Monday September 12, 2005

I've Been Thinking:

Syrian President Bashar Assad has sent a message to Palestinian terror organizations working out of Syria to continue their struggle for a Palestinian State in the aftermath of the Gaza redeployment.

I wonder how he did that. After all, just a little while ago he made comments to the effect that all Palestinian terrorist offices had been shut down in Syria.

Assad has a love/hate relationship with terrorists.
Syria sponsors terror outside Syria, but Syria will not tolerate any terror internally. Syria will sponsor Palestinian terror, terror in Iraq, terror in Lebanon.
But Syria will brutally handle any threat of internal terror or challenge to its leadership. Several days ago, for example, 5 terrorists were killed in a shootout with Syrian forces in the city of Hama.

Assad is struggling with his reputation and the way he is perceived by the US.
Syria sent a condolence message to the US in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Why? Reason #1 is that it made them look bigger in the eyes of their people and in the eyes the Arab world. Syria can now say that even though the US may attack them they are "above it all" and that human tragedy trumps politics.
Reason #2 is that Assad is trying to show the United States that he is not mono-dimensional, that he has good sides as well as the bad sides.

I monitor Syria carefully. It's important.
I view what happens in Syria as a litmus test for the rest of the Middle East.