Is Syria Next: Middle East expert discusses Syria and exposes US lies

...In this interview with Middle East expert Alan George, RN's Nikki Brown asks whether the Defence Secretary's latest outburst means Syria is next on the US "hit-list".

AG: "There's a danger I think that the US might be in triumphalist mode, and that sense might feel the need to swat, if you want to put it that way, to swat its last opponents in the region. When I say ‘opponent', I mean Syria is not overtly violently hostile to the American state, in fact it seeks a modus vivendi with the Americans. It has for example, since the September 11 attacks been assisting the US with intelligence on terrorist groups, ironically, since the US State Department lists Syria as a state supporter of international terrorism. So the Syrian regime very much seeks a modus vivendi, but they feel very vulnerable, they understand the realties of world power."

"It mustn't be forgotten that a proportion of Syrian territory, the Golan Heights, are under Israeli occupation, and have been since 1967, and once mustn't forget that the Middle East perspective of the Bush administration very much coincides with the Israeli perspective on the Middle East. Syria of course, is an implacable enemy of Israel, or at least it will be until its lands are recovered. I think it's made clear it would be happy to make peace with Israel provided all its lands were returned."

"I think it must be said, however, that the Iraqi position in my view is by no means played out yet. It's by no means impossible to imagine a very protracted US-UK occupation of Iraq involving guerilla warfare. It's not impossible to imagine that the Syrians might feel that they have to support the guerillas operating against US forces in Iraq, the remnants of the Saddam Hussein regime, if you like, not so much because they deeply loved the Saddam regime, but it mustn't be forgotten that the Syrian government, although dictatorial, cannot ignore its own public opinion, which is very Arab nationalist, and it's deeply concerned with this US-UK involvement in the region without UN support."

RN: "Syria's come in for a lot of criticism during the conflict, for supplying military equipment to Iraq – obviously these are just claims by the US – and new criticism by Donald Rumsfeld that it might be habouring fleeing Iraqis close to the leadership. How much truth is there in this?"

AG: "One has to be very careful. Many US claims in this conflict have proven in the end to be unfounded. We have yet, for example and most importantly, to see weapons of mass destruction on any significant scale being found in Iraq. Of course one of the US claims is that some of those weapons of mass destruction from Iraq may have been spirited across the border into Syria. It's notable, however, that a number of these claims have emanated originally from Israel which has an axe to grind when it comes to Syria. So one has to be very cautious when it comes to these claims."

"At the same time, it's undoubtedly true that the Syrian and Iraqi governments, in recent years at least, have become very close. Syria had been importing - in violation of US sanctions it must be said - it had been importing up to 200,000 barrels a day of Iraqi crude oil, at concessionary prices. This helped the Syrians a lot, because it allowed them to export more of their own oil on to world markets at the full market price. So there was a very substantial economic benefit. Syria had in fact become Iraq's main trading partner, it wasn't only oil. So there was a close relationship which extended up to the political level, and against that background it's certainly not inconceivable that considerable numbers of senior Iraqi officials might have sought refuge in Syria."