Playing it Safe

Syria has been effectively shocked and awed by American sword-rattling. It was still a bad move for the U.S. - a lot of Arabs are going to remember our threats long after Bashar al-Assad forgets them.

Ha'aretz reportz that Syria, surrounded by U.S. allies and unlikely to find support from even Iran, has begun cooperating with the U.S. This is good news. The last thing the Middle East needed was conflict of any sort between the U.S. and Syria, or perhaps the American-backed Iraqi nouveau regime and Syria. If the U.S. can make Iran, Turkey and Syria cooperate with its ideas for the new Iraq, it will have much more success, since all three states are in a position to assist opposition groups.

Iranian President Mohammed Khatami said in public that "Iran won't defend Syria if it comes under attack by the United States,"and that "if the U.S. changes its behavior toward Iran, it is possible to consider a change in Iran's policy toward the U.S."... The Syrian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman clarified that "Syria's relations with Iraq have never been good," and that "Syria will be happy to assist in the rehabilitation of Iraq." The truth is important, but Syria's need to suddenly declare the opposite of the truth is no less important. According to Lebanese sources, Syria has already ordered stepping up monitoring of its border with Iraq, and it seems that although it won't agree to extradite Iraqis who found sanctuary in its territory, it will enable U.S. investigators to interrogate them. The U.S. administration is prepared to give Assad a chance to mend his ways, in order to prevent an inevitable crash. Such a correction is rarely carried out in public, but rather in a way of small and confidential agreements and mutual gestures.