Uri Avnery, 16 April 2003, Gush Shalom
And here it comes. The shooting in Baghdad had not yet ended, while the first steps towards the attack on Syria were already being taken. Again the same outcry: 'They have chemical weapons!' (And so have the United States, Russia, Egypt, Israel, Britain, France and many others. Every military machine develops these weapons, even for defensive purposes.) 'There is a brutal dictator out there!' 'He supports terrorism!' In a few days, we shall hear: 'He butchered his own people as Saddam did with his Kurds!' (His father sure did. Assad Sr. shelled the town of Hama while bloodily putting down an Islamist rebellion.) 'We must liberate the poor Syrian people from the tyrant!'
And from there: 'Regime change!' It will begin with slogans, 'warnings,' speeches in the UN and sanctions. The most expert professionals will prepare public opinion. The American and world media (with the Israelis to the fore) will eagerly cooperate. And then the war will become 'inevitable.' It already has a name: 'Operation Syrian Freedom.'
There is one important difference between 'Iraqi Freedom' and 'Syrian Freedom.' The American attack on Iraq had many objectives: control of the oil, creation of a permanent American base in the heart of the Arab world, revenge for the failure of the father. Furthering Sharon's interests was only one objective, and as long as Sharon kept quiet, it wasn't too obvious. The coming American attack on Syria is quite different. It does not serve any major American interest, but it does serve (and how!) the interests of Sharon.
For those who have forgotten the developments, here is a brief reminder:
In 1967, after Syrian-Egyptian threats, the Israeli army attacked Syria (after Egypt and Jordan) and conquered the Golan Heights, which until that time were known in Israel as 'the Syrian Heights.' Their 160,000 inhabitants fled (they vegetate to this day as refugees in Syria.) Their land was taken over by Israeli settlers. The Likud government has officially annexed the Heights (but not the West Bank and Gaza Strip) to Israel.
From that time, the liberation of the Golan has become a central aim for Syria. According to international law, this is occupied Syrian territory. Two Israeli Prime Ministers, Yitzhaq Rabin and Ehud Barak, as much as admitted this when they agreed to return all the Golan to Syria. The negotiations broke down in each case because of an argument about a few hundred meters. Neither Rabin nor Barak was ready to allow the Assads to 'wet their feet in the sea of Tiberias.'
The two lions (In Arabic, Assad means lion) acted very cautiously. After the father failed to dislodge the Israeli army in the October 1973 war, they did not use their own military again. They found a way to fight by proxy: the Lebanese Hizbullah militia has harassed the Israeli army with pinpricks. Both Assads hoped that this would help them to get the Golan back in the end. Also, some of the Palestinian pro-Syrian (i.e. anti-Arafat) organizations are based in Damascus.
Now along comes the Bush administration, under the influence of Wolfowitz, Perle & Co., and issues an ultimatum to the Syrians: give up your chemical weapons, eliminate Hizbullah, get rid of the 'terrorists.' For the Syrians this means, in effect, to give up any hope of ever getting the Golan Heights back. It also means American recognition of their annexation by Israel, in contravention of all the UN resolutions and the position of every US president up to now.
Without Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, the threat of 'the Eastern front' that has been haunting the Israeli military for decades will disappear. Egypt and Jordan have already signed peace treaties. Sharon will be able to concentrate all his might against the Palestinians, who will remain alone.
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