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A Mideast Counteroffensive: Before "Engaging" with Syria and Iran, the U.S. Needs to Answer Their Aggression

[Washington Post] Editorial - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad presided over a convention of Holocaust deniers in Tehran this week, rousing them with yet another speech predicting the extinction of Israel. In Lebanon, the pro-Western government of Fouad Siniora hung by a thread, literally besieged in the center of Beirut by the extremist Hizballah movement - whose attempted coup has been egged on by Syria's dictator, Bashar al-Assad. In Gaza, attempts by Mahmoud Abbas to reopen the peace process with Israel continued to be blocked by the most militant leaders of Hamas - who happen to be harbored in Damascus - and by a Hamas prime minister who just returned from Tehran. Meanwhile, in Washington, the Bush administration was bombarded by demands that it open unconditional negotiations with Assad and Ahmadinejad. The disconnect between the debate over the Middle East in Washington and actual events in the region could hardly be greater. Ahmadinejad and Assad are riding high: They believe they have the U.S. and its allies on the run across the Middle East. Perceiving no threat to their regimes, they see no reason for compromise. As Assad has made clear to Western visitors, Syria is determined to restore its domination of Lebanon, and to stop a UN investigation into 15 political murders, including that of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri, that most likely were ordered in Damascus. Ahmadinejad believes he can force the West to accept Iran's continuing experiments in uranium enrichment. The radicals are dangerously close to succeeding. Siniora's government has been compelled to consider an Arab League "compromise" with Hizballah that could give it something close to the veto it seeks over government decisions. Iran continues to fine-tune its centrifuge cascades, ignoring with impunity the UN resolution ordering it to stop. What is urgently needed is decisive steps by the U.S. and its allies to counter the extremists and to force them to pay a price for their aggression. Passage of a UN sanctions resolution against Iran cannot be put off any longer. The Security Council should also be prodded to investigate whether Damascus has respected its resolutions calling for Hizballah's disarmament and an end to Syrian weapons trafficking. "Realism" in the Middle East means understanding that Syria and Iran won't stop waging war against the U.S. and its allies unless they are given reasons to fear they might lose.
2006-12-18 01:00:00
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