Word: assad
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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That Damascus and Jerusalem may be ready for some progress is perhaps no great surprise. The Syrians, unlike the internally quarrelsome Palestinian- Jordanian delegation, have an unchallenged leader in President Hafez Assad. His immediate goal is regaining the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in 1967. This mountainous region of hardscrabble farms and fields has about 13,000 Israeli settlers, in contrast to 140,000 such settlers in the West Bank. Despite the Golan's symbolic significance to both sides, its importance to Israeli security in the age of the missile has diminished. Though risking loss of support at home, Israeli...
...possible exception to this is a potential Israel-Syria peace. Though it's probably not in the best interests of everyone, it is still possible that Syrian President Assad will make a separate deal with Prime Minister Rabin. Itamar Rabinovich, the chief negotiator for Israel (with Syria) since Labor won last June, has done an excellent job in moving the Israel-Syria talks forward...
Nevertheless, proceed cautiously on this one. Assad's Syria is still on the list of countries supporting terrorists, and supporting him outright would make your promise to not "coddle" dictators a dubious one. Furthermore, both Syria's and Iran's continued arms buildup require skillful diplomacy to balance each other...
Remember--it is more important for the U.S. to ensure that all negotiations proceed successfully. By allowing the Syrians to duck out, you're giving Assad more time and resources to tighten his grip on Lebanon and achieve regional hegemony. (If Hezbollah continues its attacks on Israeli towns and villages, the chances of this separate peace emerging are decreased somewhat...
Today, Bush risks a repeat of the Iraq failure with his support of another dictator, Syrian leader Hafez Assad. Even after the Gulf War, Hussein himself (a man Bush called "worse" than Adolf Hitler) remains strong. What's worse, Bush has allowed thousands of Kurds and Shiites to die at the dictator's hands...