Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 01, 2003
Syria, Teheran on U.S. radar?By Sridhar Krishnaswami
New York march 31. Two days after the U.S. Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, sharply criticised Syria and Iran for complicating American war efforts in Iraq, the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, has stepped up pressure on the two countries — warning Teheran that it should stop its drive to acquire weapons of mass destruction; and Syria must end its support to terrorism.
In a tough message that came by way of a speech to a pro-Israel lobby, Gen. Powell placed Iran and Syria in the same category with Iraq and warned them of grave consequences should they continue to promote terrorism. Syria, he said, "faces a critical choice'' on whether it continues "direct support for terrorism in the dying days'' of the regime of Saddam Hussein; and Gen. Powell demanded that Iran should stop "its terrorism against Israel''.
Last Friday, the Defence Secretary pointedly warned Syria and Iran for complicating the coalition war objectives in Iraq saying that Damascus was selling military equipment to the Saddam Hussein regime that included night vision goggles; and Iran was inserting or allowing the Badr Brigade comprising anti-regime Iraqi exiles back into the country. But Washington has not said if and how the Badr Brigade has come directly in the way of coalition forces. But Gen. Powell is seen to have gone a step further in bringing in terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.
The sharp observations against Syria and Iran in recent days have prompted apprehensions here and elsewhere that the U.S. may be getting ready to take on these two countries once the Iraqi conflict is out of the way. The apprehension is that the Bush administration may be intent on picking up additional fights along the borders of Iraq. Washington has been quite insistent that it is aware of clandestine arms shipments to Iraq to assit the Saddam Hussein regime to hang on to power.
Last week the President, George W Bush, is said to have taken up with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, the involvement of a Russian firm in arms shipment to Iraq that included an assortment of weapons. The U.S. has been particularly worried that the Russian firm may have supplied jamming equipment for the GPS that could come in the way of precision guided missiles and munitions dropped by U.S. jets over Iraq. Moscow has flatly denied that any arms deal is taking place. Washington and Moscow continue to disagree on this.
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