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U.S. policy singles out Syria

By SUSAN TAYLOR MARTIN
Published February 20, 2005

There are many things to dislike about Syria.

For decades it has been ruled by dictators. It has supported terrorism against Israel. It has long overstayed its welcome in Lebanon.

But as they say in the penalty phase of a trial, there are mitigating factors. Though most of its 18-million people are Muslim, Syria is a secular country that practices religious freedom. It has generally cooperated with the United States in the global war on terror. It has made conciliatory noises toward Israel and has taken at least a few wobbly steps toward economic and political reform.

In short, Syria isn't a country that fits neatly into a "good" or "evil" slot. Yet it is clear where the Bush administration and other critics want to push it.

Syria's stock hit bottom last week with the horrific bombing that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 16 others. Despite the lack of evidence, the White House, Israel and many Lebanese quickly pointed the finger at Syria, whose longtime control over Lebanese politics had frustrated Hariri and others.

Syria has denied any involvement. While it may have had reason to silence an opponent, it also had reason not to.

"Whoever killed Hariri must have known what the consequences would be, especially since the Bush administration has been increasingly accusing Syria of all sorts of ills," says Rime Allaf, a Mideast expert at London's Chatham House.

"Therefore, I find it very hard to believe - in spite of all the mistakes they've made in Lebanon and elsewhere - that Syria would even think of committing such an atrocity."

Syrians could be excused for feeling they had been unfairly singled out when President Bush recalled the U.S. ambassador to Damascus, saying "Syria is out of step with the progress being made in the greater Middle East."

True, there have been free and fair elections in Iraq and the Palestinian territories. But Syria is hardly the only Arab country lagging on the march to democracy.

Saudi Arabia's municipal elections were widely considered a sham: Women were banned from voting and the toothless municipal councils will be dominated by members appointed by the kingdom's unelected rulers. The authoritarian leaders of Libya and Egypt are grooming their sons to take over when they die. Even moderate countries like Jordan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have nothing close to Western-style democracies.

Syria also gets what some feel is a disproportionate share of blame for anti-American insurgents crossing the border into Iraq. Doubtless, some have entered from Syria, but many have entered from other countries. The administration has said little about Jordan, even though it was home to insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Nor has there been much criticism of Saudi Arabia, which produced most of the Sept. 11 hijackers.

"There are a lot of other frontier borders, but the only ones that get blamed are Syrians and they were the ones least likely to support Saddam Hussein's regime before," Allaf says. She notes that during the Iran-Iraq war, Syria backed Iran. Why has Syria become such a bane of the Bush administration?

Syria has long been at odds with America's closest Mideast ally, Israel, for supporting the radical group Hezbollah and sheltering other anti-Israel organizations. The two countries also have locked horns over the Golan Heights, which Israel has occupied since the 1967 Mideast War.

Patrick Seale, a British journalist who has written extensively about Syria, says Israel is among several Syrian enemies that might have seen Hariri's murder as a chance to destabilize the regime.

"Right-wing Christians want to expel Syria from Lebanon, Islamists have not forgiven Syria for its repression of the Muslim Brotherhood, while Israel would like to weaken Syria and destroy Hezbollah," Seale writes. "Any of these actors might have seized the opportunity to cause Syria great embarrassment at a time when it is under U.S. pressure because of its alleged interference in Iraq."

Israel has denied any connection to the bombing, and there is some speculation it was an al-Qaida attack prompted by Hariri's close ties to Saudi Arabia.

As Hariri's family demands an internationally led investigation, Syrians worry they may be the next target for regime change. But an American expert thinks it's unfortunate the White House has taken such a tough line at a time when Syria's young president, the British-educated Bashar Assad, has shown signs of wanting to liberalize the economy, allow greater public discourse and resume peace talks with Israel.

"There are thugs and hard-liners that have power in Syria, but there are also extremely enlightened people," says Scott C. Davis, author of The Road from Damascus: A Journey Through Syria. "The question is, is the United States going to act in such a way that we strengthen and empower the reformers in the country, or do we act in such a way that we empower the hard-liners left over from the Cold War?"

Susan Taylor Martin can be reached at susan@sptimes.com

[Last modified February 20, 2005, 00:54:14]