Thursday March 26, 2009

I've Been Thinking:

The House Subcommittee on Foreign Affairs and the Middle East received a briefing yesterday by Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman.
Feltman spoke about the trip he and Daniel Shapiro, the National Security Director in charge of Middle East and North African Affairs, just took to Syria.

Congress and the Committee are concerned:
They fear that during the visit the US showed itself to be weak
They fear that the US is signaling a change in policy

Feltman argued that talk is not weakness.
Feltman argued that the discussion with the Syrians were intended to reiterate US policy and to let Syria know that it must stop arming Hezbollah and protecting Hamas.
Feltman's presentation before Congress and the Committee displayed a deeper understanding of the issues than his visit did, which appeared to be nothing more than a frivolous gesture.

Feltman made it clear to the Committee that Syria is trying to achieve two opposing goals:
Syria is trying to come out of the diplomatic cold
Syria is not changing its behavior in any way other than with indirect talks with Israel that were brokered through Turkey

The question remains: Has the United States elevated Syria by talking to Syria?
That is an issue Feltman did not address.
The Syrians would answer "yes".
Syria even threw the United States a proverbial bone by asking that the US run the indirect talks with Israel along with Turkey.

Double messages are the norm for Syria.
Syria wants it all (like the entire Golan Heights) but wants to give nothing in return.

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