Quote:
|
certainly, despite our current disagreements, any professional statesman/diplomat would be engaging the syrians in hopes of winning favorable compromises.
|
Well, see there is that compromise word. We don't want to do that. We don't want to talk about why Syria supports Hezbollah to begin with. We don't want to talk about their interests. Golan Heights, etc. We want our way only. And so we're going the bully route yet again. Because it's working soooooo well so far.
Quote:
|
the amazing thing is that syria helped us quite a lot after 9/11 (i.e. they have been an ally in the recent past).. they gave us intel, saving american lives, about a planned al qaeda attack on the u.s. fleet in bahrain.. they gave us intel to help arrest mohammed haydar zammar (an al qaeda recruiter).
|
.
It's not amazing at all. al qaeda types are Syria's worst enemy. It is a capital crime to be a member of or associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, kind-of the father or brother of al qaeda.
Assad's regime toppled Sunni fundamentalists and has had to suppress them ever since.
Our only beef with them is Israel, but our administration acts like they are a big enemy to us.
If you meant amazing that we don't give them any credit for what you quoted above, then I wholeheartedly agree.
All we do is bitch that they won't do everything we want w/o ever a mumble about their own interests.
And Syria doesn't threaten anybody, is working toward democracy and free markets...it has chosen to stand firm on Golan Heights and Palestinian issues and so are demonized.
We have an opportunity here to have good relations with a key player and address some of the issues that need to be in the Israel/Palestine issue and we're just taking a pass.