What Syria's Leader Wants from the West

(London Times) Michael Gove - The energetic young Syrian President has done what many might have considered impossible - he has turned Syria into an even viler terrorist state. Since September 2000, Syria has stepped up its financial, military, and political support for groups such as Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and Hizballah. Mr. Blair's response to the Syrian president's illegal occupation of sovereign nations, sponsorship of terror, and continued repression of his own people, has been fawning. The rationale for this tickling of terror's tummy is the old principle of "engagement." Putting to one side the obvious point that Bashar's idea of playing a fuller role in the international community is getting Islamic murderers to blow bits of it up, the Prime Minister should pause to consider just where Western "engagement" with terrorist states has led in the past.


2002-12-17 00:00:00

Full Article

BACK

Visit the Daily Alert Archive