in
a very direct manner to the Syrians."
Mr O'Brien, who visited Tehran, the Iranian capital, yesterday, will
raise the Allies' concerns with the Syrian authorities today. Mr
Straw was visiting Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to
discuss the reconstruction of Iraq.
Lawrence Eagleburger, who was US Secretary of State under George
Bush Snr, told the BBC: "If George Bush [Jnr] decided he was going
to turn the troops loose on Syria and Iran after that he would last
in office for about 15 minutes.In fact if President Bush were to try
that now even I would think that he ought to be impeached. You can't
get away with that sort of thing in this democracy."