The Syrian Fool’s Errand

By Bruce Thornton

FrontPageMagazine.com Tuesday, March 10, 2009

True to his campaign promise to restore diplomacy to its rightful place in American foreign policy, Barack Obama is initiating “discussions” with Syria intended to resolve a whole host of divisive issues, including Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the conflict with Israel, and the festering problem of the Palestinian Arabs. Presumably, Syria “wants to engage,” according to Martin S. Indyk, Clinton’s Middle East peace negotiator, though The New York Times story did not tell us why Syria should talk now. Nor are we told what boon we can offer that could change Syria’s behavior, which includes murdering Lebanese politicians, funding and supplying Hamas and Hizbollah, and helping jihadists make their way to Iraq.

The implication of this latest news is that the previous administration, filled with unilateralist, trigger-happy neocon cowboys, worsened the crisis in the Middle East by refusing to talk with countries like Syria. This bit of received wisdom, like most liberal dogma, is misleading at best. For decades, Israel and the United States have talked with Syria, all to no avail. As Bret Stephens documents in the latest Commentary, “when it comes to the Syria track, the U.S. and Israel have walked down this road before, again and again, almost always with disappointing results.” Stephens’ survey of these efforts reveals a stark truth: talks with Syria will fail because the whole premise of these talks, that Syria sincerely wants peace with Israel, is flawed, as the record of Syria’s previous negotiations––filled with escalating demands, calculated snubs and insults of U.S. and Israeli politicians, and arrogant dismissals of generous Israeli offers––confirms...read more


Article by Phyllis Chesler:

The Tide Turns: Jews and Christians Standing Together Against Anti-Semitism.


Melanie Phillips:

Note: Sizer is building a formidable reputation as an activist anti-semite.

Last weekend the Revd Stephen Sizer, vicar of Christ Church, Virginia Water appeared at an anti-Israel meeting with an Islamist called Ismail Patel. Patel has not only accused Israel of ‘genocide’ and ‘war crimes’ but considers Disney to be a Jewish plot and supports Hamas, Iran and Syria.

Sizer is a virulent opponent of Christian Zionism and of Israel, which he has said he hopes will disappear just as did the apartheid regime in South Africa. He has also applauded Iranian President Ahmadinejad for having ‘looked forward to the day when Zionism ceased to exist’.

Beware the new axis of evangelicals and Islamists


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