Syria Marches Into Lebanon; Saudis Surrender to Inevitable, State Department Proclaims Victory

Barry Rubin
The Rubin Report
31 July '10

P.J. Crowley, State Department spokesman and its answer to Pollyanna (Note 1), looks at the advance of America’s enemies and gives the advice that their strategy isn’t working. Ah, but it is.

Crowley responds to the following question about the joint visit of the Saudi king and President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, self-styled leader of the Resistance to American interests in the Arabic-speaking world, to Beirut.

“Do you see this as an effort, with your help, to distance Syria from Iran?”

For goodness sakes! People in the region see the visit as the exact opposite: the Saudi acceptance of Syrian (and hence of Iranian also) hegemony in Lebanon. It is the seal of Saudi approval for Lebanon’s surrender to the Iran-Syria bloc, but at the same time trying to preserve some remnant of Saudi influence.

It's just like Turkey. Iran and Syria pull Turkey into their orbit and the U.S. government and British prime minister congratulate Turkey for being a good influence on Iran and Syria!

Crowley responds to the question:

“Well, we have made clear that Syria’s relationship with Iran is of concern to us. And to the extent that Syria wants to advance its relations within the region and around the world, it would be much better for Syria to distance itself from Iran and move in a more constructive direction.”

Why better? The United States does maintain some sanctions on Syria but Washington is engaging Damascus. The Obama Administration puts no obstacle in Syria’s way regarding its reestablishment of Lebanon as a satellite; does nothing about Hizballah which now bullies the UN “peacekeeping” force at will; has actually helped the Syrian- (and Iranian) backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip; and pretty much ignores Syrian organization and helping terrorists in Iraq who kill Americans.

Meanwhile, Europe is moving toward giving Syria what it wants, while Syria’s protector Iran is advancing toward nuclear weapons. (Iran faces tougher sanctions but these have no negative effect on Syria.)

(Read full article)

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