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DE RUEHDM #0041/01 0111404
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O 111404Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2782
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 6501
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 4281
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 2888
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 7456
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1504
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 4845
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 1064
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA//
INFO RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 7188

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000041 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR PA, NEA/ARN, INR/IC/CD, INR/R/MR:STHIBEAULT AND 
JMCCARTER, VOA NEWS CA, NEA/PPD:CBOURGEOIS, AZAIBACK, AND 
AFERNANDEZ, IIP/G/NEA-SA MDAVIDSON 
WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC 
CENTCOM FOR CCPA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMDR PREL KPAO OPRC SY
SUBJECT:  Syria/Australia, Shara, President Bush's Iraq Strategy, 
Lebanon, Palestinian Territories (1/11) 
 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Syrian papers on Jan 11 reported Parliament Speaker 
Mahmoud al-Abrash's meeting on Jan. 10 with an Australian 
Parliamentary delegation headed by the President of the Legislative 
Council of New South Wales, Meredith Burgmann, focusing on prospects 
for bilateral cooperation.  Mrs. Burgmann expressed her country's 
interest in enhancing relations with Syria, hailing Syria's role in 
extending aid to the Australian community in Lebanon during the 
recent Israeli war against Lebanon.  She praised Syria's central 
role in the region, asserting that the majority of the Australian 
people support establishing a just and comprehensive peace based on 
international resolutions.  Mrs. Burgmann also met with Information 
Minister Mohsen Bilal, who confirmed Syria's interest in a just and 
comprehensive peace.  As for Iraq, the Minister underscored Syria's 
full support for the political process in Iraq, expressing his 
country's desire for Iraq's unity and independence.  Burgmann 
expressed her country's desire to develop ties with Syria in all 
fields, stressing the necessity of establishing dialogue with Syria 
in order to solve the region's problems. 
 
Papers also reported VP Shara's and Information Minister Bilal's 
meeting on Jan. 10 with Arab media and world correspondents 
accredited in Damascus.  VP Shara reviewed recent developments in 
the international and regional arenas and Syria's stances towards 
them, particularly in Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon.  Al-Shara touched 
upon the International Tribunal, Arab solidarity, Syria's relations 
with Saudi Arabia, Russia, Arab Gulf countries and Jordan, 
Syrian-European relations, and the Syrian-European Association 
Agreement, in addition to Syrian-Iranian ties, US policy and its 
role in hindering the peace process.  Then the Vice President 
answered the journalists' questions. 
 
End of summary. 
 
¶2.  Selected Headlines: 
 
"Russia insists on revealing countries that failed to cooperate with 
Brammertz.  Israel, France, US failed to cooperate" 
(Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/11) 
 
"Syrian-Australian talks.  Burgmann:  Time has come to enter 
dialogue with Syria.  Information Minister Bilal:  Occupation in the 
reason for instability in the region" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 
1/11) 
 
"In a frank meeting with journalists and correspondents, Al-Shara: 
Our relations with Russia are strategic;  No Israeli official can 
contemplate peace without getting US permission" (Government-owned 
Al-Thawra, 1/11) 
 
"Chris Patten, Former EU Commissioner, reiterates the importance the 
Baker-Hamilton Committee's proposals:  Cooperation with Syria and 
Iran requires a clear US announcement on returning the Golan, and 
stopping the language of threats" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 
1/11) 
 
"Bush authorizes CIA covert actions against Hizbollah.  Hizbollah: 
The al-Saniora government behaves with the mind of a militia" 
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 1/11) 
 
"A nationalist gathering in Beirut today in response to the 
sectarian militarization of the Mustaqbal trend" (Government-owned 
Tishreen, 1/11) 
 
"Hanieh holds occupation and foreign parties responsible for 
domestic tension" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/11) 
 
"Moslem clergymen call for uniting Arab ranks.  Sheikh al-Boutti: 
Executing Saddam comes within the framework of a Zionist-US scheme 
to transfer sedition to Syria and Lebanon" (Government-owned 
Tishreen, 1/11) 
 
"After a series of delays, Bush announces his strategy today. 
Success of the Bush strategy on Iraq depends on the weakest link, 
namely the Iraqi government" (Government-owned Tishreen, 1/11) 
 
"Democrats threaten to detonate a constitutional dispute over 
 
presidential authority.  Bush acknowledges mistakes and increases 
troops in Iraq" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/11) 
 
¶3.  Editorial Block Quotes: 
 
--------------------------------- 
 
"Adventure, or Political Foolishness?" 
 
--------------------------------- 
 
Isam Dari, Chief Editor of government-owned Tishreen, commented 
(1/11):  "The new American strategy in Iraq will not have a better 
chance than the other strategies that the Bush administration 
launched in the past six months. 
 
"Neoconservatives are obviously not willing to listen to the voice 
of reason and logic.  They remain stubborn, although stubbornness is 
no longer useful or justified.  Indeed, it is costing peoples of the 
region and the rest of the world heavy losses, and costing the 
American people themselves loss of life and reputation.... 
 
"President Bush not only ignored the recommendations of the 
Baker-Hamilton Committee;  he also deliberately moved in the 
opposite direction:  on the one hand, he wanted to make public the 
American military role in Somalia, and on the other, he wanted to 
send 20,000 additional American troops to Iraq, adopting and 
entrenching the option of force, firing the mercy bullet at the 
alternative of dialogue with peoples, and completely ignoring the 
Middle East peace process, of which the administration of George 
Bush Senior was the primary sponsor. 
 
"Is it the adventurous spirit of this ruling team or is it a desire 
to subjugate nations and loot their wealth and resources, primarily 
oil?  Or is it an implementation of ancient Talmudic texts talking 
about the end of the world and about a 'holy' battle taking place in 
our region?  Or is it political stupidity controlling the minds of a 
group enjoying power and influence and wanting to use what it has to 
control what it does not have? 
 
"We believe that all these things together make up the weird mixture 
of American policy.  It is a tried recipe for destroying the world 
and pushing it toward the dark ages and uncreative instability." 
 
-------------------------------------- 
 
"Equivalent to an Announcement of Collapse" 
 
-------------------------------------- 
 
Khalid al-Ashhab, an editorialist in government-owned Al-Thawra, 
said (1/11):  "Because a stupid loser cannot become a successful and 
smart person overnight, we do not think that the fragrance of the 
new American strategy that President Bush announced or will announce 
today and tomorrow will mend what the policy of the fundamentalist 
American neoconservatives has ruined through the culture of missiles 
and aircraft carriers.... 
 
"The only accomplishment of the Bush administration and its 
extremist neoconservatives is that they returned Iraq to the 
medieval ages.... 
 
"The magnitude of the American political failure in Iraq, Lebanon, 
and the Middle East in general is such that an admission of the 
failure would be resounding and deafening.  Achieving success with 
the hammers, chisels, and time left in the hands of the Bush 
administration has become far more difficult than turning stupidity 
into intelligence.  Thus, the minimum loss for this administration 
will be to sink and become absorbed in its current situation through 
a new strategy under which an additional hammer, consisting of 
20,000 new soldiers, is sent to Iraq, and to bring down with it 
those who are still wagering on it, whether in Iraq or Lebanon. 
Then, it won't be surprising for the circle of blood of sedition in 
Iraq to expand or for the Al-Saniora government to barricade itself 
inside the government house while the world is waiting at the 
doors!" 
 
 
---------------------------------- 
 
"'Amihai' on the Hagana Footsteps" 
 
---------------------------------- 
 
Umar Jaftali, a commentator in government-owned Tishreen, wrote 
(1/11):  "The formation of a new Israeli movement whose mission is 
to expel Palestinians from the West Bank is nothing new to the 
racist Zionist concept.... 
 
"Practices of the Israeli government are effectively meant to 
Judaize the West Bank and drive Palestinians out of their 
homeland....  What has been happening since 1948 constitutes a crime 
against humanity for which Israel has not yet been called to 
account.  But it will not be erased from the memory of Palestinians 
and the Arab nation.  Palestinians, therefore, need to be cautious 
about what is being concocted against them secretly and publicly. 
They need to return to the language of dialogue and reason and 
achieve national unity and foil the current and future conspiracies 
of the Israeli enemy before it is too late...." 
 
------------------------------------------ 
 
"Has the Tendency for Vengeance Returned to International 
Relations?" 
 
------------------------------------------ 
 
Dr. Mahdi Dakhlallah, former Information Minister, analyzed in 
government-owned Tishreen (1/11):  "Groups and countries sometimes 
act on the basis of their instincts for revenge rather than their 
interests.... 
 
"The execution of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and US 
sanctions on foreign companies that deal with Syria are examples of 
this inclination.... 
 
"How can we understand the recent American law against Russian, 
Chinese, and Korean companies dealing with Syria?  Forget about the 
principles of international law and the illegitimacy of a country 
imposing its domestic laws on another country.  Is this not harmful 
to American interests themselves?  There is no explanation for this 
American conduct other than a revengeful tendency, which is based, 
first and last, on instincts.... 
 
"Does the execution of Saddam Hussein in that way and at that 
particular time serve any specific interest, or is it just an act of 
revenge?  The next days will prove that revenge harms the interests 
of the avenger...." 
 
Corbin