Word: assad
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...solve the problems of Middle East instability. He should continue to press for a regional security system, as well as a solution to the Palestinian question consistent with the principles of self-determination and security for all peoples. We also hope Bush does not take Syrian dictator Hafez El-Assad's meager contributions to the coalition war effort as evidence that this brutal despot can be trusted during peacetime...
...Bush Administration has explained its alliance with brutal Syrian dictator Hafez Assad as a move to bolster the Arab coalition against Iraq. But government sources have disclosed that the U.S. forged an opening to Syria more than nine months before the invasion of Kuwait. The quiet initiative began with a letter from President Bush delivered to Assad by special envoy Vernon Walters in 1989. The Administration then reached an understanding with the Syrians that Damascus would not obstruct U.S.-sponsored peace talks between Israeli officials and Palestinians. In return, Walters pledged that Washington would tolerate Assad's strengthening...
Given the sudden political shifts that are commonplace in the Arab world, it is possible that most of the Arab governments standing against Saddam may make amends to him after the war. Two exceptions: Syria's President Hafez Assad, who has a long-running personal rivalry with Saddam, and the Emir of Kuwait. At the same time, Jordan's King Hussein and President Bush are expected to patch things up. Bush still prefers the King to the more radical regime that would most likely replace him, while Hussein is eager for renewed financial assistance from the West and the Saudis...
...Assad's contibution to the war effort has been minimal at best, and there is little likelihood that Syrian troops will see significant combat against the Iraqis...
...noted by Thomas Friedman of the New York Times, Syria's record on human rights this past year was "barely distinguishable from that of Iraq". Continued appeasement of Assad will bring upon the region and the world the same tragic results of the U.S.'s warming of relations with Saddam Hussein during the 1980s...