Cracks in the Arab Armor?

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Posted on Thu, Oct. 20, 2005

Fast-paced diplomacy turns up heat on Syria

By Sally Buzbee
Associated Press

CAIRO, Egypt - Forget Iraq. The real action for the United States, France and the United Nations this week has been their feverish behind-the-scenes work on another Mideast hot spot - Syria.

In a swirl of diplomatic maneuvers, the Americans have been talking to the Russians and French, the French and British have been talking to the Lebanese, and - perhaps most startling of all - the Palestinians have been talking to the Lebanese, too.

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As it faces the prospect that the United States and allies will push for tough new U.N. sanctions, one of the Arab world's last hard-core authoritarian governments is starting to show serious cracks.

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Syria, which dominated Lebanon for decades, has always wanted armed Palestinian fighters on Lebanese soil as a bargaining chip in its standoff with Israel.

With Lebanon free of Syrian troops since April, talks such as the ones in Paris, if they eventually bear fruit, could pave the way for more movement on the Palestinian-Israeli stalemate - movement that would leave Syria increasingly irrelevant.

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Even in the Arab world, Syria is growing more isolated.


TrekMedic's Musings:

Hmm,...Maybe we'll take out the Syrian regime without firing a shot,...??