First it was Sarkozy:“I have reached the end of the road with [Syrian President Bashar] Assad. Words alone won’t suffice, I want actions,†French President Nicolas Sarkozy was quoted as telling reporters Wednesday at the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
France has grown increasingly impatient with Syria, particularly over its intervention in Lebanese politics and its alleged involvement in political assassinations in the country.
(via LGF)
Next it was President Bush:
“My patience ran out on President Assad a long time ago,†Mr. Bush told reporters at the White House.“The reason why is because he houses Hamas, he facilitates Hizballah, suiciders go from his country into Iraq, and he destabilizes Lebanon.â€
(via Contentions)
Abe Greenwald observes in Commentary
For that, the President gets a B+. He left out Syria’s active interest in conspiring with Iran on WMD. The Assad regime constitutes the full spectrum of Middle East threats: Baathist tyranny, Sunni terrorism, Shia terrorism, Iraq sabotage, and coddling of Iran.Additionally, the Syrian regime exercises suzerainty by assassination in Lebanon. Lebanese statesmen actually live in their offices for fear of Syrian bombs. The Lebanese government is in near-literal paralysis. George Bush’s pronouncement is a welcome return to common sense. While Assad took a state hostage before the eyes of the world, Madame Speaker Nancy Pelosi thought it only right to pay a visit to Syria’s President “with the assurance that we came in friendship, hope, and determined that the road to Damascus is a road to peace.†Recently, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice suffered a similar lapse in reaching out to Syria during peace talks in Annapolis.
Greenwald approves of President Bush’s diplomatic snub of Syria and argues that the president has more clout now that matters in Iraq are improving. But why then is he paying lip service to the “legitimate” PA of Abbas and Fayyad? Why honor Egypt and Saudi Arabia with visits?
Since Annapolis Saudi Arabia has treated Ahmadinejad to a Hajj.
Egypt in the meantime has been caught helping Hamas smuggle weapons into Gaza. (The NY Times allows Egypt to defend itself with:
The clashes come amid continuing criticism by Israeli officials of what they say is a lax approach to security on the Egyptian side of the porous border. In addition to the trafficking of humans and drugs, Israeli officials say that the Islamic group Hamas, which holds sway in the Gaza Strip, has smuggled tons of explosives and weapons through tunnels running beneath Egypt’s border with Gaza, to the north.
followed by
Egyptian officials have argued that the peace agreement with Israel severely limits the number of guards they are allowed to place along the border. President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt said last month that he would be happy to have increased cooperation and intelligence sharing with Israel to help improve security along the border.
So it becomes Israeli “charges” vs. Egyptian adherence to the peace treaty. Nice jujitsu.)Finally Bush is rewarding Fatah with a visit. As Jewish Current Issues points out
The Bush administration is now devoting maximum effort in its final year (and trip after trip by its Secretary of State) to establish a state that has already failed, pushing weak and compromised “leaders†into final status negotiations that are doomed to failure until the real “core issue” — a culture of terror — is addressed:Ending the chaos, strife, lawlessness, and corruption that have characterized life in much of the West Bank will require far-reaching political reforms, the inculcation of a culture of political compromise, and strong leadership — conditions not likely to be fulfilled soon.
I agree that it’s nice to see President Bush take a stand versus Assad. (The proximity of Bush’s complaint to Sarkozy’s suggests some coordination.) But I wish he were more scrupulous in holding the Arab world to its commitments. He’s better on this score than his predecessor, but perhaps diplomatic imperatives dictate his softness regarding other Arab regimes who are clearly working against his diplomatic efforts.
It would be nice if he showed them some impatience too.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
