April 5 2007
The Bush administration is making a big mistake by continuing to refuse to have direct talks with the government of Syria, one of the most important players in the current complicated and costly Middle East tragedy.
Syria is in a critically important position to help improve the present situation in Iraq, to begin a constructive process to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to help Lebanon regain stability. Those three points are in the best interest of the United States and its allies in the area, chief among them Israel.
On March 16, I had a two-hour conversation with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in Damascus. It confirmed my belief that the Bush administration should immediately agree to engage in direct discussions with the government of Syria. Further, President Bush should accept President Assad's recent offer to meet and talk with no pre-conditions.
Numerous members of Congress and the recently dissolved Baker Commission have recommended such talks, focusing on such major topics as Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Lebanon r. Indeed, some members of Congress have recently traveled to Damascus and have discussed these points with President Assad. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is the most recent member to have done so.
President Bush, however, continues to refuse to engage in discussion with the Assad government until and unless Syria meets certain conditions and demands made by both Israel and the United States. Bush publicly places Syria on the verge of the "Axis of Evil" and refers to it as a state that supports terrorism. The March 10 meeting in Baghdad, at which Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice appeared together with Syrian, Iranian and Iraqi officials, was limited to a narrow discussion of the Syrian-Iraqi border and concluded quickly with no positive result.
At the one and only meeting between Imad Moustapha, the Syrian ambassador to the United States, and a White House official, one of President Bush's closest advisers, Elliot Abrams, said the administration saw no good reason to "reward" Syria by opening discussions.
The Bush administration's position is incorrect. It eliminates any possibility of acquiring advice and help from Syria. First of all, President Assad and others in his government know a great deal about Iraq, its people and its culture. As President Assad emphasized in his conversation with me, an unstable Iraq poses a major problem for Syria. Almost 11/2 million Iraqis, for example, have legally come into Syria from Iraq during the past two years, and an estimated half-million have come illegally. Most of them are destitute.
The Syrians are not terrorizing Iraq; they are worried about a terrorized Iraq troubling their country. Assad and his government believe they, if given the chance, could give constructive advice to the United States about what to do in Iraq.
In addition to Iraq, President Assad discussed at length with me his nation's difficulties with Israel and the present predicament in Lebanon. He explained the value of Syria's maintaining ongoing relations with Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. He carefully and repeatedly pointed out that trouble and chaos in countries bordering Syria and in the area are extremely problematic for Syria.
His sophisticated grasp of the issues and his rational analyses were impressive. His sincerity seemed authentic. He spoke with great respect about the former President Bush, who allegedly understood Syria's real concerns. Assad expressed the wish that the current President Bush would become more like his father.
President Assad believes that the United States could play an important role in helping to resolve peacefully the conflicts and problems in the Middle East. From his perspective, the present American approaches are unfortunately not only wrong but dangerous. Realizing that he and President Bush may disagree with each other on certain points, Assad, nevertheless, wants to have the opportunity to discuss them with Bush frankly and to offer some suggestions. Additionally, he wants to explore improving United States-Syrian relations. President Assad is willing to begin discussions with no pre-conditions. President Bush should agree to do the same.
There is nothing to lose and perhaps much to gain.
Norton Mezvinsky, Ph.D., is a CSU professor of history at Central Connecticut State University and is an expert on contemporary Middle East affairs.
Copyright 2007, Hartford Courant
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