Syria Wins Round One, America Lost

The ceremonial rounds of Israel-Syrian talks are over; the next round postponed. The interregnum may be a good time to assess winners and losers thus far. The Israelis have been quick to say that if there was little progress, there was at least no regression. For them, perhaps,it was a draw.

For Syria, it was a clear win.

Syria won because the Foreign Minister of a bloody criminal dictatorship that supports terrorism, counterfeiting and drug trafficking was treated by the American administration precisely the same way as the Prime Minister of a democratic friend of the United States.

The ceremonial rounds of Israel-Syrian talks are over; the next round postponed. The interregnum may be a good time to assess winners and losers thus far. The Israelis have been quick to say that if there was little progress, there was at least no regression. For them, perhaps,it was a draw.

For Syria, it was a clear win.

Syria won because the Foreign Minister of a bloody criminal dictatorship that supports terrorism, counterfeiting and drug trafficking was treated by the American administration precisely the same way as the Prime Minister of a democratic friend of the United States. Farouk Sharaa received assurances that the U.S. would be a broker between Syrian claims and Israeli claims – despite the fact that Syria started all of the wars and maintains a formal state of war with Israel. Sharaa announced that the war against Israel might, in fact, be an existential war (see JINSA Report #128) to scant American protest and he conceded not so much as a handshake to Israel. But no matter. Mr. Sharaa toured a Civil War battlefield. (Perhaps he could reciprocate by taking Americans to the sites of Syrian “battles” in Hama.) He had lunch at Mrs. Albright’s private farm. He had dinner with the President of the United States, who promised him aid.

In all the ways that Syria was elevated, America was diminished.

Mr. Clinton is pursuing his interest in yet another signed agreement based on promises of American largesse to a rotten regime. The United States is now the largest provider of aid to North Korea, as that country continues its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The Chinese military is invited to meetings in the Pentagon as members of the Falun Gong are arrested en masse in China. We provide millions to the PLO/PA although our government admits that the aid is being diverted to private accounts, and the PA’s official media spew anti-Semitism and hatred not only of Israel but of the U.S. as well. Even Egypt, which we call a friendly country, receives American aid as it votes against us in the UN and undermines negotiations between Israel and its other neighbors.

It is one thing for the U.S. to bring parties together to find their way from war to peace – we sincerely hope the Israelis and the Syrians will find it. But it is entirely another for a regime’s nature and behavior to be overlooked by the President of the United States, and the emissary of a country whose behavior is entirely inimical to ours to be treated as if he is a friend.

America has its own interest to pursue in the world, and it is not some chimerical “peace” that the parties need to be bribed to accept. The United States has a moral and practical obligation to support its democratic friends and insist that aggressive and hostile countries change their behavior if they wish to have a constructive relationship with us.

If it was a win for Syria and a draw for Israel, for American honor it was a loss.