(London Times) The coalition's swift victory against Saddam Hussein and, more recently, the circumstances of his capture have been the single biggest factor in convincing the old guard in the Middle East that it has to change. The exception to all this has been Syria. President Assad came to power with promises of overdue reform, political liberalization, and a new realism. The result has been deeply disappointing. There have been no real steps to domestic reform. During the Iraq war, Syria behaved with duplicity, bordering on outright hostility. The evidence that it has allowed weapons and terrorists to cross into Iraq and encouraged Baathists to cross the other way is incontrovertible. Assad has foolishly boasted of his weapons of mass destruction which he intends to keep.
2004-01-09 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive