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Pre-emptive Caution: The Case of Syria

[New York Times] David E. Sanger - It was President Bush who, a year after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, rewrote America's national security strategy to warn any nation that might be thinking of trying to develop atomic weapons that it could find itself the target of a pre-emptive military strike. This time it was the Israelis who invoked Mr. Bush's doctrine, determining that what they believed was a nascent Syrian effort to build a nuclear reactor could not be tolerated. Michael Green, a former director for Asia at the National Security Council and now a professor at Georgetown University, suggested that the Israelis are thinking five or ten years ahead. They saw a chance to thwart the Syrians and to fire a warning shot that the Iranians could not fail to notice. "If you are Israel and you are looking at this, the value of striking Syria is that it sends a signal, including to the Iranians," Green said.
2007-10-15 01:00:00
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