|
Trending Topics
|
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17354-2005Mar31.html
Syria and the New Axis of Evil
(Washington Post) Charles Krauthammer - We are at the dawn of an Arab Spring and its emerging mortal enemy is a new axis of evil whose fulcrum is Syria. The axis stretches from Iran, the other remaining terror state in the region, to Syria, to the local terror groups - Hizballah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad - that are bent on destabilizing Lebanon, Israel, and the PA, and destroying both Lebanese independence and the current Israeli-Palestinian rapprochement. Iran is the senior partner of this axis of evil. Syria is the crucial middle party allowing a non-Arab state to reach into the heart of the Middle East. Hizballah receives its weapons from Iran, shipped through Syria, and Iranian Revolutionary Guards are stationed today in the Bekaa Valley, under Syrian protection. Syria is the geographic center of the axis, the transshipment point for weapons, and the territorial haven for Iranian and regional terrorists. If Syria can be flipped, the axis is broken. Iran will not be able to communicate directly with the local terrorists. Prospects for true Lebanese independence and Arab-Israeli peace will improve dramatically. We need to be relentless in insisting on a full (and as humiliating as possible) evacuation of Syria from Lebanon, followed by a campaign of economic, political, and military pressure on the Assad regime. We must push now and push hard.