...and the libs thought it was a war for oil...
Syria Blames Israel for Inciting U.S. to Invade Iraq
Reuters via Yahoo! | 28 Sep | Irwin Arieff
UNITED NATIONS - Syria on Monday accused Israel of inciting the United States to invade Iraq to distract attention from its own actions in the region, where it retains its grip on the Palestinian territories won in a 1967 war.
Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara used his country's annual address to the U.N. General Assembly opening debate to deliver a fierce critique of Israeli policy, even as the Jewish state accused Damascus of "directing terrorism" and threatened preemptive strikes against militants on its territory.
Israel was hoping, he said, "to incite the Americans first, and then the West, to wage endless wars in the Middle East to underscore the old-new theory of Israel that the Arab-Israeli conflict is not the core of the problems of the region."
Shara accused Israel of refusing to comply with 40 Security Council resolutions and hundreds of General Assembly resolutions demanding that Israel withdraw from the Palestinian territories as a step toward a Middle East peace.
Washington had used Baghdad's noncompliance with U.N. resolutions as one of its rationales for the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Shara said Israel had built up a nuclear arsenal, expanded Jewish settlements on Palestinian lands, built a "racist segregation wall," which Israel says is intended to keep out suicide bombers, transformed its army into "armed gangs bent on systematic killings and war crimes" and shunned the peace process, "despite the hand extended in peace by the Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese."
Hours before Shara spoke, Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim called Syria "a central junction in regional terrorism" and accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of being involved in it "as a traffic officer."
Syria had earlier accused Israel of terrorism after a Palestinian Hamas militant died in a car bombing on Sunday in Damascus. Israel has not taken responsibility for the killing.
The United Nations had been of little help in resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict, which was as old as the world body itself, Shara said.
Despite the adoption of over 600 resolutions on the subject, Israel "did not implement a single one of them, and continues to find protection inside and outside the United Nations," he said.
However Shara did not say whether his own government would comply with a U.N. Security Council resolution adopted this month that told Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon and warned against foreign interference in Lebanese affairs.
Several Syrian military units withdrew from Lebanon last week, drawing praise from Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites), whose government drafted the U.N. resolution.
But Most Syrian troops remain and Damascus is expected to keep wielding broad political influence over Lebanon through its ties to the presidency, army and security services.
On Iraq, Shara said Damascus was greatly worried about the deteriorating security situation in its eastern neighbor and stood ready to work with all parties to help Iraqis "govern themselves, manage their resources and establish optimal relations with their neighbors."
Powell said after talks with Shara last week in New York that Syria had shown a new readiness to work with U.S.-led forces to stop arms, militants and money from crossing into Iraq and fueling insurgency.
"But of course it all depends on actions, not just on attitudes, so we will be working closely with them," he added.
Syria Blames Israel for Inciting U.S. to Invade Iraq
Reuters via Yahoo! | 28 Sep | Irwin Arieff
UNITED NATIONS - Syria on Monday accused Israel of inciting the United States to invade Iraq to distract attention from its own actions in the region, where it retains its grip on the Palestinian territories won in a 1967 war.
Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara used his country's annual address to the U.N. General Assembly opening debate to deliver a fierce critique of Israeli policy, even as the Jewish state accused Damascus of "directing terrorism" and threatened preemptive strikes against militants on its territory.
Israel was hoping, he said, "to incite the Americans first, and then the West, to wage endless wars in the Middle East to underscore the old-new theory of Israel that the Arab-Israeli conflict is not the core of the problems of the region."
Shara accused Israel of refusing to comply with 40 Security Council resolutions and hundreds of General Assembly resolutions demanding that Israel withdraw from the Palestinian territories as a step toward a Middle East peace.
Washington had used Baghdad's noncompliance with U.N. resolutions as one of its rationales for the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Shara said Israel had built up a nuclear arsenal, expanded Jewish settlements on Palestinian lands, built a "racist segregation wall," which Israel says is intended to keep out suicide bombers, transformed its army into "armed gangs bent on systematic killings and war crimes" and shunned the peace process, "despite the hand extended in peace by the Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese."
Hours before Shara spoke, Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim called Syria "a central junction in regional terrorism" and accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of being involved in it "as a traffic officer."
Syria had earlier accused Israel of terrorism after a Palestinian Hamas militant died in a car bombing on Sunday in Damascus. Israel has not taken responsibility for the killing.
The United Nations had been of little help in resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict, which was as old as the world body itself, Shara said.
Despite the adoption of over 600 resolutions on the subject, Israel "did not implement a single one of them, and continues to find protection inside and outside the United Nations," he said.
However Shara did not say whether his own government would comply with a U.N. Security Council resolution adopted this month that told Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon and warned against foreign interference in Lebanese affairs.
Several Syrian military units withdrew from Lebanon last week, drawing praise from Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites), whose government drafted the U.N. resolution.
But Most Syrian troops remain and Damascus is expected to keep wielding broad political influence over Lebanon through its ties to the presidency, army and security services.
On Iraq, Shara said Damascus was greatly worried about the deteriorating security situation in its eastern neighbor and stood ready to work with all parties to help Iraqis "govern themselves, manage their resources and establish optimal relations with their neighbors."
Powell said after talks with Shara last week in New York that Syria had shown a new readiness to work with U.S.-led forces to stop arms, militants and money from crossing into Iraq and fueling insurgency.
"But of course it all depends on actions, not just on attitudes, so we will be working closely with them," he added.