Boston Globe Editorial on Sen. Kerry's Syria visit

[TayTay]

John Kerry's role in Damascus

February 20, 2009

SYRIA may not be as indispensable to Mideast peace as its president, Bashar Assad, says it is, but when John Kerry visits Damascus this weekend as the new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he will have an opportunity to prepare the way for a new policy of dialogue with Syria.

Kerry has shown on earlier stops in his Mideast trip that he is receptive to Lebanese and Israeli concerns about Syria. He made it clear that a US-Syrian rapprochement will require Assad to stop meddling in Lebanese politics and to back away from support of the Lebanese Shi'ite militia Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hamas.

This is obligatory rhetoric. Kerry could hardly tell America's friends in Lebanon or Israel that their interests will be disregarded in a renewed diplomatic dialogue between Washington and Damascus.

Still, the reality is that Israel and Lebanon both stand to gain from the right kind of US engagement with Syria. The same is true for Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and other Arab states that support the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative with Israel and fret about Iran's influence in their region.

All these interested parties would want a US overture to Syria to advance their own aims. Among these are an Israel-Syria peace agreement leading to a two-state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; the disarming of Hezbollah in Lebanon; and - perhaps most important of all - prying Syria away from its marriage of convenience with Iran.

In a recent interview with the British paper the Guardian, Assad was emphatic in describing what he has to offer the Obama administration. "If you want comprehensive peace in the Middle East you can't achieve it without Syria," he said. "We are a player in the region. If you want to talk about peace, you cannot advance without us."

Kerry need not challenge this traditional Syrian assertion when he meets Assad. But he can tell the Syrian ruler what the Obama administration expects in return for taking an active role in bringing about a peace accord between Israel and Syria. And Kerry should sound out Assad on how far he is willing to go in reciprocating American gestures of good will, particularly on the central issue of Syria's alliance with Iran.

Assad makes no secret of his wish to reconcile with America by reaching a land-for-peace deal with Israel. He wants a return of the Golan Heights, an end to US sanctions, an inflow of Western investment and technology, and some way to derail a United Nations tribunal's indictment of senior Syrian officials for the 2005 murder of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri. It is not Kerry's place to promise any of these benefits, but it will be his role to advise whether Assad is somebody with whom President Obama can do business.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2009/02/20/john_kerrys_role_in_damascus/#commentAnchor">Boston Globe Editorial Staff

('bout time the Globe gave this trip a shout-out. Ah, there is more diplomacy and "working the levers" in the last month than there were during last 8 years. Yes, this is an "atta-boy" editorial, only all Globe "atta-boys" are couched in stiff language and that strange tone of "We do hope you know what you're doing here" with it's wisps of condescension. Hey, on the other hand, an "atta-boy" is an "atta-boy." Take 'em when they come along. )

Lots to chew on here. Have at it. BTW, there are currently, as of the time of this post, 3 comments on this Editorial. Not a one of them seem to have been written by anyone with a functioning brain cell, but the Globe has a policy of not excluding half-wits from their comment section. Any ole idiot can comment on a story at the Globe, as these comments freely attest.

[karynnj]

1. This is a nice editorial

I love your description below. Their condescension is as obvious as it is silly as, on all these issues, Kerry was where they are now, while they were still cowering in fear of 911.

I see someone questioned if the early posters were from MA or the confederacy. It is amazing how the RW is always first on Boston Globe articles. Maybe they assign people to each media source and re-post things somewhere.

[TayTay]

2. It is a nice editorial. Fortunately, I speak "Globe" and can interpret therein

I also, unfortunately, have had occasion to learn some "moron-speak" and am sadly conversant in the low-art of making an argument by character smears. However, I very, very, very rarely indulge in this. Most idiotic posts are self-evident and don't need anyone pointed a light at them and proclaiming that they are content-free blather.

I liked this editorial. The Globe is giving their "we're watching you" notice to the good Senator and genuinely giving him an "atta-boy" for his deeds. This is a very good thing. That this commendation comes with sniffy strings attached is to be expected. It is still the Globe, after all.

Senator Kerry is doing very good work on this trip. He should get some notice and it should engender some discussion. The Bush Admin simply declared countries they didn't like spawns of Satan and refused to deal with them. That is no way to conduct foreign policy.

[YvonneCa]

3. CNN just covered this story...

...today (Sunday @ 1:15PST) with Fredericka Whitfield. It was very positive. YAaaaY! Maybe they'll put the clip up later on their website. This is progress.

On edit: I just checked CNN.com and found two videos... LINK http://www.cnn.com/video/?iref=videoglobal


Neither clip is the clip I saw, which has a short interview with Kerry about his visit, but it's good to see this coverage by CNN of REAL news. :)