Syrian-American ties spiral downward

In September 2001, George Bush went into a temporary honeymoon with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad. Following the September 11 attacks on Washington and New York, Assad sent a message to Bush, pledging to help the U.S. "eradicate terrorism in all its forms."

He expressed his support for a campaign against terror and Washington showed its goodwill by allowing Syria to hold a seat on the UN Security Council, despite heavy Israeli lobbying in Washington.

Bush believed that even if Syria did not take part in military operations against terror, it could provide its share of support through intelligence sharing with Washington, diplomatic support in the Arab world, and bolstering the peace process with Israel by clamping down on Palestinian resistance movements based in Damascus.

Syria's intelligence service did in fact come into handy, due to its long history of combating groups at home. Ever since the Muslim Brotherhood had tried toppling the Assad regime in 1982, Syria has devoted much of its energy to striking against religious groups who are affiliated to the Brotherhood.

Washington was pleased, for example, when Syria provided information on Maamoun Al-Dirkizili, a former member of the Brotherhood who controlled a Hamburg bank account that belonged to a member of Al Qaida and who had met with one of the hijackers, Marwan Al-Shehhi.

According to a report in The New York Times, published on October 30, a senior CIA official visited Damascus for consultations with Syrian intelligence officers. The newspaper, which is generally regarded as pro-Israeli, said that the meeting: "representing a significant shift in relations between the United States and Syria."

The "shift in relations" between Damascus and Washington, however, came to a sudden halt as the war on Afghanistan continued and Israel increased its atrocities in Palestine. Washington tried pressuring Syria into more cooperation by issuing an October 5 communiqué, adding Hezbollah and Syrian-sponsored Palestinian groups to the State Department's list of terrorist organisations.

Then, Washington started sending mixed signals to Damascus through its Beirut-based Ambassador, Vincent Battle, who emphasised that Hezbollah was not a target in the American war on terror.

Syria remained adamant however, and continued to authorise the launching of sporadic attacks from Hezbollah into the occupied Shebaa Farms in Israel. It also authorised the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PLPF) to speed up its attacks on Israel, and in October 17, endorsed the assassination of Rehavam Ze'evi, the Israeli Minister of Tourism, in West Jerusalem.

Bush moves

This was the final straw for Bush, who began making his recalculations and demanding that Syria choose on whose side it is with in the war on terror. He added the PLPF to the terrorist list and called on Arab leaders to strike at its network.

Yasser Arafat immediately outlawed the party's military wing in Ramallah and arrested several of its members, but Assad did nothing. In fact the Syrian President did the exact opposite, insisting on backing the Palestinian resistance, shunning Tony Blair on a visit to Syria, and abiding by his conviction that resistance cannot be considered terrorism.

Assad's Foreign Minister Farouq Al-Sharaa was harangued by his U.S. counterpart in a November meeting in Washington, where Collin Powel said, "Terrorism is terrorism. The U.S. will not ignore this kind of activity that is sponsored or supported by Syria or finds a safe haven in Syria."
The Americans, under Israeli urging, have a long score to settle with Syria.

For long, they had wanted to punish the Syrians for attacks on U.S. interests in the 1980s and for repeated attacks on Israel, via Hezbollah, in the 1990s. Bush needed enough reason to carry out his aims, and the Syrian attitude towards Israel gave him all the justification he was looking for.

In 2001, right after assuming office, Bush toyed with the idea of imposing a limited punishment on Syria to pacify a boiling Jewish lobby in Washington.

After all, unlike ex-Vice-President Al Gore, Bush was depicted at first as a fervent ally of the Arabs. Once in power, he tried shaking off that image and began sending signals off to Syria. In April 2001, Ariel Sharon bombed two Syrian radar stations in Lebanon, with full American backing, and Bush watched in silence and pleasure.

Syria responded by calling for more attacks from South Lebanon. It was generally believed that Syria was behind an explosion in an Israeli restaurant in the village of Masadeh in the occupied Golan Heights.

Farouq Al-Sharaa announced that the Syrian-American honeymoon, which apparently runs through South Lebanon, has come to an end by saying: "I can't say it's the beginning or the end, but the rules of the game are not for Israel to impose." This statement was aimed more so at Washington than Tel Aviv.

The threats, which were nothing but words in the past, are starting to materialise into serious action. Richard Armey, a Texas Republican, spoke out saying that, "Syria has a long and odious history of providing aid and comfort to the vilest of terrorist groups." He added that a bill is being drafted that will give the U.S. President more room to "punish Syria if it does not withdraw from Lebanon and does not stop supporting terrorism, developing weapons of mass destruction and violating UN oil sanctions against Iraq."

American restrictions

Last month, the U.S. Senate passed the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act, prohibiting citizens from states, officially described as sponsors of terrorism, from coming to America for visits, education, or work. The list includes Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, North Korea, and Syria.

Other measures that have affected Syria directly are Bush's policy of ignoring Damascus. In March, Vice-President Dick Cheney came to the region to help solve the Palestinian-Israeli crisis, discuss Iraq, and the U.S. campaign against terror. Intentionally, he declined to visit Syria during his 12-day tour of the Middle East. Syria showed its own share of resentment by rebuffing Secretary of State Powell on his visit to Damascus last month.

Powell seemed more interested in controlling the situation in South Lebanon than in applying pressure on Israel to cease its onslaught of the Palestinians and take blame for the massacre at the Jenin refugee camp.

Syria responded to Powell's urging by authorising more attacks in Lebanon and failing to send Sharaa to see him off at the Damascus Airport. U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice snapped back in an interview with ABC, warning Syria and Lebanon that if "terrorist attacks" do not cease, their "integration into the world economy" and their economic "survival" were at risk.

The Bush administration has even begun to seriously consider the idea of cutting the $35 million in annual aid provided to Lebanon. The U.S. President also plans to foil an international donor conference to raise financial assistance for Lebanon's economy.

Both measures, if carried out, would undermine Syria's reputation in Lebanon before a general public that would not be too pleased at suffering further economic burdens in order t