Syria Makes Overture To Israel

[Herschel]

Syria has sent messages to Israel through Turkey offering to restart stalled peace talks between the two countries, Syria's first vice president, Abdul Halim Khaddam, said Wednesday.

The messages carried by Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul expressed "Syria's readiness to resume peace talks from where they broke off" in January 2000, Khaddam said.

They also said that Syria was "still committed to the peace process in accordance with U.N. Security Council resolutions."

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52743-2004Feb18.html

It appears aggressive American military policy, Israeli planes buzzing overhead, and Saddam being displayed as a homeless vagrant may be bringing Syria into line. Another benefit of the war on Iraq.

[Muddleoftheroad]

1. Not that I trust Syria

One iota even.

[Herschel]

2. Well said

However, I do believe the items I mentioned may have Syria taking a more proper path.

[stopthegop]

3. yes...Syrian gov't can read tea leaves as well as anyone ...

it's funny how a demonstration of results can get people's attention

[papau]

4. Syria's readiness to resume peace talks from where they broke off"

Well - a final offer was on the table

which rejected Syria's new claim to the shoreline. But gave them everthing else in return for peace.

Do they now want to re-demand the shoreline - or do they want to cover for a decision to accept peace with the Golan returned?

Should be interesting.

But I would not attribute it to Iraq war. perhaps the fence?

[Herschel]

5. I do believe, my friend

that the sight of Saddam displayed as a homeless vagrant was not only gratifying to all of us in this forum, it also struck fear into other rouge leaders.

[papau]

6. perhaps - everyone in the countries around the eastern Med tries

to advance a dozen agendas as they speak - or so it seems to me - and one of those agendas may well be not to look like a vagrant. For this statement I am accepting Sryria's greater Syria that includes Leb as a country in the Eastern Med! :-)

At a policy level - the fence has more power - in my opinion.

And indeed you are correct that we all feel better for Saddam and family being gone - but as with all evil - and with limited resources and lives to give in the fight against evil - one wonders if intrusive inspections - agreed to by Iraq and ready to go in early March of 2003 - would not have accomplished the same removal of Saddam at much less cost.

peace

:-)

[Blayde Starrfyre]

9. Yes, I too love violations of international law

"the sight of Saddam displayed as a homeless vagrant was not only gratifying to all of us in this forum"

Well, I myself am not a huge fan of patent violations of the Geneva Convention. As we all know, Hussein was declared a prisoner of war, and as such, he is covered under the Geneva Convention, which forbids "Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment." So enjoy the image if you will; I for one do not delight in Bush turning America into a rogue nation.

[Herschel]

10. Forgive me

If I am more concerned with Saddam's hoorors on his own rather than his sense of dignity. Display this monster. It does the world well.

[Blayde Starrfyre]

11. No

You are more concerned with benefits for Israel than you are with adherence to international law. If we are not going to treat prisoners of war with the rights they are entitled to under the Geneva Convention, what is to stop other nations from violating those rights with regards to our soldiers? The Iraq war was also illegal, yet you support it. Along the same lines of what you are saying, it would be to Israel's advantage if we decided to nuke Iran, assassinate Palestinians leaders without trial, and gun down Syrians in the street. Should these measures be undertaken, despite their illegality and moral repugnance? How far should we go in breaking the law?

[Herschel]

12. Misguided notions of international law

should not deter good nations from acting morally. The Iraq war was just. It may be necessary to engage Iran to upset their nuclear program. So be it. Palestinian leaders in terrorist organizations are often eliminated. Be glad. I am not sure what you are referring to in regard to Syria.

[Blayde Starrfyre]

13. So we should just disband international law?

What you are proposing is that we might as well not even have international laws, and simply allow each country to decide on its own what is right. We're back to the old ambiguous "just war" theory.

The examples I cited were not in reference to anything specific, simply fictional examples of illegal acts which would benefit Israel. I was curious to see how far you would go in advocating violations of international law for the benefit of Israel, and the answer appears to be "all the way."

[Herschel]

14. Simply put

I would not allow international law to deter proper action by Israel. I will leave it at that.

[Darranar]

16. Which parts of international law...

do you think Israel should violate?

[Herschel]

18. Which ever it deems necessary

-

[Darranar]

20. So...

if Israel deemed it necessary to deliberately slaughter five hundred Palestinian civilians after every attack, would that be okay in your view?

[Blayde Starrfyre]

17. Who decides what is right?

The entire purpose of international law is that it takes the "what is proper" decision away from the hands of interested parties. Without it, why can't Slobodan Milosevic commit genocide against people within his borders if he deems it "proper?" Should he simply be allowed to ignore international law in this case? You decry Hussein for his crimes in this thread. If Israel can violate international law, why can't he?

The problem with making a mockery of international law is that eventually it comes back to bite you in the ass. When Rumsfeld was up in arms about Iraqis showing off American prisoners, all I could do was look at the pictures of prisoners blindfolded and handcuffed on their knees at Guantanamo Bay and think "pot calling the kettle black."

[Herschel]

19. Might makes right

Simply put, those wailing about international law will be relegated to wringing their hands when America and Israel act.

[Darranar]

21. No it doesn't.

[Herschel]

22. Allow me to restate myself

Proclamations of international law are no matter when they cannot be enforced.

[Darranar]

23. So...

when laws are not enforced, they should be ignored?

[Herschel]

24. In regard to international law

it means little. Given the choice of abiding by it or acting morally, do the latter.

[Darranar]

25. Okay...

where exactly would such a contradiction occur?

What does international law forbid that you would consider moral?

[Herschel]

26. For example

a demand of Israel to remove the security fence should be disregarded. Her security is at stake Those objecting may wail all they like.

[Darranar]

27. International law allows for security actions to be taken...

your disagreement here seems to not be with international law, but rather with how some interpret it.

[Blayde Starrfyre]

28. This will haunt the world

I must say, this is rather appalling. You admit that Israel and America are basically above the law, yet you have no problem with this because you believe that anything Israel chooses to do is acceptable. One day Israel may do something that even you find wrong, and at that point you won't be able to do anything about it because you have supported a system in which no one can stop them.

None of us probably gave a second thought to the fact that the U.S. was beyond the reach of the law before Bush came to power. Now, after the ABM treaty withdrawl, the Iraq war, human rights violations in Guantanamo Bay, we're seeing what happens when a country that is above the law decides to take advantage.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

29. "Might makes right". Nice

Many of those who have abused and persecuted Jewish people thought the same thing. This is truly sickening.

[Darranar]

15. The Iraq war was not just...

Thousands of Iraqi civilians dead, hundreds of American soldiers dead, billions of dollars wasted... For what?

There are no weapons of mass destruction.

There is no evidence of Saddam's ties to Al Qaeda.

The Iraqi people have not been liberated.

"Misguided notions of international law" are the best we have, and for the most part they are worthwhile rules to follow.

"Encouraging" Iran to give up its nuclear program by nuking iran, or otherwise attacking it, would do the exact opposite.

[drdon326]

7. lol

Oh goody,goody.....Basher wants to make peace.

First of course he has to go into one of those famous
anti-semitic tirades we all know and love.

[Darranar]

8. Unfortunately, Sharon appears to be in quite a different line.

[Comadreja]

30. Iraq propaganda

Our news programming has been instrumental in the marketing of this war, as I can attest from my own experience with the media. Because I've written about Iraqis in America, the interviewers turn their questions to the war on Iraq, but it's clear that they're interested in specific sorts of answers. One journalist who repeatedly asked me about "Arab rage" and the "innate Arab hatred of America" openly scoffed when I said that actually I've found that Arabs tend to admire Americans and American culture.

www.washingtonpost.com read more (4873 characters)

Quote: Iraqi teen shares her diary of war
Friday, May, 02 2003 By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor