"DSK" wrote in message
. ..
So why is this a priority for Bush all of a sudden?


NOYB wrote:
Because Syria is the wedge between Israeli and Palestinian peace.


And they have been for 25+ years. Why ignore that part of my post? They
were there 4 years ago and Bush ignored them. They were there 3 years ago
and Bush decided to invade Iraq instead.

Because the way to Syria and Iran was through Iraq.



Now all of a sudden, Syria... which was cooperating with US counter
terrorist intel ops... and a secure & stable secular quasi-democracy...
ruled by a progressive & pro-Western group... is on the hit list.

They were "quasi" cooperating. Handing over Saddam's half-brother two years
after the invasion speaks to their complicity to provide sanctuary to
Baathists...not to their cooperation.



Getting them out of Lebanon would be nice, but it would have been nice 25
years ago. So Bush & Cheney just pulled their head out of the sand?

No. They've been working toward it for awhile. We needed a base of
operations and a means to put some military pressure on them. Prior to
invading Iraq, all we could do was send diplomats to the region to beg and
plea.

I don't know what it will take to make you understand that our action in
Iraq sent an extremely strong statement to the rest of the Middle East that
we mean business. And it sent a message to the citizens of those other
countries that we would stand by them when they're ready to stand up and
fight for their own democracy.



Or did they decide here's good material for a razzle-dazzle ploy to
distract all but the most gullible (ie you and John H) from their other
miserable foreign policy failures?

Their foreign policy goal was to democratize the Middle East so the hatred
of Islamic fundamentalism doesn't have a chance to take root. It was being
fostered by the suppressive control of the ruling parties.




And of course, the fact that they *still* haven't caught Osama Bin Laden,
and they *still* have exactly ZERO links between Iraq & terrorism.


Why is the remote possibility of re-opening peace negotiations reckoned
as a huge success?


You're kidding, right?

No

With Arafat gone, Abbas seems to be pointing the Palestinians in a new
direction (but Hizbollah isn't cooperating).


And?

Looks to me like the Israeli-Palestinian "peace process" is stuck at about
the same place it was in 1979. Each side is stuck at the same intractable
demands and the same unrealistic expectations.

It would be very nice if Abbas could reign in his terrorists, and Sharon
put a muzzle on some of his hard-liners (except that he's a har-liner
himself).

Of course I am hopeful that *this* time things will go forward, the
violence will die down, resentments will subside, and peace will have a
real chance. But it's not at all due to anything the Bush Administration
has done,

Ha!

and their blustering toward Syria isn't going to help either the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict or the anti-US terrorism in the region.

Sure it will. In case you haven't noticed, Syria ain't too popular in the
region right now.


It's just a lot of hot air aimed in the wrong direction... and even if
they *were* about to accomplish something, it would be 5 years later than
they could have done the same thing.

Huh?


But hey, maybe I'm too picky. Considering Bush & Cheney's record so far,
maybe this really is a huge success for them!

You guys discounted the significance of ousting the Taliban and creating a
democratically elected government in Afghanistan.
You discounted the significance of Qaddafi opening his country's weapons
programs to inspection.
You discounted the significance of ousting Saddam.
You discounted the significance of the Iraqi elections.
You discounted the significance of the fact that we're in our 4th year
without a terrorist attack on our soil.
You discounted the fact that Bush has made amends with Europe and received
concessions for them to help with the rebuilding of Iraq.
You discounted the fact that Mubarak opened up elections for the first time
in more than 25 years.
You discounted the fact that France is working with us on insisting that
Syria withdraw from Lebanon.
You discount the fact that tens of thousands of Lebanese protesters are
marching in unison to demand that Syria withdraw.
You discount the fact that Syria now mysteriously "finds" Saddam's
half-brother hiding in their country.


You continue to "misunderestimate" Bush.