THE HAWKISH DOVES:

US: Syria liable for Beersheba bombings (JANINE ZACHARIA and AP, Sep. 11, 2004, THE JERUSALEM POST)

Syria bears some responsibility for the twin suicide bombings in Beersheba on August 31, US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said on Friday, although he stopped short of endorsing an Israeli retaliatory attack on Damascus.

Asked in an interview with Egypt TV if Syria "should be held accountable" for the Beersheba bombings, which killed 16 and wounded dozens, Armitage said, "Why not? Syria holds and houses Hamas. Syria is a conduit of weapons from Iran to Hizbullah. It seems to me that Syria does bear some responsibility."

But asked if that meant the US would endorse an Israeli strike on Syria, Armitage said, "That I didn't say. You asked me should they be held accountable, and I said they bore some responsibility."

It seems to me that President [Bashar] Assad should take a careful look at what his nation is doing and what his government is doing in supporting violence in the territories and decide whether this is in the long-term interest of Syria. I don't believe it is."

Meanwhile, Assistant Secretary of State for the Near East William J. Burns urged Syria on Saturday to withdraw its troops from Lebanon and stop interfering in internal Lebanese affairs, a message delivered in Damascus at a time when Syrian-American relations have been particularly strained.

Burns also said Syria must take "concrete action" in cooperating with the US-led war on terrorism by halting support for Palestinian terrorist groups based in Damascus and preventing anti-US Arab fighters from infiltrating Iraq.

Pretty amusing watching the Administration's imagined moderates, like Mr. Armitage and Colin Powell, turn up the torque on Syria, Iran, and Sudan, laying the ground for future unilateral adventures.

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 11, 2004 6:24 PM