In the WaPo: A New Partner In Syria? By David Ignatius
Wednesday, December 24, 2008; A11
DAMASCUS, Syria -- President Bashar al-Assad says he doesn't want to send a message to Barack Obama, exactly, but to express a three-part hope for the incoming administration's Middle East policy:
First, he hopes Obama won't start "another war anywhere in the world, especially not in the Middle East." And he trusts that the doctrine of "preemptive war" will end when George W. Bush leaves office.
Second, Assad said, "We would like to see this new administration sincerely involved in the peace process." He hopes that Obama will back Syria's indirect negotiations with Israel, and he urges the new administration to pursue "the Lebanese track and the Palestinian track, as well."
Asked whether he would mind if the Syrian track went first (a sequence that has worried some Syrians who prefer the ideological purity of following the Palestinians), Assad answered: "Of course not. Each track will help the other."
Third, he says he wants Syria and the United States to work together to stabilize Iraq as American troops begin to leave. "We can't turn the clock back," Assad said. "The war happened. Now we have to talk about the future. We have to forge a process, a political vision and a timetable for withdrawal."
In all three "hopes," Assad seemed to be looking for a new start with Obama after years of chilly relations with Bush. Assad said he knew little about Obama or his policies but has heard that he is more in contact with ordinary people than Bush has been, which, Assad contended, would give Obama a better understanding of America.
Assad spoke in English during the 30-minute interview Monday. He was accompanied only by his political and media adviser Bouthaina Shaaban. This time, in contrast to my interview with him in 2003, when Assad was often stiff and doctrinaire, he was loose and informal, breaking several times into laughter.
Assad's easy demeanor suggested that he's more firmly in charge now. The Bush administration's attempt to isolate Syria has failed, even in the judgment of senior White House officials. That leaves Assad in the catbird seat, courted by European and Arab nations and conducting back-channel talks through Turkey with his erstwhile enemy Israel.
Asked, for example, about reports that Saudi Arabia is seeking to improve its relations with Damascus because it sees U.S. engagement with Syria ahead and fears that "the train may be leaving the station," Assad laughed.
"Maybe it has already left the station," he said. But he vows that he is ready to receive any emissaries. "I have no problem with the Saudis. We would like good relations with every country in this region."
Assad said that he is ready to move to direct talks with Israel as soon as he receives clarification on two points: One, he wants assurance that the Israelis will withdraw fully from the Golan Heights. To clarify that issue, he sent a "borders document" to the Israelis this month that highlights some points along the pre-1967 border. As of Monday, he said, he hadn't received an Israeli response. His second condition for direct talks is that the United States join as a sponsor.
On the crucial question of Syria's future relations with Iran, Assad was noncommittal. He said the relationship with Iran wasn't about the "kind of statehood" Syria has or its cultural affinities but about protecting Syrian interests against hostile neighbors. "It's about who plays a role in this region, who supports my rights," he said. "It's not that complicated."
Asked whether Syria was prepared to restrain Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite militia in Lebanon, Assad said this was a matter the Israelis should sort out in separate negotiations with the Lebanese. Indeed, he promoted the idea of the other negotiating tracks -- which would draw in, at least indirectly, Hezbollah and Hamas.
"The longer the border, the bigger the peace," Assad said. "Hezbollah is on the Lebanese border, not Syrian. Hamas is on the Palestinian border. . . . They should look at those other tracks. They should be comprehensive. If you want peace, you need three peace treaties, on three tracks."
A relaxed Assad clearly believes that Syria is emerging from its pariah status. An international tribunal is still scheduled to meet in The Hague to weigh Syria's alleged role in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri. But in the meantime, Assad is receiving a stream of visiting diplomats. He looks like a ready partner for Obama's diplomacy, but a cautious one -- waiting to see what's on offer before he shows more of his hand.
The writer is co-host of PostGlobal, an online discussion of international issues.
Friday, December 26, 2008
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In the company of murderers, by Scott Johnson
ReplyDeleteDecember 26, 2008, 7:06 AM
[See original post with references here]
David Ignatius is the prominent Washington Post columnist who specializes in foreign affairs. He writes highly regarded espionage novels in his spare time. And he is full of bonhomie toward some of the world's foremost terrorists and murderers.
In September 2003, for example, Ignatius got together for a little chat with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Ignatius's subsequent column on the interview maddeningly refers to the Hezbollah war of extermination against Israel as "the horrifying dance of death between Israel and its enemies[.]"
He asked: "Are there terms under which Islamic militants might agree to halt their suicide bombings?" The answer was negative, which should suggest even to a moderately intelligent observer that Israel was not exactly engaged in a war of choice -- contrary to Ignatius's metaphor -- with Nasrallah and his minions.
Ignatius had been invited to attend and speak at a Hezbollah jamboree. His speaking engagement led to his interview with Nasrallah. If you were invited to speak to a conference of genocidal murderers, what would you do? Ignatius appears not to have agonized much over that particular question.
In his column "Hezbollah's success," Ignatius resolved the question in favor of taking advantage of the opportunity to speak to Hezbollah. Invited to speak to the group in Beirut on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he "accepted -- on the theory that it was a chance to learn about the group and that more information, even about alleged terrorists, is better than less."
It isn't clear to me why Ignatius referred to Hezbollah as "alleged terrorists." Was it so that he can observe terminological neutrality between murderers and their victims, or because he has some doubt whether Hezbollah is a terrorist organization? The rest of Ignatius's column showed Hezbollah to be a cold-blooded advocate of terrorism -- "'martyrdom operations,' as Hezbollah prefers to call them" -- and Ignatius must know that the group practices what it preaches.
In his most recent column, Ignatius got together for a chat in Damascus with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Paul Mirengoff picked apart Ignatius's advocacy of Assad as America's partner in "A man with nothing much to offer." Paul demonstrated that the superficial sophistication of Ignatius's promotion of Assad is in fact a form of naiveté.
Paul also characaterized Assad as an "evil tyrant." Paul's judgment reflects a universe of discourse that is foreign to Ignatius, at least insofar as his view of the Arab world is concerned. Ignatius does not pass judgment on Assad's actions, but rather on Assad's moods.
In 2003, Ignatius found Assad tense over the prospect of America's looming war to overthrow Saddam Hussein. By contrast, in 2008, Ignatius finds Assad relaxed and full of fun, no longer worried about the threat American involvement in the region might pose to his regime:
Assad spoke in English during the 30-minute interview Monday. He was accompanied only by his political and media adviser Bouthaina Shaaban. This time, in contrast to my interview with him in 2003, when Assad was often stiff and doctrinaire, he was loose and informal, breaking several times into laughter.
Assad's easy demeanor suggested that he's more firmly in charge now. The Bush administration's attempt to isolate Syria has failed, even in the judgment of senior White House officials. That leaves Assad in the catbird seat, courted by European and Arab nations and conducting back-channel talks through Turkey with his erstwhile enemy Israel.
Asked, for example, about reports that Saudi Arabia is seeking to improve its relations with Damascus because it sees U.S. engagement with Syria ahead and fears that "the train may be leaving the station," Assad laughed.
"Maybe it has already left the station," he said. But he vows that he is ready to receive any emissaries. "I have no problem with the Saudis. We would like good relations with every country in this region."
That Assad, what a card.
At the end of his column, Ignatius refers to the murder of Rafiq al-Hariri. Ignatius doesn't appear to have troubled Assad with any questions on that topic:
An international tribunal is still scheduled to meet in The Hague to weigh Syria's alleged role in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri. But in the meantime, Assad is receiving a stream of visiting diplomats. He looks like a ready partner for Obama's diplomacy, but a cautious one -- waiting to see what's on offer before he shows more of his hand.
Investigators and other knowledgeable observers believe that the trail of evidence from Hariri's murder leads to Assad's regime. See, for example, Joshua Hammer's December Atlantic Monthly article on the investigation of Hariri's murder.
Ignatius has no comment on Hariri's murder or its meaning. Instead, he serves up Assad as America's willing Middle East partner -- if only the Obama administration has the sagacity to accept Assad's outstretched hand. It strikes me that there is something chilliing about the case of David Ignatius.