U.S. Hardball with Syria ; As Europe Works to Undercut America

Summary

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In the midst of a widening war in Iraq, the Bush administration finally seems to be getting serious about Syria. On May 11, President Bush signed an executive order imposing military and economic sanctions on the Ba'athist state and labeling it an "unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy and economy" of the United States.

Such measures are long overdue. After all, Syria continues to serve as a major training ground and safe haven for a variety of international terrorist groups, from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad to the anti-Turkish Kurdish Worker's Party to Iraq's al Qaeda- affiliated Ansar al-Islam. Syria's young dictator, Bashar Assad, has also deepened his regime's relationship with Hezbollah, Lebanon's powerful Shi'ite militia. This support has included financial transfers and massive arms shipments, which have expanded the guerrilla group's regional reach while solidifying Syria's grip on Lebanon. Western intelligence services have even monitored the recruitment and planning activities of al Qaeda lieutenants operating out of Syria.

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Extract

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U.S. Hardball with Syria ; As Europe Works to Undercut America

Yet under intensifying American pressure, Syria suddenly has discovered a terrorist problem of its own. After gunmen detonated a car bomb in front of a former U.N. office in the diplomatic quarter ...

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