Syria will burn aces
By Ahmed Al-Jarallah, Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times
"THE Syrian regime will burn its aces" is the common refrain of even some of its supporters in Lebanon such as former Lebanese Foreign Minister Faris Boueiz and the Druze leader Waleed Jumblat, who was recently given a send off befitting a state leader at the Elysee Palace by French President Jacques Chirac. The Syrian regime is communicating with the world in its own complex language, which only it can understand, while the entire world is waiting for a simple "yes" or "no." Syria still believes it can manoeuvre around UN Resolution 1559 using Iraq and Palestine as bargaining chips. The regime assumed its call for an unconditional peace talks with Israel will give it a strategic advantage.
But when Damascus realised by sitting at the negotiating table with Israel it will be forced to accept all the peace conditions, which it doesn't accept in the first place, it backtracked and denied having agreed to "unconditional" talks. Maybe in the lexicon of the Syrian regime "unconditional" means "obstacles." The international community doesn't understand and has no patience for Syria's language. If there are conditions then all of them must be implemented. Attempts to play with words and change their meaning are not acceptable. Syria is playing up the issue of Shabaa farms in Southern Lebanon in a bid to support the Hezbollah. It is exploiting Marwan Barghothi, who is currently in an Israeli jail.
By arranging certain deals with Farouq Qaddomi, one of the old guards of Palestine, the Syrian regime is planning to undermine the role of Egypt, which is trying to help the Palestinians. Above all, by recruiting terrorists from mosques and helping them infiltrate into Iraq the Syrian regime is trying to use that country as an ace up its sleeve. Damascus is adept at circumventing major issues to see the results of its manoeuvres before deciding on its stance. All this will fail. Syria will soon realise the world doesn't understand its language. Its relations with the United States, European Union and Israel will reach a breaking point which may lead to war. Is Syria ready to face this eventuality? Is it prepared for an isolation which could be imposed on its people? Let nobody try to flex their muscles, whether real or not, because all of us know where the balance of power lies in the world.
What happened in Fallujah, where terrorists who didn't listen to their own inner self came to grief is ample proof for this fact. Why does the Syrian regime want to be like the terrorists in Fallujah and not like Iran, which has wisely abandoned its uranium enrichment programme following threats from the United States and international demand to avoid another war? Even the Iranian President Khatami has relented and warned conservatives in his country that talk about teaching a lesson to the West will only lead to the isolation of Iran. Syria's attitude reminds us of Ibex, which thinks it can ram its way through a mountain only to end up with broken horns. We are afraid Syria's illusions will result in more such broken horns.
"THE Syrian regime will burn its aces" is the common refrain of even some of its supporters in Lebanon such as former Lebanese Foreign Minister Faris Boueiz and the Druze leader Waleed Jumblat, who was recently given a send off befitting a state leader at the Elysee Palace by French President Jacques Chirac. The Syrian regime is communicating with the world in its own complex language, which only it can understand, while the entire world is waiting for a simple "yes" or "no." Syria still believes it can manoeuvre around UN Resolution 1559 using Iraq and Palestine as bargaining chips. The regime assumed its call for an unconditional peace talks with Israel will give it a strategic advantage.
But when Damascus realised by sitting at the negotiating table with Israel it will be forced to accept all the peace conditions, which it doesn't accept in the first place, it backtracked and denied having agreed to "unconditional" talks. Maybe in the lexicon of the Syrian regime "unconditional" means "obstacles." The international community doesn't understand and has no patience for Syria's language. If there are conditions then all of them must be implemented. Attempts to play with words and change their meaning are not acceptable. Syria is playing up the issue of Shabaa farms in Southern Lebanon in a bid to support the Hezbollah. It is exploiting Marwan Barghothi, who is currently in an Israeli jail.
By arranging certain deals with Farouq Qaddomi, one of the old guards of Palestine, the Syrian regime is planning to undermine the role of Egypt, which is trying to help the Palestinians. Above all, by recruiting terrorists from mosques and helping them infiltrate into Iraq the Syrian regime is trying to use that country as an ace up its sleeve. Damascus is adept at circumventing major issues to see the results of its manoeuvres before deciding on its stance. All this will fail. Syria will soon realise the world doesn't understand its language. Its relations with the United States, European Union and Israel will reach a breaking point which may lead to war. Is Syria ready to face this eventuality? Is it prepared for an isolation which could be imposed on its people? Let nobody try to flex their muscles, whether real or not, because all of us know where the balance of power lies in the world.
What happened in Fallujah, where terrorists who didn't listen to their own inner self came to grief is ample proof for this fact. Why does the Syrian regime want to be like the terrorists in Fallujah and not like Iran, which has wisely abandoned its uranium enrichment programme following threats from the United States and international demand to avoid another war? Even the Iranian President Khatami has relented and warned conservatives in his country that talk about teaching a lesson to the West will only lead to the isolation of Iran. Syria's attitude reminds us of Ibex, which thinks it can ram its way through a mountain only to end up with broken horns. We are afraid Syria's illusions will result in more such broken horns.
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