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First there was the third world army of afaganistan, now here comes the iraqi lesson. Do we need to have another remedial class.

The Washington Times
www.washingtontimes.com

http://dynamic.washtimes.com/twt-print. ... 411-371990
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Syria, Iran told Iraq has lessons
Nicholas Kralev
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Published April 11, 2003


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Secretary of State Colin L. Powell yesterday maintained the heat on Syria and Iran, advising the two nations that are blacklisted as state sponsors of terror to draw a lesson from Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's fate.
"The United States does not have some plan or some list with nations that we are going to go attack one after another," Mr. Powell said. But, he added, "We hope that as a result of what's happened in Iraq, and as a result of the revulsion that the world has for terrorist activity and the development of weapons of mass destruction, that some of the nations that we have been in touch with and speaking to — Syria and Iran — will move in a new direction."
Mr. Powell's comments in a Pakistani television interview came amid increased pressure on Damascus not to provide haven for senior members of Saddam's collapsing regime. On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld cited "scraps of intelligence" indicating that Syria has been doing just that.
"Syria has a choice to make, and we hope Syria makes the right one," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters.
A senior State Department official, asked whether Mr. Powell's remarks signaled a policy of deliberate ambiguity designed to put countries on notice without alienating the Arab world, said the administration feels a need to make clear its distaste for rogue regimes.
"What are we supposed to do? Close our eyes to what they are doing? We think we have to talk about it, and we have an effort to stop governments from harboring terrorists. But that doesn't mean we'll use military force in each case," he said.
But the administration, which has been trying to diplomatically resolve a nuclear standoff with another rogue state, North Korea, did not say how it intends to make Syria and Iran change their ways.
Washington also was vague in describing what it is doing about Mr. Rumsfeld's assertions. Mr. Boucher said the U.S. ambassador in Damascus, Theodore Kattouf, has been expressing the U.S. concerns to the Syrian government, with which he remains in close touch.
Mr. Boucher also said Syrian officials had assured Mr. Kattouf that the border with Iraq had been closed to all but humanitarian traffic. A senior State Department official, however, later noted that Damascus' definition of "humanitarian traffic" may be different from Washington's.
Other administration officials have also issued oblique warnings to Syria. Speaking on Capitol Hill yesterday, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz said the Syrians "are behaving badly; they need to be reminded of that and if they continue, we need to think about what our policy is."
"It's very dubious behavior, and by calling attention to it, we hope that in fact it will be enough to have them stop," he told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
And in the Dominican Republic yesterday, U.S. Ambassador Hans Hertell was quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying the war in Iraq was the beginning of a campaign aimed at all countries around the world with oppressive political systems.
"I think what is happening in Iraq is going to send a very positive signal, and it is a very good example for Cuba, where we saw that last week the Fidel Castro regime ordered the arrest of more than 80 citizens ... simply for their ideas," Mr. Hertell told local reporters.
Damascus remained silent yesterday about the American accusations, but in a statement it urged "the international community to exert every possible effort to put an end to the occupation [of Iraq] and manage the catastrophic situation that has resulted from the aggression."
Syria dismissed earlier accusations by Mr. Rumsfeld that it was sending military equipment to Iraq. The secretary described Syrian support for Saddam's rule as a "hostile act."
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw warned Syria yesterday against helping what remains of the Saddam regime and urged the country to cooperate with the U.S.-led forces in Iraq. He also said he will send a representative to Damascus and Tehran next week and that he will visit several unspecified Gulf nations.
The United States has listed Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism because of its support for radical organizations, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Washington has also termed Syria's military presence in Lebanon an "occupation."
Emboldened by the relatively quick fall of Baghdad, and with more than 200,000 U.S. and British troops across the border from Syria and Iran, hawks in the Bush administration are said to be setting their sights on regime changes in those two countries.
Those officials are believed by administration sources and external analysts to be among the group that persuaded President Bush to go to war with Iraq.
"It's time to bring down the other terror masters," Michael Ledeen of the conservative American Enterprise Institute wrote Monday in an article titled "Syria and Iran Must Get Their Turn."
Mr. Boucher said Mr. Bush's resort to military force against Saddam was not a result of persuasion by the hawks but a decision consistent with the Clinton administration's formally stated policy of "regime change" and an appropriate response to Iraq's defiance of numerous U.N. resolutions.
"The president has not been looking willy-nilly to use U.S. military force," Mr. Boucher said. "He's made clear again and again in situations that force was never his first option but that he was prepared to use force when necessary."

Copyright © 2003 News World Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

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