U.S. warns Syria: Stop arming Hezbollah immediately

[bemildred]

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Haaretz has learned that Burns' visit to Damascus ended unsatisfactorily for the U.S. administration. During Burns' meeting with Assad, the Syrian leader denied all American claims that his regime was providing military aid to terrorists in Iraq, or to Hezbollah and Palestinian terror groups.

Assad essentially told Burns that he had no idea what the American was talking about.

A senior diplomatic source who was briefed on the meeting with the Syrian ambassador said that one goal was to calm tensions between Syria and Israel.

The meeting with the ambassador was preceded by meetings in Washington between U.S. officials and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. On Thursday, U.S. officials met with their Israeli counterparts at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1152777.html

[ixion]

1. LOL... like the US has any moral authority on this subject

[madrchsod]

2. ho hum...picking on the syrians again

no one is going to do anything to disrupt the syrian gold mine of information.....

[Tripmann]

3. Is that not a bit like Quazimodo telling you to sit up straight?

[shergald]

4. Have to agree with these opinions.

After backing away from Cairo and getting put down by Netanyahu, the US has lost credibility in the Middle East, and pretty much, like Iran, Syria will ignore us and move on.

Notice Haaretz's use of the term "terror groups." It is not as if Israel is not also using terrorism with its targeted killings of resistance fighters of the occupation.

Am I confused here? Is the world now turned upside down? Are the occupiers now the good guys victims, and the occupied, the bad guy terrorists?

[bemildred]

5. Well, that's sort of what I noticed.

Have been noticing for a while now, this is just an example. Various parties on the enemies list are thumbing their noses at us with "increasing confidence" as time goes on. Russia, China, Iran, and Syria come particularly to mind, since we are particularly anxious to influence them and they were all anxious not that long ago to have good relations. Turkey is worth noticing too, though they were not on the enemies list. One wonders it they will be added to the list at some point. Most of Latin America is telling us to get with the program or get lost too. It really goes back the the later years of the Bushite regime, and it is somewhat dispiriting to see that the advent of Obama has done little to change the tone and nothing to slow the decline in credibility and influence.

[shergald]

7. The notion of the US as a superpower seems to be waning.

If we can't get a tiny ally, Israel, of no real significance to our world affairs, to conform and help us establish better relations in the Middle East, just what are we capable of doing? The tail is wagging the dog and we will suffer internationally as a consequence?

[azurnoir]

6. sounds oddly familiar

Iraq anyone?