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Source: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3163595,00.html
What to Do with Assad
(Ynet News) Guy Bechor - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad got an extension this week for his outdated, tired tricks, primarily for one reason: Washington has still not decided to get rid of him. If Assad suspects Washington has decided to leave him in power because of the chaos in Iraq, he will do everything in his power to fan the flames of that violence. The U.S. must understand that the Middle East will never know stability as long as the Syrian regime remains in place. Not in Iraq, not in Lebanon, not with regard to the Palestinians, not in Jordan, and not even among Arab Israelis. Syria's intelligence arm is involved in all these. There is no chance to deal with Iraq without also dealing with Syria. In a world defined by democracy, human rights, and a war on terror, it is inconceivable that a dictatorship that harbors the world's most murderous terror groups - Sunni groups in Iraq, Shi'ite groups in Lebanon, and Palestinian groups - can remain in place. As it was in Iraq, the Baathist regime in Damascus is the problem, not the solution.