"Bush May Soon Order Aerial Attacks on Syria" ("would bolster popularity")

[allemand]

November 14, 2005
President Bush May Soon Order Aerial Attacks on Insurgent Military Bases Inside Syria

Washington---Within the past several weeks, President Bush has come within hours of ordering U.S. military forces to conduct aerial bombing raids against insurgent training camps inside Syrian territory that are being used by foreign fighters as a staging ground in which to enter Iraq and kill American soldiers. But Secretary of State, Condeleeza Rice and representatives from the Central Intelligence Agency have until now prevailed in convincing President Bush that Syrian President Bashar Assad can be reasoned with, according to high ranking officials within the Bush administration. (...)

White House insiders, however, report the reservoir of patience for Syria is all but evaporating by the hour. One official known to be strongly advocating a strike against Syria is President Bush’s national intelligence director, John Negroponte. (...)

“The problem with any U.S. aerial strike inside Syria is that we are not a thousand percent sure where all of these camps are located,” explains one U.S. intelligence official. “But any such attack would surely bolster President Bush’s sagging popularity in the short term.” (...)

Several well-placed members of the U.S. intelligence community report to IIMCR that members of the Syrian intelligence apparatus were definitely involved in orchestrating the assassination of Mr. Hariri. U.S. and Israeli intelligence authorities have hard evidence of Syrian officials discussing plans of Hariri’s death. But neither U.S., nor Israeli intelligence officials, warned Hariri directly. That responsibility was left to French President Jacques Chirac, a close confidant of Hariri. It is also known that Hariri was actively involved in the year before his death in attempting to overthrow the Assad regime in Syria. And yet others suggest the evidence the United Nations has on the Hariri investigation is not an open and shut case.

More:
http://www.iimcr.org/blog/index.cfm

[Canuckistanian]

1. Any bombing at this point would be suspect.

And the fact that he's attacking ANOTHER sovereign arab nation won't help his image problem in Iraq.

[HereSince1628]

38. Shades of KENT STATE ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Every baby-boomer in the nation is going to have friggin flash-back to Nixon expanding the war into Cambodia.

If this happens...We must rise to the challenge. Civil disobedience will be the only way to answer this.

What do I have to do that's more important? How bad can jail and a year of weekends doing community service be? After all, unlike the GOP thugs, I believe in community.

[guruoo]

48. But if it goes too far,

the wingnuts could use it as a rallying point.
The way it is now, the right is becoming more
and more divided with every passing day.
All I'm saying is that we need to take care not to
do anything that might cause a reversal of this trend.
-Just a little something to think about.

[HereSince1628]

53. Bombing Syria would take me to the gates of the WH.

You are of course free to respond how you feel. BUT, for me and only me, that would be 2 bridges too far. I would have to act.

[guruoo]

57. I understand, for sure.....

and you never know, if he goes that far
you might find plenty of pissed-off Republicans
out there willing to join you!

[DoYouEverWonder]

2. Bush is getting impatient

he can only go for so long between killings. And it seems he needs more and more has time goes on.

[KansDem]

17. Quick, get him a tub full of frogs and a couple packages of firecrackers!

he can only go for so long between killings

That may pacify him until the real thing comes along!


:sarcasm:

[Robert Cooper]

19. He's got three years...

to finish his foreign policy agenda, and the writing is on the wall that no one will continue his cause once he's gone.

He'll keep pulling out the threads until the whole thing falls apart. I think he's trying to make sure America is so wrapped up in was in the Mid-East they have to finish what he starts.

He just wants to make sure all his targets are engaged. If recruitment were going better he'd probably be gunning for Iran as well. But to get Iran he needs way-more troops. Syria is small enough for an American-only invasion.

As for "popularity", that has to be his base.

[Ian David]

3. How credible is this source? Never heard of IIMCR before. n/t

[DoYouEverWonder]

6. The Institute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution (IIMCR)

Can't get much more solid. Time for immediate removal from office. Bush is armed and dangerous.



The Institute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution (IIMCR) is a Washington, DC based, non-profit, 501(c)(3) institution whose mission is to promote the use of peaceful conflict resolution techniques among a generation of future leaders through the design and implementation of unique programs and services.
Since 1996, IIMCR has successfully conducted nine International Symposia in The Netherlands, two Latin American Symposia in Mexico, two Middle East Symposia in Cyprus, and one Africa Symposium in South Africa, training over 1000 dedicated students and young professionals from over 50 countries.

[allemand]

7. Me too... But they have an impressive Board of Advisors:

Morton Abramowitz
Edith Cecil
Seymour Hersh
John Ikenberry
Paul Meerts
Joyce Neu
Bonnie Pearlman
Giandomenico Picco
William Shawcross
Gary Sick
Richard Walden
William Zartman

http://www.iimcr.org/index.cfm?pageID=74

[Cactus44]

4. It would *help* his popularity?!?!?!?!?!?

Who the hell wants to be occupying yet another ME country? I think the average American wold be irate.

[Jaundice James]

54. I agree...

I think it might even make a lot of rightards nervous. -JJ

Shameless plug: http://jaundicejames.blogspot.com/

[Vincardog]

5. How the hell is attacking another country going to help

bolster pRresident Bush’s sagging popularity?

[rodeodance]

12. he will protect us-as Commander in Chief--people will defer to him if

he can convince us that syria is a threat.

[guruoo]

49. Watch him portray it as a way to save...

American lives in Iraq.
We really need to stay on top of this one.

[Jaundice James]

56. Yeah...

I can see him doing that too. -JJ

Shameless plug: http://jaundicejames.blogspot.com/

[Bellamia]

Maybe then we can get rid of him.........

it will boost his UNpopularity.

[guruoo]

50. Question is, how far would bushco wingnuts go...

to maintain power?
Think about it, Patriot Act, unprecidented domestic
survellience powers, Diebold....
They've literally bet the farm on this.

[triguy46]

8. He's a one trick pony.

Watch out Syria.

[arewenotdemo]

33. Yep. That's ALL that nitwit knows how to do.

Act like he's got balls when everyone knows he's just a gutless chickenhawk wonder, like all the other gutless chickenhawk wonders he's surrounded himself with.

I almost forgot, he can roll up his sleeves.

[triguy46]

59. Hey, great screen name

:hi:

[arewenotdemo]

64. Thanx, triguy46.

:)

[MGKrebs]

9. "Not a thousand percent sure..."?

I assume that means we are somewhere south of 90% sure of where to bomb.

Which means we don't have great intel on this, just more tortured prisoners trying to save the rest of their fingernails.

[The_Casual_Observer]

16. What exactly does 1000% mean anyway?

The last time anybody used that was when McGovern was 1000% behind Eagleton.

[MrMonk]

18. Look at what else was said:

“The problem with any U.S. aerial strike inside Syria is that we are not a thousand percent sure where all of these camps are located,” explains one U.S. intelligence official. “But any such attack would surely bolster President Bush’s sagging popularity in the short term.” (...)

Was this "intelligence official" dropping the dime on Bush, or simply planting a seed in the readers' minds?

[rodeodance]

10. cap hills blue reported these Repug talking points last week--an

attach would bolster Jr's ratings, etc etc.

[guruoo]

55. They sure did, but...

some people want CHB banned from DU.
Discussion got so flamey about an hour ago that the mod
locked the thread.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5357081

[ThomWV]

11. Remember Clinton?

Everytime Clinton dropped a bomb anywhere the Republican's went apeshit saying he was just using it as a distraction from their set of trumpted up problems.

Should't that have set a precident?

[StClone]

13. Dems better get out front on this

No new war of choice.

[mmonk]

70. Some dems would go for it

and you probably know who they are. Also, isn't there the Syria Accountability Act? Isn't that congress's way of saying they want war with Syria?

[fooj]

14. Simply doing domething because it is right and just is never an option

for this clown, is it?

“The problem with any U.S. aerial strike inside Syria is that we are not a thousand percent sure where all of these camps are located,” explains one U.S. intelligence official. “But any such attack would surely bolster President Bush’s sagging popularity in the short term.” (...)

I'm going to be sick.:puke:

Peace.

[CanOfWhoopAss]

15. Wag the dog... Wag the dog... isn't that what they accused Clinton off?

They impeded Clinton from doing his job and now they use force as a political tool.

[journalist3072]

51. Yes they did accuse him of that, and what's more

His former Defense Secy Bill Cohen said that he was actually called up to Capitol Hill and yelled at by his fellow Republicans.

They accused his boss of wagging the dog, and Cohen said he told them that he (Cohen) would never be a part of such a scheme.

[Nightjock]

20. No way would it boost his approval!

A majority of Americans finally see him as the liar he is.

[Disturbed]

26. Killing more people would bolster this loon's popularity?

With whom?

[mr_hat]

21. Bull. The "U.S. intellegence official" is quoted as saying:

“The problem with any U.S. aerial strike inside Syria is that we are not a thousand percent sure where all of these camps are located,” explains one U.S. intelligence official. “But any such attack would surely bolster President Bush’s sagging popularity in the short term.”

That strikes me as utterly bogus. He/she commenting on the location of terrorist camps and in the same breath offering thoughts on Bush's political popularity ? Bull.

[MGKrebs]

63. That's a good point, I think.

What "intelligence official" would divulge that kind of info? Surely that would be classified. And what "intelligence official" would comment about popularity?
What "intelligence official" would do both?

Stinky, stinky.

[Imagevision]

22. Bush cartel is struggling because more people are aware of their lies

deceptions and Bush is proving daily that he lacks leadership abilities.

Remember George, fool me once -- blah-blah-blah...!

[Walt Starr]

23. Do you have this from a credible source?

I don't trust the source linked as anything more than speculation.

[allemand]

28. Please see post #6

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5358329&mesg_id=5358422

[Walt Starr]

30. Sorry, it's not a widely cited source

I cannot consider it as credible at this time.

[guruoo]

58. Oh, no, not again!

Jezzz!

[Walt Starr]

73. Give the source some time and it may play out as credible

This is a good test of credibility, too.

[Historic NY]

24. Widening an already unpopular war.........

thats smart.

[Festivito]

25. .. Got . to . get . that . pipeline . through .. /nt

[unblock]

27. because bombing cambodia worked out swell for nixon

well if it wasn't enough like vietnam already, this oughta do it!

[HereSince1628]

40. Really! I wonder how many baby boomers will get shot?

Our generation will NEVER forget Kent State!

[burythehatchet]

29. On the positive side

Bombing Syria would certainly quell world wide terrorism :eyes:

[bvar22]

31. Just like Little George....

starting another war before finishing the last one!

[gasperc]

32. I believe he is betting wrong and will further enflame Arab passion

bringing the battle lethaly to the homeland which of course will then be used to hype up war hysteria, rage and vengence among the American public. Clamp down on dissidents like us and smash mouth Patriot Act III, the final squeeze on us.

[Walt Starr]

35. I doubt the veracity of the cited story

but if true, it would be devestating to this administration to move forward with such an ill-conceived plan.

[gasperc]

43. that never stopped them before

I wouldn't be surprised if Anthrax person didn't pop up in the coming days

oh, yeah, the Anthrax person, I thought that was in a dream/nightmare I kept having after 9/11

[allemand]

45. There have been similar reports in the Washington Post and the BostonGlobe

in recent weeks.

William M. Arkin, "Wag the Damascus?"

Last year, U.S. intelligence agencies and military planners received instructions to prepare up-to-date target lists for Syria and to increase their preparations for potential military operations against Damascus.

According to internal intelligence documents and discussions with military officers involved in the planning, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) in Tampa was directed by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to prepare a "strategic concept" for Syria, the first step in creation of a full fledged war plan.

The planning process, according to the internal documents, includes courses of action for cross border operations to seal the Syrian-Iraqi border and destroy safe havens supporting the Iraqi insurgency, attacks on Syrian weapons of mass destruction infrastructure supporting the development of biological and chemical weapons, and attacks on the regime of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.

More:
http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2005/11/wag_the_damascu.html

Washington debate reported over idea of 'regime change'
Boston Globe/San Francisco Chronicle

Some U.S. officials say privately that there is now an active debate about whether "regime change" should be a U.S. goal. Publicly, administration officials say that they want to see a change in behavior.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/08/MNGGAFKH4R1.DTL&feed=rss.news

[Walt Starr]

74. It sounds more like market testing to me

Like the Administration is testing the waters with planned leaks to find out how bad, or good, the public would feel about yet another war.

[mzmolly]

34. Waggin the ol' dog I see?

:(

[Freedom_from_Chains]

36. hard evidence of Syrian officials discussing plans of Hariri’s death.

Would this be like the "hard" evidence of WMD's in Iraq?

[allemand]

47. According to the Security Council Resolution they had to hand over all

"hard evidence" to the Mehlis commission, but they didn't do it as Mehlis himself complained in his report:

19. (...) However, although resolution 1595 called on all States to provide the Commission with any relevant information pertaining to the Hariri case, it is to be regretted that no Member State relayed useable information to the Commission.
(p.10)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/21_10_05_mehlisreport.pdf

[lovuian]

37. He needs WWIII and bombing Syria could do it!!!

its a small country with a dictator who is easily replaceable!!!

[0007]

39. junior & and his crime family are batting 1000% as far as doing

anything right. This will be NO different.

A another fuck up!!

[liveoaktx]

41. Doesn't he f*cking have to get approval from CONGRESS first?

I know Rice thinks he can just go all over the world and bomb who he chooses but there are at least SOME in Congress who don't agree with that.

[EVDebs]

52. Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces

Against Iraq, Oct. 2, 2002, apparently will be construed to allow this Syrian activity :

"...Whereas the United States is determined to prosecute the war on terrorism and Iraq's ongoing support for international terrorist groups combined with its development of weapons of mass destruction in direct violation of its obligations under the 1991 cease-fire and other United Nations Security Council resolutions make clear that it is in the national security interests of the United States and in furtherance of the war on terrorism that all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions be enforced, including through the use of force if necessary;

Whereas Congress has taken steps to pursue vigorously the war on terrorism through the provision of authorities and funding requested by the President to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations or persons who planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001 or harbored such persons or organizations;

Whereas the President and Congress are determined to continue to take all appropriate actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations or persons who planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such persons or organizations;

Whereas the President has authority under the Constitution to take action in order to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism against the United States, as Congress recognized in the joint resolution on Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107-40); and

Whereas it is in the national security of the United States to restore international peace and security to the Persian Gulf region..."

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/10/20021002-2.html

The 'war on terrorism' and the stateless status of the terrorists are the tricky parts. Exactly what this implies is the 'if your not for us you are assumed to be against us' aspects with Syria and possibly Iran later.

Bush's actions in Iraq unfortunately create the jihadis/anti-US opportunities that ATTRACT the terrorists to Iraq; a self-fulfilling prophesy.

The question you ask boils down to 'was the Iraq War Joint Resolution a blank check for war actions by the Bush administration in violation of international laws ?'

[leveymg]

60. No blank check. There's nothing to link Syria to 9/11. This isn't 2003.

This is the 10th trial balloon put out by the Bushites about this. Each time, it lands with a thud. There's no enthusiasm for such an attack within the military, the intelligence community, or among allies inside or outside the region (except for Israel, and even there the thinking is split on the issue).

They're hoping that Assad is so weak politically that the mere threat of intervention is enough to forment a coup. This may be so. But, this campaign has far more to do with psychological warfare than air to ground operations, at this time.

[EVDebs]

67. But if Assad is 'harboring' terrorists the R's will say it applies

And please don't confuse ME with being a Bushite floating any trial balloons. I wish to see the impeachment of Chimpy probably more than you do.

Just pointing out that the Joint Resolution for war in Iraq translates into an unending war on terrorism when it allows Bush to specify when and where to deploy US troops. Re-read the resolution, the wording was specifically vague so as to violate the War Powers Act of 1973 which requires truthful and specific 'circumstances' and 'situations' when deploying US troops...not fantasies of WMDs and terrorists under every bed in the Middle East.

Don't shoot the messenger.

[leveymg]

72. I was referring to the State Dept as the principal balloon launcher

Nothing personal intended. :hi:

This follows the script written eight years ago by Messrs Feith, Wurmser and Perle in A Clean Break. That includes using accusations of state sponsorship of terrorism as a pretext to force regime change in Iraq, Syria and Iran -- one, two, three.http://www.israeleconomy.org/strat1.htm

My point is that this script has a happy ending for the Israeli Right-wing, but as we've discovered in Iraq, comes with a high cost to the United States which provides the (unstated) muscle to carry out the changes that "secure the realm" for Likud's version of Greater Judea. This deal has become unacceptable to those who actually run the foreign policy and armed services of the United States. I don't believe we're going to actually expand the Iraq debacle into a general Middle East War, even though this is frequently threatened.

[Freedomfried]

42. So that Osama joined the Syrian army, that sneaky guy.

e0m

[Tom Joad]

44. Expect Bushies biggest backers on this to be Clinton, Lieberman.

with very little dissent from anyone in the leadership of the Democratic Party.

I hope i am wrong on this. In fact I hope the bombing of Syrian villages never happens so we won't find out (a feeling shared, no doubt, by a great majority here).

However, if there is bombing of Syrian "targets", and top Democrats respond as expected by me, don't blame me.

[AZBlue]

46. WTF?? Because bombing Iraq worked out so well for him??

And, by the way, where's he going to get the troops from?????????? We don't have any left!

[robertpaulsen]

61. Did bombing Cambodia bolster Nixon's popularity? n/t

[texpatriot2004]

62. No. They weren't in Cambodia. Sarcasm On. n.t

[lumberjack_jeff]

69. And they didn't use WP or Napalm there either. /sarcasm off n/t

[madokie]

76. Wish I could answer that but I was one of the kids being lied to

back then. I just remember it brought more deaths around me, the fighting intensified.

[jzodda]

65. The similarities between this war and Nam keep growing

In both cases you had an intractable insurgency, a white house in full denial, a lack of understanding of the culture of the people we were helping and/or fighting and now Syria is about to become Cambodia. What a mess, a rotten mess

[nadinbrzezinski]

66. Why does CAMBODIA and the Christmas campaign come to

ahem mind?

[SupplyConcerns]

68. "When a tyrant laughs, everyone around him laughs...

"When he weeps, children die in the streets."

[Catherine Vincent]

71. I think we may have a mad-man on our hands.

If this happened, yelling "wag the dog" won't do. :(

[madokie]

75. I know we do, our country, my country.

I knew and I suspect you knew this immoral person wasn't going to be good for our country but we didn't realize the turmoil he would bring at the time. It's sad that we have to go through this, if only he wasn't selected, ahh the dreams.

[DemonFighterLives]

77. How backwards could that article be?

Make dubby more popular- is that why wars are fought - well the last 5 years anyway.
Advice of Negroponte - Mr Death Squad himself should not be telling us to do more killing.
The intelligence that states that Syria is behind Hariri's death and not US and Israel - I would believe the opposite is true. This must be more of that good cooking intel that dumbya bases all his decisions on. It has been awhile since his death, and maybe someone here can help me decide who did it?

And yet others suggest the evidence the United Nations has on the Hariri investigation is not an open and shut case.

[Just Me]

78. There is no doubt that the asylum is being run by the criminally insane.

These people are sociopathic freaks!!! :scared:

[tlsmith1963]

79. IThink This Could Backfire

With his approval rating as low as it is, I don't think this would help him. And it just shows how out of control Bush is. Geez, I wish we could impeach him. I'm tired of having this clueless nutcase in control of my country.

Tammy