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Burden Is on Syria to Prove It Is Ready to Break from Past

[Kansas City Star] Editorial - Reports of serious negotiations between Israel and Syria raise the possibility that the trouble-making Damascus regime may at last be contemplating a fundamental change in direction. Or Syria's rulers might be engaged in nothing more than an elaborate P.R. effort. Syrian promises alone are insufficient; they must be backed up by concrete and verifiable steps in the direction of long-term peace. The importance of the Golan buffer zone was demonstrated when Syria and Egypt launched a surprise attack on Israel in 1973. This buffer zone enabled a small number of determined Israeli tank crews to hold off the Syrian divisions until Israel could mobilize its reserves and prevent catastrophe. So Syrian demands for the entire Golan should receive a skeptical hearing. Certainly such demands should be rejected as long as Syria continues to employ terrorists, threaten its neighbors, seek nuclear weaponry and work hand-in-glove with the aggressive fanatics ruling Iran. Only a few months ago, President Bush put together a high-profile international conference to kick off what was supposed to be an intense Arab-Israeli peace effort. Administration officials worked hard to persuade Syria to attend that conference. It seems odd, then, that the Bush administration would complain about Israeli contacts with Syria.
2008-05-29 01:00:00
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