JTA: Assad overture rebuffed

[furman]

http://jta.org/page_view_breaking_story.asp?intid=4854

Assad overture rebuffed
Israel rebuffed a peace-or-else ultimatum issued by Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Assad told a German newspaper Sunday that his country sought peace with Israel but could resort to war if necessary, an apparent reference to Syria’s bedrock demand that it regain all of the Golan Heights under any accord.

“I don’t say that Israel should be wiped off the map. We want to make peace with Israel,” Assad told Der Spiegel.

“But my personal opinion, my hopes for peace, could change one day. And if this hope disappears, then war may really be the only solution.”

The comments were rejected by Israeli officials, who have long insisted that Syria should not impose preconditions for peace.

“Assad has to decide what he is looking for. You cannot talk peace and threaten war at the same time,” Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres told Israel Radio on Monday.

He also said Syria’s alliances with Iran and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah undermine Assad’s credibility as a peacemaker.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. ". . . not impose preconditions for peace"?

But that is PRECISELY what they have done for the past 6 years, with Bush & Co. supporting their every move.
That happened in Gaza, West Bank and recently in Lebanon. Nothing but preconditions.

how is it spelled, chutzpah?