And the beat goes on
President Bush said Sunday, "We believe there are chemical weapons in Syria" and that the Iraqi neighbor "needs to cooperate" with the United States and its coalition partners.
Bush, in brief remarks Sunday, said Syria should not "harbor" any "Baathists" and military officials "who need to account for their tenure" in Iraq.
But the deputy Syrian ambassador to the United States, Imad Moustapha, speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," said he believes the reports of chaos and lawlessness in Iraq are embarrassing to the Bush administration and it's pointing fingers at Syria to divert attention from those reports
Asked whether Syria was harboring terrorists or pursuing weapons of mass destruction, he referred to two Washington Times articles citing chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers, as saying he's never seen movement of weapons of mass destruction from Iraq to Syria, and that Syria has been cooperating with the CIA in combating terrorism.
"Please help us free this region from all weapons of mass destruction. ... Please inspect every country in the Middle East," Moustapha said. "You know very well that Israel is stockpiling nuclear weapons."
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, also on "Meet the Press," said there's no question that members of Saddam Hussein's regime fled to Syria.
Moustapha said he doesn't think there's a potential for war between the United States and Syria. "We believe in American values and we believe in American fairness," he said.
[link|http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/04/13/sprj.irq.bush.syria/index.html|http://www.cnn.com/2....syria/index.html]
"believe in American fairness"!!! O, my stars and skies!
Ya know, the players change, but maybe the lesson of Munich--that a predatory empire is never satisfied for very long by appeasement--does have to be learned anew every generation or so. I wonder if it's dawning on the world?
cordially,
