GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT SYRIA

Was Syria involved with the assasination of Hariri? It is time to get to the bottom of Syria's occupation of Lebenon. It is also time to get tough with Assad Jr. This editorial spells out what has happened and waht needs to be done. - Sailor

GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT SYRIA
New York Post Editorial

February 20, 2005 -- It is hard to overstate the importance of the huge outpouring of grief and anti-Syrian anger that swept Beirut last week at the funeral of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, killed in a bombing the day before.
A crowd conservatively estimated at 150,000 surged through the streets of the Lebanese capital, chanting anti-Syrian slogans and demanding an end to Damascus' decades-long occupation of their country.

The outpouring began Tuesday as word of Hariri's death spread: The popular former leader, who resigned last October, had split with Syria over the Iraq war, had publicly demanded an end to the occupation and had begun warming to the West.

Hariri had planned to head an anti-Syrian candidate list in upcoming Lebanese elections — something the Syrians, given his obvious popularity, could not ignore.

Though the Syrians deny any complicity in his murder, much of Lebanon refuses to believe them. And, in a pointed snub, Hariri's family declined an offer of a state funeral and told pro-Syrian officials they were not welcome at the obsequies.

For nearly three decades, the Lebanese people have suffered in silence as Syria installed a succession of puppet regimes and kept 15,000 troops as an occupying force, while allowing terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad to control its southern border with Israel.

But in yet the latest example of the wave of popular democratic sentiment beginning to take hold in the Middle East — following the U.S.-led ouster of the Taliban and Saddam Hussein — the Lebanese people are silent no longer.



Nor is the Bush administration. The White House last week recalled its ambassador to Damascus — a long-overdue move. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned of new diplomatic sanctions. President Bush himself called Syria "out of step" with progress in the Mideast.

Feeling the heat from Washington and (surprisingly) the U.N. Security Council, Syria announced an official alliance with Iran "to repel threats" to both nations — presumably from America (though Damascus also took pains to insist that "we are not the enemies of the United States").

On top of all this, the Hariri assassination prompted a wave of outrage from countries that have kept their eyes closed (even more tightly than America has) to Syria's nefarious role in the region.

The opportunity seems ripe for concerted diplomatic action — provided the Bush team is ready to follow through.

Over the years, successive U.S. administrations have made clear to the Syrians what's expected of them: ending its occupation of Lebanon and its sponsorship of terrorism. Despite repeated applications of both carrot and stick, no real progress has been made.

Now, a breakthrough may come from the Lebanese people themselves, who are sending a dramatic signal that they are sick of Syrian occupation and may be prepared to confront it head-on.

But the best way to encourage them in any popular uprising is to show that the rest of the world is prepared to take action, as well.

For starters, the Syrian Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act, passed by Congress in 2003, mandates a whole range of sanctions. It's long past time they were employed.