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To Retain Credibility, UN Must Insist Syria Behave

(Chicago Sun-Times) Dore Gold - High-level UN officials were hopeful that Syria would change its behavior on terrorism when it was elected for a two-year term to the UN Security Council in October 2001 (a month after 9/11) by more than a two-thirds majority in the General Assembly. Since council members were entrusted to safeguard international peace and security, it was then argued, Syria would have to curtail its support for Hizballah and a dozen other terrorist groups to which it had given sanctuary for nearly two decades. This UN scenario for Syria didn't pan out. The regime of Bashar al-Assad continued to defy UN resolutions and harbor terrorist groups. It permitted Hizballah's Iranian backers to reinforce the organization's military infrastructure in Syrian-occupied Lebanon with thousands of rockets aimed at central Israel, creating a new Middle Eastern powder keg. At the same time, Syria hosted terrorist operatives belonging to the al-Qaeda affiliate network of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who plotted against Jordan. In short, Syria was increasingly playing with fire precisely during the very same years it sat on the council.
2005-01-07 00:00:00
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