Word: syrians
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Besides sharing Iran's hatred of Iraq, Syrian President Assad has received something from Khomeini that is exceedingly precious to him: recognition of the religious legitimacy of the minority Alawite Muslim sect, to which the Syrian President and his loyalist adherents belong. It is altogether possible, Helms believes, that the Syrians are helping the pro-Iranian terrorists in Lebanon as a way of repaying the Ayatullah for giving the Alawites his seal of approval. Both Syria and Iran denied any role in the bombings, though newspapers in the two countries called the attack justified...
...signs last week were mixed. Gemayel telephoned Syrian President Assad and invited him to send a delegate to the conference; it was the first formal contact between the two countries since last spring, when Gemayel earned Assad's enmity by signing a troop withdrawal accord with Israel. On the other hand, the Progressive Socialist Party, led by Druze Chieftain Walid Jumblatt, issued a fresh set of conditions for the talks, including a complete halt to cease-fire violations and a lifting of the nightly curfew in Beirut. Jumblatt himself hinted that the talks might break up over a dispute...
Likewise in Lebanon, the stakes of U.S. involvement in the multinational peace force are viewed as far greater than the professed goal of facilitating the withdrawal of Syrian and Israeli forces. American presence has made possible the survival of the government there, at least for the moment, and helped fend off another Arab-Israeli war. In that region too, Reagan argued...
...clear that there would be no agreement in the foreseeable future for the withdrawal of Syrian troops. The Marines soon found themselves de facto allies of the Lebanese Army in its struggle against Syria and its allied radical Muslim and Druze factions...
There is, nonetheless, a growing desire within the Administration to allow the Marines to take a more aggressive role against Syria. The radical Iranian groups thought most likely to be responsible for the attack operate from behind Syrian lines. Said Shultz: "Syria must bear a share of the responsibility for any Iranian actions in Lebanon whether or not it knew of any specific terrorist plans." His tough talk may have been laying the groundwork for a retaliatory assault. This could come through an attack on the Syrian artillery positions far up in the mountains, or on their weapons dumps...