← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · JoseyWales
Thread ID: 20730 | Posts: 13 | Started: 2005-10-23
2005-10-23 18:37 | User Profile
[url]http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051023/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_hariri[/url]
So let me get this straight. Some arabs off another arab and we are going to war to stop it ? I know its just a cover or smoke screen for doing the bidding of the Izzys, but geesh the line being fed to the public is being bought and argued by the diehard followers of the neocon cabal. We must save the world from itself, or so goes the argument. Got to make the world safe for womens lib, homos, britney spears and fast food. All those that oppose must perish!
2005-10-24 04:18 | User Profile
[QUOTE=JoseyWales][url]http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051023/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_hariri[/url]
So let me get this straight. Some arabs off another arab and we are going to war to stop it ? I know its just a cover or smoke screen for doing the bidding of the Izzys, but geesh the line being fed to the public is being bought and argued by the diehard followers of the neocon cabal. We must save the world from itself, or so goes the argument. Got to make the world safe for womens lib, homos, britney spears and fast food. All those that oppose must perish![/QUOTE]
I'm noticing too the intensifing rhetoric by the usual suspects-the government and it's lapdog media-concerning "what to do" about Syria. Sadly, the Izzys will fight this sad and ugly battle to the last bloody and mangled American.
WWIII here we come.
2005-10-24 21:48 | User Profile
[quote=xmetalhead]I'm noticing too the intensifing rhetoric by the usual suspects-the government and it's lapdog media-concerning "what to do" about Syria. Sadly, the Izzys will fight this sad and ugly battle to the last bloody and mangled American.
WWIII here we come.
I am of mixed feelings, though I'd like to see more 'other means' attempted rather than wander into Syria guns blazing.
Syria has been a haven and staging area for guerillas from outside of Iraq to go in and keep the fighting going. Hassad the Elder was happy to house any number of thugs organizations, terrorists if you will, pursuing Soviet client aims during the Cold War. Not pleased with them for that, though I understand where their sympathies lie and why: anything to give US a black eye is good, if they can get away with it, and anything to bust the Israeli's balls is better. Where ya sit determines a lot of what you see.
America going into Syria as an escalation of Iraq is just plain stupid. Hassad the elder is dead, and his son is not exactly running riot all over the Middle East. He can be dealt with. There are other means of dealing with Syria that the bayonet. They need to be tried.
Underwriting "forever war" is the best way to break the American economy that I know of. Strange, I think, that a French King once underwrote support for a war with the Brits, and it ended up breaking his government, which gave us the French Revolution, and all that grew and mutated from that. Part of that war was . . . the American War of Independence.
If America breaks itself, what new power will arise to change the world and put Americans in the position we were in during the nation's formation, of having to accomodate foreign empires? I am not too keen on that, personally. Dealing from a position of strength is a better situation.
AE
2005-10-27 15:10 | User Profile
In a speech Wednesday, Ahmadinejad denounced Israel and said a new wave of Palestinian attacks "will wipe this stigma from the face of the Islamic world." Citing the words of the founder of Iran's Islamic revolution, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Ahmadinejad said: "Israel must be wiped off the map." :notworth:
[img]http://images.thetimes.co.uk/TGD/picture/0,,239341,00.jpg[/img]
The EU does not want to have to deal with a nuclear Iran, with hostile ambitions any more than Israel does and has tried to stop Iran developing the bomb though diplomatic means. However Iran's new administration has now officially lost the plot. The very fact that they resort to this type of rhetoric in public speaks volumes about the type of fanatical idiot's that we are dealing with here.
That said we should not over react to Iran's recent outburst and in my opinion their needs to be a urgent deescalation of this conflict. Iran and Syria may well be fighting a proxy war against the west in Iraq. However both these nations are stable and they are both major energy exporters. We should not war with these nations unless we absolutely have to. Iran is also the fourth largest export market for French cars and trading relations between the EU, Iranian and Syrian where steadily improving before the Bush administration seized power.
The EU is far more powerful than the US is economically in the middle east. If the EU where to apply economic sanctions to Iran or Syria even with Asian imports these nations would enter into rapid decline and would become isolated.
However, this region is in Russia's sphere (as Syria is a major Russian buyer) and the EU is unlikely to take the Russian Federation to task in their own back yard. In fact the EU it's self needs middle eastern energy suppliers in order to counter it's incresing dependance on Russian oil and gas exports.
The Russians met with the Israeli recently to discuss these matters and presumingly to buy Iran and Syria more time.
Wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall in that meeting?
[I]Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, speaking at a joint press conference with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, said it was clear that Iran was trying to develop an atomic weapons capability.
"Israel believes that Iran is very close to developing a nuclear bomb. And we think that the Iranians are trying to buy time," Mr Shalom said, describing the Islamic republic as "a clear and present danger".
But Mr Lavrov said that all the intelligence in Moscow's possession "does not substantiate the allegations that we have a clear and present danger coming from Iran".
"We believe that Russia and the international community should do whatever is in their powers to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear capabilities. A nuclear Iran will constitute a nightmare not only for Israel, but for Russia and the international community as well. Therefore Iran's case must be brought in front of the Security Council," Shalom said.
Lavrov stated that Russia has always maintained that Iran should be banned from having a nuclear bomb. "This is our firm standpoint on the matter, and we have often conveyed it to Iran in negotiations with the country," Lavrov said.[/I]
Greg
"'He is a prodigy,' he said at last. 'He is an emissary of pity, and science, and progress, and devil knows what else. We want,' he began to declaim suddenly, 'for the guidance of the cause entrusted to us by Europe, so to speak, higher intelligence, wide sympathies, a singleness of purpose.'" - Heart of Darkness : Joseph Conrad
2005-10-27 15:16 | User Profile
[B]Iranian leader condemned for 'destroy Israel' call[/B]
By Sam Knight and agencies
European governments condemned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran today in "the strongest terms" after he called for Israel to be destroyed.
EU leaders issued a joint statement during an informal summit at Hampton Court saying: "Calls for violence and for the destruction of any state are manifestly inconsistent with any claim to be a mature and responsible member of the international community."
The statement came hours after the Iranian charge d'affaires in London was summoned to the Foreign Office to explain Mr Ahmadinejad's comments, which were made yesterday at a conference in Tehran called "The World without Zionism."
Mr Ahmadinejad, who defends his country's "inalienable right" to nuclear power and has called for a global Islamic revolution, told an audience of thousands of students that Israel was "a fabricated entity" that Palestinians should wipe from the face of the earth.
Reverting to the vitriol of Ayatollah Khomeini, leader of the Iranian revolution, Mr Ahmadinejad said: "There is no doubt that the new wave in Palestine will soon wipe off this disgraceful blot from the face of the Islamic world... As the Imam (Khomeini) said, Israel must be wiped off the map."
Mr Ahmadinejad also warned fellow Islamic leaders against softening their stance against the "Zionist regime". Last month, Bahrain announced that it would resume trade with Israel.
[B]"Anybody who recognises Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nationââ¬â¢s fury. Anybody who recognizes the Zionist regime is acknowledging the surrender and defeat of the Islamic world," [/B]said Mr Ahmadinejad.
Within hours of the speech a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in an Israeli market, killing five people in the deadliest attack in the country in three months.
Governments around the world have condemned the President's speech and expressed fears for Iran's nuclear ambitions. Earlier today, the Foreign Office called the speech "deeply disturbing and sickening".
"Saying Iran wants to wipe Israel from the map will only heighten concerns about Iranââ¬â¢s nuclear ambitions," said a spokesman, who explained that Hamid Arefi, the Iranian charge d'affaires, was called to the Foreign Office at 10.30am this morning to hear Britain's complaint over the remarks.
Canada, Spain and France are all expected to protest to Iranian representatives today and Israel said Iran should be suspended from the UN for Mr Ahmadinejad's comments.
"Since the United Nations was established in 1945, there has never been a head of state that is a UN member state that publicly called for the elimination of another UN member state," said Shimon Peres, the Israeli Deputy Prime Minister.
"There has never been such a scandal, it is impossible to ignore this and close your ears," said Mr Peres, who called for Iran's expulsion from the world body. "I donââ¬â¢t know if this has a chance, but this has to be said by us."
In America, the Bush Administration said that Mr Ahmadinejad's speech displayed Iran's true intentions. "I think it reconfirms what we have been saying about the regime in Iran. It underscores the concerns we have about Iranââ¬â¢s nuclear intentions," said Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary.
Israel has been the declared enemy of Iran since the revolution in 1979 and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's Supreme Leader, routinely calls Israel a "cancerous tumour" that must be excised from the Middle East.
Nonetheless, Mr Ahmadinejad's remarks demonstrate a marked shift from the more conciliatory tone of Mohammed Khatami, the reformist President he succeeded in August.
"The comments in themselves are not unusual," said Ramita Navai, Tehran correspondent for The Times, "what is unusual is that there are coming from the President. Especially given that former President Khatami was very cautious in his remarks about Israel."
[B] "Khatami always suggested that he would be open to a two-state solution if the Palestinians wanted it. Ahmadinejad seems to be saying that there is no possibility of that."[/B]
2005-10-27 15:26 | User Profile
And the United States wanted Ahmed Chalabi to be the new strongman of Iraq because Ahmed Chalabi would give full recognition to the state of Israel, which would influence other Arab states to aquiesce.
In any case, the United States, under it's current criminal regime of neocons, is to blame for Iran's hot rhetoric. It was the US that openly threatened Iran in the first place, without any consideration of internatioal protocol. Israel openly threatens to bomb Iran a few months ago because of alleged Iranian nukes.
WWIII is almost here.
2005-10-27 15:32 | User Profile
A recent PCR article on this subject --
[B][FONT=Arial, Arial, Helvetica][COLOR=#990000]If We Want To Replace A President, Why Syriaââ¬â¢s?[/COLOR][/FONT][/B]
[B]By [URL="http://www.vdare.com/asp/index.htm"] Paul Craig Roberts[/URL][/B]
Someone should tell Condi Rice that the gig is up. With the Bush administration dissolving in illegalities committed by key officials in their attempts to protect the lies that they used to justify the US invasion of Iraq, the secretary of state is trying to ramp up war against Syria. Grasping a UN report that uses unreliable witnesses to implicate Syria in the assassination of a former Lebanese government official, Condi Rice told the BBC on October 23 that Syriaââ¬â¢s crime cannot be [B] [URL="http://www.britishembassy.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1036414846587&a=KArticle&aid=1129041801614"] "left lying on the table. This really has to be dealt with."[/URL][/B] This is amazing for many reasons. Here is the person in charge of US diplomacy acting as if she is the secretary of war unsheathing military force. Whoever heard of an American diplomat wanting to start a war because a former Middle Eastern government official was assassinated? The UN investigator, [URL="http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2005/051021_Mehlis_Briefing.doc.htm"] Detlev Mehlis,[/URL] has no more idea who assassinated the former official than the US knows who is responsible for assassinating the many Iraqi officials under its protection. After more than two and one-half years of war in Iraq, the US still doesnââ¬â¢t know exactly who the enemy is that it is fighting. Yet Mehlis blames Syria for an assassination on the strength of an informer [URL="http://dailykos.com/story/2005/10/22/91846/344"] described[/URL] by the German news magazine, [I]Der Spiegel[/I], [[URL="http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,381056,00.html"]German text[/URL]] as a [B]convicted felon and swindler[/B]. On the basis of the word of a convicted felon and swindler, Condi Rice wants a high level UN Security Council meeting to condemn Syria so the Bush administration can bring about [B]"regime change"[/B] in Syria. With the US Department Of State doing everything it can to demonize and destabilize Syria, Condi Riceââ¬â¢s mouthpiece, Adam Ereli, declared that Syria must [URL="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/22/AR2005102201141.html"] end attempts to destabilize its neighbors.[/URL] This is the type of propaganda we were fed about Iraq. Syria is not destabilizing any country. It is all Syria can do to maintain its own stability. The US is the great Middle Eastern destabilizer. Isnââ¬â¢t the secretary of state aware that the government of which she is a part is in dire difficulties because it went to war based on highly unreliable [B]"intelligence"[/B] supplied by highly unreliable people? Does the secretary of state read the CIA reports? Doesnââ¬â¢t she know that the US has created extraordinary instability in Iraq? A country that formerly had no terrorists now serves as a training ground for al Qaeda, according to the CIA. Is this the time to repeat the Iraq blunder in Syria? The American people should be terrified by the warmongering ideologues that President Bush has put in charge of his government. The greatest danger that the US faces are the fools in the Bush administration. Why is Syria being demonized? Syrian troops were part of the US coalition organized by [URL="http://www.vdare.com/roberts/wisdom_folly.htm"] President George Herbert Walker Bush[/URL] that liberated Kuwait in 1991 from Saddam Hussein. The current head of government in Syria is a mild mannered ophthalmologist who inherited the post five years ago when his older brother was killed in a car crash. Syria has done nothing to the US and poses no threat to the US. The Syrian government is concerned about Syria becoming unhinged by schisms like the Sunni-Shiââ¬â¢ite schism set loose in Iraq by the incompetent Bush administration. Why does Condi Rice think the Bush administration has the right to decide who heads the Syrian government? According to news reports, the Bush administration [URL="http://vdare.com/roberts/051005_triumph.htm"] has asked[/URL] the Israeli and Italian governments to nominate a replacement for the current president of Syria. A country incapable of choosing a better president than George W. Bush has no business choosing a president for any other country. In place of aggressive interference in the internal affairs of other countries, the US needs to find a competent president for itself. Maybe we should ask the Italians who they would recommend.
[URL="http://vdare.com/roberts/051025_president.htm"]http://vdare.com/roberts/051025_president.htm[/URL]
2005-10-27 16:03 | User Profile
xmetalhead
It is your own nations unqualified and continuing support for Israel that is largely to blame for the imbalance of power in this region.
Whilst the main reason that Iran is developing nuclear weapons technologies is to counter Israel. As Israel is with out question intent on further expansion at the experience of the Arab. Iran also has ambitions of becoming a regional power in it's self and both of these states possess a threat to global security in their own twisted little way.
Greg
"Neither should men study war with a view to the enslavement of those who do not deserve to be enslaved; but first of all they should provide against their own enslavement, and in the second place obtain empire for the good of the governed, and not for the sake of exercising a general despotism, and in the third place they should seek to be masters only over those who deserve to be slaves. Facts, as well as arguments, prove that the legislator should direct all his military and other measures to the provision of leisure and the establishment of peace. For most of these military states are safe only while they are at war, but fall when they have acquired their empire; like unused iron they lose their temper in time of peace. And for this the legislator is to blame, he never having taught them how to lead the life of peace. " - Aristotle
2005-10-27 19:22 | User Profile
The Honorable Congresswoman Sue Kelly 2182 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
October 5, 2005 Dear Congresswoman Kelly:
Let me start by expressing my deep appreciation for your letter dated September 30, 2005, co-signed by your colleagues, which I received from your office.
Notwithstanding the disturbing and disappointing content of this letter, I feel grateful for it has given me and my country the chance to engage and respond to the grave issues raised. This is what I would expect from an honorable body of representatives who believe that there is still room for engagement and dialogue. This is something Syria has repeatedly called for and, unfortunately, was repeatedly denied.
Let me start by reiterating my countryââ¬â¢s position: Syria has continually and repeatedly called for the Americans and Iraqis to engage with their Syrian counterparts. This is necessary in order to solve the problems in Iraq. And Syria has stated, in no uncertain terms, that our will to assist in this situation illustrates not only our hopes for a unified and free Iraq but also the dire consequences turmoil in Iraq will pose for Syrian interests.
Syria has the political will to engage with the US towards finding a solution to the on-going violence and bloodshed in Iraq. It is a detriment to out national security and interests to see Iraq being further destabilized, and our concern for Iraqââ¬â¢s territorial integrity is paramount. We have asked the US Administration time and again to stop this public media campaign against Syria, and told the Administration that it is both unfair and unsubstantiated. Furthermore, we have spared no means to communicate to this Administration our willingness to mutually address all matters of concern to the US. Needless to say, all our initiatives to engage with the US have failed, and the US Administration seems adamant on following a path of public accusations and no direct engagement.
Before providing you and your honorable colleagues with a detailed reply to all the points raised in your letter let me start by submitting to you the following tow suggestions:
The government of Syria is willing to invite a bi-partisan congressional delegation for a working visit to Syria in which the honorable members would explore in depth all matters related to the Iraqi issue. This will allow the members of the delegation to witness for themselves what Syria is and has been doing to address the issues discussed in your letter, as well as provide an opportunity to discuss all possible actions with leading Syrian governmental officials. Syria pledges full cooperation with this delegation. We are willing to hear from you, listen to your suggestions, and upon verifying our willingness to engage we expect your assistance in convincing the US Administration that its current policy towards Syria is neither useful nor constructive. We would like the message reiterated that it is in the best interest of both countries to work together and it is counterproductive to continue creating these conditions of hostility and animosity.
In recognition of the efforts you might undertake in visiting Syria and helping both countries move forward toward cooperation and joint action, Syria is willing to immediately resume its intelligence and security cooperation with the relevant US agencies. This cooperation was initiated in the aftermath of the tragic events of September 11, and was suspended early this year. Wee expect the US Administration to acknowledge Syriaââ¬â¢s cooperation and halt its campaign of accusations and rhetoric in return for our security and intelligence cooperation.
As for the points mentioned in your letter, allow me to address each point in detail to clarify our position and provide the honorable members with a different perspective on these important issues.
A peaceful and stable Iraq holds as much, if not more significance for Syria as any other nation in the region or across the Atlantic. The Syrian mosaic of citizens, in which a wide variety of ethnicities and religious groups live side by side, closely resembles Iraqi society and in fact, may be even more divers. Consequently, the sectarian strife arising in Iraq could spread across the border and result in fatality tearing at the fabric of Syrian society. This situation causes the Syrian government great concern ad compels us to work diligently to help bring peace and stability back to Iraq for the future of its citizens as well as our own.
Syria has always supported the e political process in Iraq. One example of this was during the Iraqi elections when we encouraged the large Iraqi expatriate community in Syria to vote, and proved them with all means necessary to enable them to successfully participate in the Iraqi political process. This is just one example among many others that went unnoticed here in the US, and wee completely ignored by US officials.
Syria does not support the terrorism in Iraq; we have very little influence on the political developments that are taking place there. However, if the US Administration has evidence to the contrary, Syria is willing to work with the Administration and investigate these allegations. This is the only way to put an end to the alleged Syrian support of the insurgency in Iraq.
The argument that the Syrian government allows infiltrators into Iraq holds no truth in any regard whatsoever. The facts on the ground along the Syrian-Iraqi border illustrate how diligently Syria has worked to control its side of the border with Iraq. We have increased our border troops from a few hundred to 10,000 in the past two years; built sand barriers, which Syria has recently raised to 12 feet along more than 210 kilometers of the border, installed barbed wires, some of which are double-layered: and erected many Syrian military outposts, numbering in total approximately 540, deployed approximately every 400 meters or 3 kilometers depending on the sensitivity of the area. As a result of these efforts, Syria has captured over 1,500 individuals trying to cross the border and handed them over to the authorities of their country of origin or placed them in prison.
If infiltration continues, it is done despite all our efforts to stop this illegal movement of people occurring without our consent. Moreover, Syria has continually and repeatedly called for the Americans and Iraqis to engage with their Syrian counterparts on this issue because Syria cannot seal this border alone and needs cooperation from the American and Iraqi side. False allegations against Syria will not solve this problem but rather only cooperation, from both sides, can achieve the important goal of sealing this border.
To illustrate my point with specifics, General Abizaid, on April 14, 2005, said, ââ¬ÅWeââ¬â¢ve got, oh, roughly 10,600 ââ¬â give or take ââ¬â prisoners. I think there are like 357, 358, something like that, third-country national, some of whom have been in Iraq for many, many yearsââ¬Â¦ I mean, itââ¬â¢s like ââ¬â the last time I checked, 50 (from Saudi Arabia) and 52 (from Syria)ââ¬Â¦ and 49 (from Iran).ââ¬Â Moreover, the Center for Strategic and International Studies has said that the insurgency numbers about 30,000 individuals with a foreign component of 4-10%. This means that the foreign element in the insurgency numbers from about 1,500-3,000 individuals. Putting these numbers together and after some simple mathematical calculations we find that the total number of individuals which have come from Syria amounts to about 144, equaling 0.5% of the insurgency. With these facts in mind, I would like to remind you that Syria has imprisoned about 1,500individuals trying to infiltrate the Syrian-Iraqi border, amounting to 10 times the number of those that reached Iraq, which illustrates how diligently we are working to seal this border.
In addition, thee US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies released a report about ââ¬ÅSaudi Militantsââ¬Â in Iraq stating that the Syrians have ââ¬Åbeen too forceful in their crackdown on Saudisââ¬Â entering Syria some of which are en route to Iraq, while others come as tourists. We argue that we have been forceful on all those using Syria as a transit to Iraq, including Saudis.
The allegations concerning the Visa policies in Syria are a classic example of how the US Administration merely looks for pretexts to criticize Syria with a lack of substantial evidence. The fact that Syria has arrested and handed over hundreds of suspects arriving at Syrian entry points is always ignored by the US officials. The Saudi and Jordanian press have been very critical of the Syrian authorities for their stern approach in dealing with their citizens arriving in Syria, being arrested and extradited for merely suspecting that these citizens might have extremist tendencies.
The question that should be addressed to the US Administration is the following: Did you once try to communicate any sort of intelligence about suspected Jihadists planning to arrive in Syria, which the Syrian authorities failed to act on? Did this happen at least once? Our records do not show that such communication has ever occurred.
Our embassies throughout the whole world offer Visas within an hour of the Visa application. We do not have the means of verifying the information submitted in the Visa application form, and our diplomatic missions are incapable of investigating all individuals who request an entry Visa to Syria. However, our intelligence agencies have a wealth of information about fundamentalist extremists. When such individuals arrive in Syria, they are immediately handled by the Syrian authorities. You can verify this with other Arab countries to whom we have extradited hundreds of their citizens upon arrest at Syrian border checkpoints.
Once again, this would not have been an issue had the US Administration been willing to cooperate and engage with Syria. Unfortunately, while the lack of engagement continues to be the norm, the US Administration uses such pretexts to criticize Syria, capitalizing on the fact that few individuals have any knowledge of Syrians policies and positions.
Syria has transferred a sum of $262 million to the Iraqi Government, which is the total amount of the Iraqi frozen assets in the Commercial Bank of Syria. In regards to the $580 million mentioned in your letter, this amount was paid to the Syrian private businesses to honor contracts and deals between Iraqi and Syrian parties prior to the war. All these contracts are documented at the Syrian Ministry of Finance and the Federation of Syrian Iraqi officials to visit, investigate and check these documents with full transparency. If the Iraqi officials conclude with doubts about the authenticity of these contracts and financial obligations, Syria will take immediate action to the satisfaction of the Iraqi government.
Syria received a team of US Treasury inspectors to visit the Commercial Bank of Syria for as long as they deemed fit, and had access to whatever information they required. We thought that this openness and transparency would put an end to these unsubstantiated accusations. On the one hand, thee team left Syria satisfied that our banks were fully cooperating with the US on this particular issue. ON the other hand, the US Treasury Department never acknowledged our cooperation, and continued to repeat the same allegations. Once more we invite the US treasury officials to talk to Syria, not talk past Syria about these accusations. If US officials have acquired new information regarding these funds, Syria welcomes the opportunity to re-examine the issue and fully investigate it in cooperation with the US officials.
Syria has repeatedly informed the US Treasury Department officials that wee are keen on closely cooperating with the US Treasury Department on issues of money laundering and terrorism financing. Syria, has modified all its by-laws and regulations in accordance with recommendations Syria has received fro the US Treasury Department officials. Syria not only did this, but also informed the US Treasury Department that we are willing to do whatever action may be required in the future, if the need arises. This was never publicly acknowledged by the US Treasury Department; on the contrary, we continue to hear the same accusations about cash flow through the borders.
Actually, based on the recommendations of the US Treasury Department, Syria has joined a number of groups including MENA-FATF (Middle East & North Africa Financial Action Task Force), as well as establishing special units of the Syrian Customs on all international borders to combat terrorism financing and money laundering.
It might surprise you to know that Syriaââ¬â¢s efforts to curb cash flows into Iraq and elsewhere were faced by obstacles created by the US Administration. Our efforts to eliminate cash dealings and substitute the cas-based system with a credit card system where all financial transactions can be electronically monitored and traced were stalled by the US imposed sanctions on Syria that continue to prevent us from modernizing our banking infrastructure. I hope you will use your good office to convince the US Treasury Department that helping Syria modernize its banking system will actually help the US win its global war against terrorism.
Lebanon (Donââ¬â¢t want to copy it all out. It is outdated anyway.)
On Sanctions against Syria
When you contemplate imposing new sanctions against the Syrian banking system, I hope you will keep in mind that the suffocation and eventual crash of this system will only benefit illegal transactions, black marketers and money traffickers. Syria has diligently worked hard on bringing its banking systems to world class standards, and to ensure transparency and the security of all financial transactions. Threats of further sanctions will have a negative impact on Syriaââ¬â¢s efforts to achieve what the US Administration has repeatedly asked Syria to do, and what we have been working hard on achieving.
In addition, I hope that the honorable members would recall that ten years of economic sanctions on Iraq only led to the impoverishment of the Iraqi people, and the destruction of Iraqââ¬â¢s national infrastructure. Syria invites you to use diplomacy and engagement, no threats and sanctions to try and find solutions for our already troubled region. Please do remember, that if you are being told by the US Administration that they have ââ¬Åcredible evidenceââ¬Â that Syria is doing this or not doing that; the same sort of credible intelligence was used in thee past as a pretext to launch war on another Arab country. We hope that this kind of mistake will not be repeated for the same of Syria, the Middle East and the entire world.
We firmly believe that you can play a great role in helping bring the US and Syria to a better understanding and a higher level of cooperation. On our behalf, this is what we are looking for, and this is what we hope the future will hold for both our countries,
Yours Sincerely,
Imad Moustapha, PhD. Ambassador of the Syria to the United States [url]http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/Joshua.M.Landis-1/syriablog/2005/10/syria-is-being-set-up-to-fail-leaked.htm[/url] =================== Works for me. Given a choice between believing the Syrians or the Bush Administration, I'll believe the Syrians first for I know the Bush gang is an collection of out and out liars.
2005-10-27 19:41 | User Profile
Russia and China already said that they would come to the aid of Syria, as with Iran, if attacked by the US or and the state of Israel.
This does more than scaletes the war of words but the act in itself of a possible WWIII and I have a feeling that the Zionists will be the first ones to launch the first nuke head in "self defence" (according to them).
As 9/11 the Zionists will kill a few of their own people (as done before) in order to have a "reason" to attack others.
Remember people that all that is happening now started with the state of Israel and not for any other reason.
2005-10-28 01:20 | User Profile
PCR states
[QUOTE] The US is the great Middle Eastern destabilizer.[/QUOTE]
Bullsh**. Iran has been the great Mid East destabilizer since 1979, ask any King or Emir (or Turk) how happy he was with The Islamic Republic and The Islamic Revolution.
US contributes to the mess, for sure. Russian contributed, and contributes, for sure. Israel contributes, for sure. Oil itself, being so valuable, contributes, as does water and population growth in nations who don't do birth control. The character of the goat humpers aka Arabs contributes as well, since their cultural is still fundamentally tribe and clan based.
PCR has so much to offer, and has much experience, yet he continually inserts pure BS into otherwise incisive and thoughtful writings.
What a shame.
AE
[quote=Quantrill]A recent PCR article on this subject --
[B][FONT=Arial, Arial, Helvetica][COLOR=#990000]If We Want To Replace A President, Why Syriaââ¬â¢s?[/COLOR][/FONT][/B]
[URL="http://vdare.com/roberts/051025_president.htm"]http://vdare.com/roberts/051025_president.htm[/URL]
2005-10-28 01:31 | User Profile
Sert:
While I enjoyed the Syrian Ambassador's letter, it is pure political eyewash in essence, though his reference to General Abizaid is well made. His fun with numbers ignores that fact that his Army's C2 and surveillance capability is for sh** and that clever folks who have been smuggling and doing deals across the Syrian border for generations have been paying off Syrian border patrols for generations to get things done. It's just business, like with the Corleone family.
Abizaid made a remark last year to journalists regarding the "why can't you keep foreigner fighters out of Iraq?" He pointed to the US Mexican border and offered "we're not doing so hot back home with a simpler border and a simpler political situation" or something like that.
While I appreciate the Ambassador's sentiments, and I think working with those people would do a lot of good -- hey, we worked with Pinochet, didn't we, and he was a jerk -- and be more effective with building relationships in the long term, he's a bloody politician and a diplomat, so his business is doing anything other than telling the truth. :rolleyes:
Many grains of salt when one reads anything signed by an Ambassador who insists on inserting "PhD" in his signature. And he's an Arab, who are culturally inculcated with shading or avoiding the truth as a matter of habit.
In any case, more Americans should read his letter, if only to force them to think a bit about how it looks on the receiving end of some of the hot air and BS coming out of Washington.
AE
[quote=Sertorius]The Honorable Congresswoman Sue Kelly 2182 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
Imad Moustapha, PhD. Ambassador of the Syria to the United States [URL="http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/Joshua.M.Landis-1/syriablog/2005/10/syria-is-being-set-up-to-fail-leaked.htm"]http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/Joshua.M.Landis-1/syriablog/2005/10/syria-is-being-set-up-to-fail-leaked.htm[/URL] =================== Works for me. Given a choice between believing the Syrians or the Bush Administration, I'll believe the Syrians first for I know the Bush gang is an collection of out and out liars.
2005-10-28 02:20 | User Profile
AE,
I think that it is in our interest to work with these folks. I really don't believe that the Syrian govt. supports guerillas operating out of their country as they are fearful. We should be fearful too. If Assad falls, who replaces him? The Muslim Brotherhood perhaps? A little sugar here instead of vinegar I think would do the trick. Anyway, the U.S. doesn't have the troops to invade and occupy this country. The Israelis sure as hell aren't going to help us, so it is time to make a deal and knock off the rattling of an empty scabbard.