The American Conservative
by Robert Dreyfuss

It's happening again. It all sounds depressingly familiar, and it is. The Bush administration accuses the leader of a major Arab country of supporting terrorism and harboring weapons of mass destruction. The stable of neoconservative pundits begins beating the drums of war. American forces begin massing on the country's border, amid ominous talk of cross-border attacks. Top U.S. officials warn that American patience with the country's leader is running out, and the United States imposes economic sanctions unilaterally. There are threats about taking the whole thing to the United Nations Security Council. And, in Washington, an exile leader with questionable credentials begins making the rounds of official Washington and finds doors springing open at the Pentagon, the National Security Council, and at Elizabeth Cheney's shop at the State Department. This time it is Syria... (for publication 01/16/06)

http://www.amconmag.com/2006/2006_01_16/cover.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

The United States is indeed pursuing a hard-edged regime-change strategy for Syria. And it isn’t necessarily going to be a Cold War—in fact, it could well get very hot very soon.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11527.htm

President Bashar al-Assad of Syria secretly incited Iraq's top Shia leader to declare holy war against US and British forces, according to Washington's former administrator in the country.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11528.htm

The current international pressure on Syria is "entirely deserved" and it is now "showtime" for its president, UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw says.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4579442.stm


From Information Clearing House

John Bolton said, "Syria's record to date has been one of obstructing the investigation, of tampering with the evidence and not making witnesses available in a timely fashion."

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F651DB94-EC80-4628-B1BD-814F241754EE.htm


From Information Clearing House

All eyes are on Syria as it stands accused of being behind the murder of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. Even before the UN commission of inquiry was completed, the US was planning - with France - a concerted offensive against the Syrian regime. But destabilising President Bashar al-Assad could lead to regional chaos, given the fragility of Lebanon and near civil war in Iraq.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11443.htm

AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo

12/12/05

The official end date of the UN investigation into Hariri's assassination is Dec. 15, but you can be sure that Bolton and the rest of the get-Syria crowd will try to ensure that its life span is extended. They are determined to gin up another war, and they don't care how transparently false the pretext is: these people have raised lying into a sophisticated art form, of which the Mehlis propaganda blitz is just the beginning. They don't care how far-fetched the indictments of their targets appear, nor how often they are debunked: what they're counting on is the residue left by 'news' stories trumpeting 'evidence' that Syria killed Hariri and is wreaking havoc in Lebanon. The debunking takes place on the back pages, while the initial charges were given front-page headlines. This is how the propaganda assault works: keep flinging dirt in the hope that at least some of it will stick. If your 'evidence' turns out to be false, and your 'witnesses' start recanting, then don't backpedal – instead, invent new charges. Attack, attack, attack!

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=8233


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

By William Bowles

Much has been made in the corporate/state-run media of Blair being some kind of ‘restraining influence’ on Bush and the ‘neo-cons’ but as the report makes abundantly clear, US-UK foreign and energy and military policies are ‘joined at the hip’ and have been so for the past century and in spite of the rivalries.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11205.htm

Syrian officials demanded that a UN report implicating them over the February murder of five-time Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri be revised after state television broadcast the apparent recanting of a witness.

http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/051129055747.eoe4texu.html


From Information Clearing House