A humiliated Syria at Annapolis
Today as delegates from 40 different nations convene at Annapolis, MD for a Middle-East peace conference between Israel and its Arab neighbors, a mid-level Syrian delegation headed by deputy foreign minister Faysal Mekdad drags its tail among the conferee’s begging for attention.
A Jerusalem Post article yesterday said “Neither President Bush nor Secretary of States Condoleezza Rice will mention Syria or the future of the Golan Heights in their speeches Tuesday, Channel 10 quoted a State Department official as saying Monday”.
So as expected in his opening remarks at United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, President Bush deliberately failed to mention any Syrian-Israeli peace negotiations which have been the aim and the holy-grail for the Syrian regime acceptance of the invitation to Annapolis. Instead President Bush used the occasion to stress the United States commitment to back the nascent democracy movement in Lebanon represented by the March 14 forces led by Sa’ad Hariri to support the election of a President in Lebanon without any foreign intimidation or interference from its neighbors; a clear warning sign to Syria to stay out of Lebanese political affairs.
This begs the question on everyone’s mind, why did President Bashar Asad change his mind about attending the conference? And what is the advantage for Syria in taking such a step that would alienate its current allies, Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas? Did Bashar fall for the repeated pleas to attend the conference from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan as a first step for him to mend bridges with Washington?
Syria has come a long way from the days of the late Syrian President Hafez Asad when it was the focal point in any peace negotiation in the Middle-East. Today Syria chose to participate in a conference despite its well known objective, which was to tackle the Palestinians and the Israelis problem, a move that enhances the view of its feeble position in the region. The long anticipated issue of the Golan height’s which Syria insisted on it being on the conference’s agenda was never a priority to neither Washington nor Tel-Aviv. Yet Syria seemed to be pleased with a bone at its plate by adding the issue to the conference agenda at the last minute but only mentioning the “Syrian/Israeli track” without any preludes of the Golan Heights or Occupied Syrian territory by Israel.
It is another missed step and short sightedness of a regime in Damascus that seems to be barely holding on to the end of a very short rope for its life.
Syria is isolated regionally and internationally, and with an international tribunal looking into the killing of the late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and the possible involvement of members of the Syrian regime in it, Damascus hopes to shift the attention of the world once again by looking civil at a conference which it hopes would bring it out of its isolation and into the spot light and the center of attention for the region.
However, a humiliated Damascus has gotten its first disappointment in President Bush opening remarks. I’m afraid many more are yet to come.
A Jerusalem Post article yesterday said “Neither President Bush nor Secretary of States Condoleezza Rice will mention Syria or the future of the Golan Heights in their speeches Tuesday, Channel 10 quoted a State Department official as saying Monday”.
So as expected in his opening remarks at United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, President Bush deliberately failed to mention any Syrian-Israeli peace negotiations which have been the aim and the holy-grail for the Syrian regime acceptance of the invitation to Annapolis. Instead President Bush used the occasion to stress the United States commitment to back the nascent democracy movement in Lebanon represented by the March 14 forces led by Sa’ad Hariri to support the election of a President in Lebanon without any foreign intimidation or interference from its neighbors; a clear warning sign to Syria to stay out of Lebanese political affairs.
This begs the question on everyone’s mind, why did President Bashar Asad change his mind about attending the conference? And what is the advantage for Syria in taking such a step that would alienate its current allies, Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas? Did Bashar fall for the repeated pleas to attend the conference from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan as a first step for him to mend bridges with Washington?
Syria has come a long way from the days of the late Syrian President Hafez Asad when it was the focal point in any peace negotiation in the Middle-East. Today Syria chose to participate in a conference despite its well known objective, which was to tackle the Palestinians and the Israelis problem, a move that enhances the view of its feeble position in the region. The long anticipated issue of the Golan height’s which Syria insisted on it being on the conference’s agenda was never a priority to neither Washington nor Tel-Aviv. Yet Syria seemed to be pleased with a bone at its plate by adding the issue to the conference agenda at the last minute but only mentioning the “Syrian/Israeli track” without any preludes of the Golan Heights or Occupied Syrian territory by Israel.
It is another missed step and short sightedness of a regime in Damascus that seems to be barely holding on to the end of a very short rope for its life.
Syria is isolated regionally and internationally, and with an international tribunal looking into the killing of the late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and the possible involvement of members of the Syrian regime in it, Damascus hopes to shift the attention of the world once again by looking civil at a conference which it hopes would bring it out of its isolation and into the spot light and the center of attention for the region.
However, a humiliated Damascus has gotten its first disappointment in President Bush opening remarks. I’m afraid many more are yet to come.
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