Syria/Australia, Shara, President Bush's Iraq Strategy,

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000041 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR PA, NEA/ARN, INR/IC/CD, INR/R/MR:STHIBEAULT AND JMCCARTER, VOA NEWS CA, NEA/PPD:CBOURGEOIS, AZAIBACK, AND AFERNANDEZ, IIP/G/NEA-SA MDAVIDSON WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC CENTCOM FOR CCPA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR PREL KPAO OPRC SY SUBJECT: Syria/Australia, Shara, President Bush's Iraq Strategy, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories (1/11) ¶1. Summary: Syrian papers on Jan 11 reported Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Abrash's meeting on Jan. 10 with an Australian Parliamentary delegation headed by the President of the Legislative Council of New South Wales, Meredith Burgmann, focusing on prospects for bilateral cooperation. Mrs. Burgmann expressed her country's interest in enhancing relations with Syria, hailing Syria's role in extending aid to the Australian community in Lebanon during the recent Israeli war against Lebanon. She praised Syria's central role in the region, asserting that the majority of the Australian people support establishing a just and comprehensive peace based on international resolutions. Mrs. Burgmann also met with Information Minister Mohsen Bilal, who confirmed Syria's interest in a just and comprehensive peace. As for Iraq, the Minister underscored Syria's full support for the political process in Iraq, expressing his country's desire for Iraq's unity and independence. Burgmann expressed her country's desire to develop ties with Syria in all fields, stressing the necessity of establishing dialogue with Syria in order to solve the region's problems. Papers also reported VP Shara's and Information Minister Bilal's meeting on Jan. 10 with Arab media and world correspondents accredited in Damascus. VP Shara reviewed recent developments in the international and regional arenas and Syria's stances towards them, particularly in Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon. Al-Shara touched upon the International Tribunal, Arab solidarity, Syria's relations with Saudi Arabia, Russia, Arab Gulf countries and Jordan, Syrian-European relations, and the Syrian-European Association Agreement, in addition to Syrian-Iranian ties, US policy and its role in hindering the peace process. Then the Vice President answered the journalists' questions. End of summary. ¶2. Selected Headlines: "Russia insists on revealing countries that failed to cooperate with Brammertz. Israel, France, US failed to cooperate" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/11) "Syrian-Australian talks. Burgmann: Time has come to enter dialogue with Syria. Information Minister Bilal: Occupation in the reason for instability in the region" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 1/11) "In a frank meeting with journalists and correspondents, Al-Shara: Our relations with Russia are strategic; No Israeli official can contemplate peace without getting US permission" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 1/11) "Chris Patten, Former EU Commissioner, reiterates the importance the Baker-Hamilton Committee's proposals: Cooperation with Syria and Iran requires a clear US announcement on returning the Golan, and stopping the language of threats" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 1/11) "Bush authorizes CIA covert actions against Hizbollah. Hizbollah: The al-Saniora government behaves with the mind of a militia" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 1/11) "A nationalist gathering in Beirut today in response to the sectarian militarization of the Mustaqbal trend" (Government-owned Tishreen, 1/11) "Hanieh holds occupation and foreign parties responsible for domestic tension" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/11) "Moslem clergymen call for uniting Arab ranks. Sheikh al-Boutti: Executing Saddam comes within the framework of a Zionist-US scheme to transfer sedition to Syria and Lebanon" (Government-owned Tishreen, 1/11) "After a series of delays, Bush announces his strategy today. Success of the Bush strategy on Iraq depends on the weakest link, namely the Iraqi government" (Government-owned Tishreen, 1/11) "Democrats threaten to detonate a constitutional dispute over presidential authority. Bush acknowledges mistakes and increases troops in Iraq" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/11) ¶3. Editorial Block Quotes: -------------- "Adventure, or Political Foolishness?" -------------- Isam Dari, Chief Editor of government-owned Tishreen, commented (1/11): "The new American strategy in Iraq will not have a better chance than the other strategies that the Bush administration launched in the past six months. "Neoconservatives are obviously not willing to listen to the voice of reason and logic. They remain stubborn, although stubbornness is no longer useful or justified. Indeed, it is costing peoples of the region and the rest of the world heavy losses, and costing the American people themselves loss of life and reputation.... "President Bush not only ignored the recommendations of the Baker-Hamilton Committee; he also deliberately moved in the opposite direction: on the one hand, he wanted to make public the American military role in Somalia, and on the other, he wanted to send 20,000 additional American troops to Iraq, adopting and entrenching the option of force, firing the mercy bullet at the alternative of dialogue with peoples, and completely ignoring the Middle East peace process, of which the administration of George Bush Senior was the primary sponsor. "Is it the adventurous spirit of this ruling team or is it a desire to subjugate nations and loot their wealth and resources, primarily oil? Or is it an implementation of ancient Talmudic texts talking about the end of the world and about a 'holy' battle taking place in our region? Or is it political stupidity controlling the minds of a group enjoying power and influence and wanting to use what it has to control what it does not have? "We believe that all these things together make up the weird mixture of American policy. It is a tried recipe for destroying the world and pushing it toward the dark ages and uncreative instability." -------------- "Equivalent to an Announcement of Collapse" -------------- Khalid al-Ashhab, an editorialist in government-owned Al-Thawra, said (1/11): "Because a stupid loser cannot become a successful and smart person overnight, we do not think that the fragrance of the new American strategy that President Bush announced or will announce today and tomorrow will mend what the policy of the fundamentalist American neoconservatives has ruined through the culture of missiles and aircraft carriers.... "The only accomplishment of the Bush administration and its extremist neoconservatives is that they returned Iraq to the medieval ages.... "The magnitude of the American political failure in Iraq, Lebanon, and the Middle East in general is such that an admission of the failure would be resounding and deafening. Achieving success with the hammers, chisels, and time left in the hands of the Bush administration has become far more difficult than turning stupidity into intelligence. Thus, the minimum loss for this administration will be to sink and become absorbed in its current situation through a new strategy under which an additional hammer, consisting of 20,000 new soldiers, is sent to Iraq, and to bring down with it those who are still wagering on it, whether in Iraq or Lebanon. Then, it won't be surprising for the circle of blood of sedition in Iraq to expand or for the Al-Saniora government to barricade itself inside the government house while the world is waiting at the doors!" -------------- "'Amihai' on the Hagana Footsteps" -------------- Umar Jaftali, a commentator in government-owned Tishreen, wrote (1/11): "The formation of a new Israeli movement whose mission is to expel Palestinians from the West Bank is nothing new to the racist Zionist concept.... "Practices of the Israeli government are effectively meant to Judaize the West Bank and drive Palestinians out of their homeland.... What has been happening since 1948 constitutes a crime against humanity for which Israel has not yet been called to account. But it will not be erased from the memory of Palestinians and the Arab nation. Palestinians, therefore, need to be cautious about what is being concocted against them secretly and publicly. They need to return to the language of dialogue and reason and achieve national unity and foil the current and future conspiracies of the Israeli enemy before it is too late...." -------------- "Has the Tendency for Vengeance Returned to International Relations?" -------------- Dr. Mahdi Dakhlallah, former Information Minister, analyzed in government-owned Tishreen (1/11): "Groups and countries sometimes act on the basis of their instincts for revenge rather than their interests.... "The execution of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and US sanctions on foreign companies that deal with Syria are examples of this inclination.... "How can we understand the recent American law against Russian, Chinese, and Korean companies dealing with Syria? Forget about the principles of international law and the illegitimacy of a country imposing its domestic laws on another country. Is this not harmful to American interests themselves? There is no explanation for this American conduct other than a revengeful tendency, which is based, first and last, on instincts.... "Does the execution of Saddam Hussein in that way and at that particular time serve any specific interest, or is it just an act of revenge? The next days will prove that revenge harms the interests of the avenger...." Corbin