As the rest of the world anguishes, certain highly placed figures in the Bush regime exult in the miseries in the Middle East, as Dan Froomkin reports in the "What's the Motivation?" (Washington Post, Aug. 4). Essential reading but not for the faint of heart. Perhaps most chilling is this, from Imad Moustapha, the Syrian ambassador to the United States, excerpted from a Los Angeles Times op-ed:
Although the media have reported that no contacts have been made between the two countries over the last three weeks, administration officials have sent vague signals that this might be happening through back channels.
But no communication whatsoever has taken place. U.S. policy remains to ignore the Syrian government. And it remains fundamentally wrong. . . .
Currently, the White House doesn't talk to the democratically elected government of Palestine. It does not talk to Hezbollah, which has democratically elected members in the Lebanese parliament and is a member of the Lebanese coalition government. It does not talk to Iran, and it certainly does not talk to Syria.
Gone are the days when U.S. special envoys to the Middle East would spend hours, if not days, with Syrian officials brainstorming, discussing, negotiating and looking for creative solutions leading to a compromise or settlement. Instead, this administration follows the Bolton Doctrine: There is no need to talk to Syria, because Syria knows what it needs to do. End of the matter.
This is the Syrian Ambassador to the United States, pleading to be allowed a role in halting the present madness. Moral? "It's not always your enemies who get you into the sh*t, and not always your friends who get you out."
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