Germany has the sense and the will to talk to Syria about Hizbollah

[bigtree]

why can't our government talk to Syria?



Bush and Rice Discuss the Middle East Crisis
Prairie Chapel Ranch
Crawford, Texas
August 7, 2006
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/08/20060807.html

Q Many strategists say that we'll never get to the bottom of this crisis unless the U.S. engages directly with Syria and Iran. Why not talk to them directly about this, and have a back-and-forth conversation?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, that's an interesting question. I've been reading about that, that people have been posing that question. We have been in touch with Syria. Colin Powell sent a message to Syria in person. Dick Armitage traveled to Syria. Bill Burns traveled to Syria. We've got a consulate office in Syria. Syria knows what we think. The problem isn't us telling Syria what's on our mind, which is to stop harboring terror and to help the Iraqi democracy evolve. They know exactly what our position is. The problem is, is that their response hasn't been very positive. As a matter of fact, it hasn't been positive at all.

And in terms of Iran, we made it clear to the Iranians that if they would honor previous obligations and verifiably stop enrichment of nuclear materials, we would sit at a table. And so there's a way forward for both countries. The choice is theirs. Now, I appreciate people focusing on Syria and Iran, and we should, because Syria and Iran sponsor and promote Hezbollah activities . . .


but, Germany thinks it's important to talk to Syria:


German foreign minister to visit Syria on new Mideast trip
(AP)

14 August 2006

BERLIN - Germany’s foreign minister was to set off Monday on a Middle East trip that will include talks with Syria’s leaders aimed at persuading the country to play a constructive’ role in the region, the government said.

Meanwhile, Germany has tried to draw Syria _ a key supporter of the Hezbollah militants, whose July 12 capture of two Israeli soldiers sparked the fighting _ into efforts to defuse the crisis.

Steinmeier’s three-day trip was to start in Jordan, one of only two Arab countries that has a peace treaty with Israel, where he will meet King Abdullah II. He will then meet President Bashar Assad and Foreign Minister Walid Moallem in Syria before concluding his trip in Saudi Arabia.

Last month, Steinmeier held out the prospect of closer relations with the European Union if Syria cooperates. Ploetner said that, on this trip, he will not have any concrete promises or anything like that in his luggage.’

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2006/August/middleeast_August382.xml§ion=middleeast&col=

[robcon]

1. Do you really think we need fto talk to Syria?

Syria wants Lebanon to be a colony of Syria, and had the Lebanese President killed a couple of years ago.

Is this the country that will respond to "talking"?

[Kagemusha]

2. At this point Nasrallah's king of the world. They should talk to him.

Because at least when he says he will do something, people take him at his word. Maybe they shouldn't, but they do. Way more than Assad or Iran's PM.

[bigtree]

4. damn right we should

Syria has benefited from the agitation and resistance of Hizbollah toward Israel. THEY feel THEIR security is threatened by Israel. They have land (Golan Heights) which they want the occupying Israel to relinquish to them, and they have economic concerns which could provide a basis for negotiations concerning Hizbollah.

To me, the notion of all of this military force being used against a civilian population to dislodge a militarized resistance has been tried/is being attempted in Iraq. It's presently doing nothing but creating more bloody animosity, recriminations, and reprisals from the residents there. You'd think we'd learn from that, but there are folks who want to convince us that Israel/Lebanon is somehow different. That just a little more force and time will do the trick and dislodge Hizbollah.

Never mind that the history of conflict in that very country, with the very same adversary, saw a strident war waged by Israel turn into a disaster which reverberated throughout the world with hijackings and other terror which splintered off from Lebanon and spread resistance to Israel and its allies throughout the Arab world.

To suggest that we shouldn't talk to Syria because they might have designs on Lebanon is a noble gesture. But that concern for Lebanon is undermined by the alternative which leaves Israel to their destructive tactics which have slaughtered over a thousand of Lebanon's citizens.

There are many sects and factions in Lebanon, each with their own grudges and concerns. There are those who, in the past (and possibly the present) have received direct support from Israel, and there are those who, like Amal and Hizbollah, who have aggressively resisted Israel's presence in the south. I recall that Syria once supported some faction of the Maronites long ago, then shifted alliances . . .

The situation I think exists now is that without Syria as a buffer against Israel, more determined opponents of Israel, like the Amal or Hezbollah are the only armed groups standing in the way of Israeli incursions deeper into Lebanon (Israeli forces already occupy disputed land in the south that the U.N. says belongs to Syria and Hizbollah says is part of Lebanon).

Syria may well be the only opponent of Israel within the area comprising Lebanon and Syria proper who is capable of maintaining some peaceful co-existence with their Israeli neighbors. Any of these other non-state groups would be militarily dominated by the Israeli forces and yet have the potential to resort to some unconventional reprisal in response to some Israeli aggression.

Assad and Barak were in the process of hammering out a peace agreement in 1999, before Bush came in and mucked it up with his initial indifference, then his overt leaning toward Israel when Powell was eventually dispatched, and then aggravated further with his invasion of Iraq.

Syria can and should be engaged again. Enlisting their help in talking Hizbollah down is a far better choice than allowing and encouraging more heavy-handed reprisals against Lebanon from Israel.

[Avalux]

5. Do you not understand diplomacy?

On the world stage, it is imperative to not only talk to your friends, but also your enemies. Acting like a spoiled child (US) and refusing to talk to Syria because they're 'bad' is a huge mistake. Of course that's kind of why we're in the pickle we're in anyway; 6 years of zero diplomacy.

[deaniac21]

3. The Germans have a very long history of diplomacy.