Talk is Cheap, Bob

Today, Bob Schieffer asks the question "Why Aren't We Talking to Syria?"
In his missive he makes a few points:

• The answer to that, we are told, is for the same reason we don't talk to Iran and North Korea lately: to talk now would be a reward for bad behavior.
  

• ...we stayed in touch with the leaders of the Soviet Union through the long and dangerous decades of the Cold War. It would have been dangerous not to. But these days we seem to find more and more people not to talk to. Then when we need to talk, we can't for fear of rewarding bad behavior.
  

• No power on earth, Israel or us -- even if we wanted to -- could kill every Arab who wants to destroy Israel. There are just too many of them. That leaves but one option: convince countries like Syria that it is in its own self-interest to take another approach.
  

• Simplistic? Hardly. It worked with Egypt, once a far greater threat to Israel than a small poor country like Syria could ever be.

It is with the last comment that the TrekMedic takes issue.

Yes, 20+ years ago, the Egyptian army was a more serious threat to Israel's security. Yes, it took a great deal of arm-twisting to get Sadat to back away and cease his sabre-rattling. (Look where that took Sadat, BTW)

But, Syria, as poor as Schieffer describes them, isn't sending its regular federal troops into conflict with Israel, with the inherent costs borne on the Syrian taxpayers' backs. President Assad is merely using his country as a conduit (and safe haven) for groups like Hezbollah; which is funded, in part, but a network of Islamic terrorists, terrorist nations, and private supporters. If we talk with Syria at all, the message must be clear and frank: Stop any tacit support of Hezbollah, or face our wrath. Period. End of message. No UNtied Nations sanctions. No "carrot-and-stick." No bulls**t. Just STOP! That, my friends, ends bad behavior.