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"I
would hope that Congress would take a look at helping those who
want to free Syria from the tyrannical rule of the Ba'ath
Party," Perle
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WASHINGTON,
April 17 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - As the U.S. has
intensified its volley of scathing criticism against Syria, the talk
over war against the Arab country increasingly resembles a spring rerun
of the debate over war with Iraq, with virtually the same cast of
characters and plot.
Among
the neoconservative hawks in the U.S. administration, Richard Perle pops
up as a leading supporter for war against Syria after Iraq.
He
called for Congress to pass a "Syrian Liberation Act" modeled
on the 1998 law that made regime change in Baghdad official U.S. policy,
the Washington Times reported Wednesday, April 16.
"There
are many ways to fight these battles," Perle, a civilian adviser to
the Pentagon, told a forum at the American Enterprise Institute.
"I
would hope that Congress would take a look at helping those who want to
free Syria from the tyrannical rule of the Ba'ath Party," the
secular ruling party dominated by Syrian President Bashir Assad, Perle
said.
Critics
of the war against Saddam Hussein are already accusing hawks of
targeting Syria as the first in a new string of conflicts with Middle
East regime.
The
neoconservative call for a tough line against Syria long predates the
bellicose rhetoric directed at Damascus by senior Bush administration
officials, including Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Secretary
of State Colin L. Powell, in the past two weeks.
Defense
Department hawks, led by Rumsfeld, his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, and Perle
have also suggested limiting France's military role in NATO and its
participation in Iraqi reconstruction projects.
"Wrong
Message"
Perle
believed that Arabs should not be compensated for the Iraq war by
spurring the peacemaking between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
He
said the U.S. forces went to Iraq to "liberate" its people and
therefore should not send a "wrong psychological message" by
such a compensation.
He
said that precipitating a peaceful settlement to the Middle East crisis
undermines the "nobility" of what happened in Iraq.
Perle
also slammed the peace "roadmap" in the Middle East and was
skeptical of its content.
The
plan, drafted by the U.S., the U.N., Russia and the E.U. envisages the
establishment of a Palestinian state by 2005, to exist side by side with
a secure Israel. Bush said the roadmap will be published when
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas forms his government by next
week.
But
Perle said the "roadmap" was drafted by politically week
parties, citing the U.N. and Russia as examples.
