A Snub for Syria

The Boston Globe, Editorial
March 31, 2008
"Discord among the Arab states is hardly new but is rarely expressed in public. This gesture is a sign of growing exasperation–most of all over Assad's ties with Iran."

The most immediate source of discontent is with Assad’s role in preventing the Lebanese government from voting for a new president to replace outgoing Syrian puppet Emile Lahoud. … For Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and some of the other stay-at-homes, however, Syria’s spoiler role in Lebanon is only a sideshow. The ultimate cause of their rancor is Assad’s alliance with Iran, the ascendant regional power that stands outside the Arab League. …

If there is a remedy for the Arab angst over Syria, it lies in American and Israeli engagement with Assad’s regime, however distasteful that may be. The strategic aim would be to pry Syria from the clutches of Iran. Assad wants the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights returned to Syria and an end to Washington’s hostility. This would be a price worth paying for Lebanon’s emancipation and a diplomatic rollback of Iran’s destabilizing encroachment on the Arab world and Israel. Access the full article>>



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