Representatives of President-elect Barack Obama recently told Syrian officials that Obama supports ending their county’s isolation and that as president he would work to bring Damascus into the international community, a Syrian diplomatic source revealed to WorldNetDaily, Aaron Klein, WND’s Jerusalem bureau chief, wrote November 10, 2008.
The source said the pledges were made this past summer in a meeting in Washington, D.C., between Obama’s policy aids and Syrian Ambassador Imad Moustapha (left). The source said Moustapha was asked at the time by Obama’s camp not to comment on the meeting.
The source said Moustapha was told that Obama favors engagement and economic cooperation with Syria as opposed to the Bush administration’s policy of isolating the country and imposing economic sanctions.
The source also disclosed Obama’s team said the president-elect favors talks between Israel and Syria leading to an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, strategic, mountainous territory looking down on Israeli population centers that was twice used in the past by Syria to mount ground invasions into the Jewish state.
The information comes at a time when U.S.-Syrian relations seem to be reaching a low point following a U.S. military raid on Syrian soil last month that reportedly targeted elements of a robust foreign fighter logistics network operating from Syria and planning attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq. A U.S. military official said the raid was carried out due to Syrian inaction against insurgents working in its country.
The U.S. has long accused Syria of failing to halt insurgents from using Syrian territory to smuggle weapons into Iraq or to stage attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq.
Syria is accused of fomenting instability in Lebanon and has been widely blamed for a series of political assassinations there against anti-Syrian leaders, including the 2005 car bomb murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.
Syria also openly hosts the chiefs of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups.
Yesterday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (right) called on the U.S. to pull its troops out of Iraq, claiming the troops pose a threat to neighboring states.
“The presence in Iraq of American forces of occupation is a permanent threat to neighboring countries and an element of instability in the region,” Assad said in a speech to Arab parliamentarians in Damascus.
Obama has been a harsh critic of the war in Iraq and has pledged to make ending the war a top priority.
After the Illinois senator won last week’s election, the official Syrian state-run SANA news agency quoted Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal as expressing hope that Obama would “change US foreign policy from a policy of war and siege to one of diplomacy and dialogue.”
Bilal made the comments during a trip to Cuba last Wednesday, the report said.
While the Syrian diplomatic source speaking to WND said his country was told Obama supports diplomacy over sanctions, it wasn’t immediately clear what was asked of Syria in return for U.S. engagement.
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Our citizens may be deceived for awhile, and have been deceived; but as long as the presses can be protected, we may trust to them for light.--Thomas Jefferson.
Forgot to mention – the director of the 1976 Underground and other such lovely films was Emile De Antonio. He is from Scanton, Penn. Wonder if he knew Joe B. – Scranton wasn’t that big of a place!
Could this be a favor to Tony??? The media thought Tony would not return from Syria for his hearing but he did, and he had investment land deals there.
Let’s not forget the $3.5 million dollars Tony received from Lebanon during his trial that sent him back to the slammer.
Great, after flipping-off the ppl of Georgia and the Oekraine, now BObo may just sell-out the people (esp. the christians) of Lebanon, just when they’re finally getting ahead. For some reason that Nadler-guy’s ‘Let Russia invade Georgia, what do I care’ seems to be a general policy by at least some of BObo’s fans.
BTW:
Martin Eisenstadt (the may-or-may-not source of self-professed made-up slander regarding Palin) says he has gotten a deal with the Defense Department
http://www.eisenstadtgroup.com/2008/11/06/heads-up-on-some-defense-department-work/#comment-2549
A little tit-for-tat?
Obama Bought The Presidency