"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
NOYB wrote:

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
NOYB wrote:

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Backyard Renegade wrote:

Let me ask a question here. Is it at all possible that the
convoys
of
trucks tracked into Seria the last few weeks while the French,
Russians, and Germans held the majority of the member countries
back,
were the very carefully accounted for WMD moving to the Bekka
(sp?)
valley in Lebanon? Could we really know where they are

As to your question, certainly it is possible, but it is unlikely.
The
Israelis, who are far more sophisticated in these matters than we
are,
would have noticed.

Hehehe. You haven't been paying attention. The Israeli's *did*
notice.
Read:

Syria denies hiding Iraqi weapons
Sharon: Israel investigating reports
Wednesday, December 25, 2002 Posted: 3:13 PM EST (2013 GMT)



A bit naive about the Israelis, are we?

Me, naive? You said "the Israeli's would have noticed" convoys of large
trucks heading into Syria. I told you they already *did* notice...and I
provided a link from ONE YEAR AGO to prove it.

What's your spin now that you've been made to eat your words?



And the follow-up to a nothing report is?

I'm waiting.

Now, Syria is in Washington's sights for alleged weapons programme

DAMASCUS (AFP) Dec 21, 2003
With Libya's renunciation of weapons of mass destruction and Iran's
acceptance of tough new inspections of its nuclear programme, Syria finds
itself more than ever in Washington's sights for its own alleged weapons
programme.
Since the fall of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in April, the United States
has been honing in on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, putting
pressure on Syria to fall into line with the new regional order created by
the war in Iraq and the presence of some 135,000 US troops in Syria's
eastern neighbour.

Even by Washington's admission, Damascus has cooperated in the US-led war on
terror by helping to hunt down members of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda
network.

And Damascus was praised last month by Britain -- the United States'
staunchest ally in the war on terror -- when it extradited to Turkey
suspects in a series of attacks in Istanbul in which 67 people died.

But the US still accuses Syria of backing anti-Israeli militant groups,
notably the Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Palestinian movements Hamas and
Islamic Jihad, and last week threatened Damascus with sanctions.

On December 12, US President George Bush signed a law providing for economic
and diplomatic sanctions to punish Syria for what the United States said
were its ties to terrorists, tacit support for anti-US insurgents in Iraq
and efforts to obtain weapons of mass destruction.

It also calls on the governments of Lebanon and Syria to "enter into serious
unconditional bilateral negotiations" with Israel to secure "a full and
permanent peace."

Bush will decide if and when the sanctions are to be applied.

Washington has accused Damascus of turning a blind eye to anti-US fighters
who cross into Iraq via the porous, 600-kilometre (360-mile) border
separating the two neighbours.

But the Western diplomat in Damascus wondered out loud if Washington's real
gripe with Syria wasn't over its alleged development of weapons of mass
destruction.

The US has accused Damascus of having chemical weapons and trying to obtain
biological weapons.

"It all depends on how significant the Americans perceive that problem to
be," the diplomat said.

In Arab diplomatic circles, the general feeling is that Damascus wants to
resolve its differences with Washington through dialogue, while taking care
to "safeguard its national integrity and not appear to be kowtowing to
Washington."

On an official visit to Athens last week, Assad said he was optimistic that
friction with Washington over the sanctions would not last.

"This concerns (the US) Congress... There must be a dialogue. We are
optimistic and dialogue with the US never stopped," he said.

Early this month, the New York Times quoted Assad as saying that he wanted
to resume negotiations with Israel on the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel
since 1967.

If those talks come about and the two sides reach agreement, they could
herald the normalisation of relations between Syria and Israel, the New York
Times quoted Assad as saying.

"The term 'normalisation' sets no limits: it means relations equivalent to
those which exist between Syria and the United States," the Syrian president
was reported as saying.

Arab diplomats point out that the US also appears to be in favour of going
down the diplomatic route, having appointed Margaret Scobey as Washington's
new ambassador in Damascus "at the same time" as Bush was ratifying the
sanctions against Syria.