Sunday, July 22, 2007

Michael Gerson Doesn't Get It   [Michael Ledeen]

Michael Gerson thinks a bit about Syria's and Iran's actions in Iraq, which he summarizes thus: "In a kind of malicious chemistry experiment, hostile powers are adding accelerants to Iraq's frothing chaos. Iran smuggles the advanced explosive devices that kill and maim American soldiers. Syria allows the transit of suicide bombers who kill Iraqis in markets and mosques, feeding sectarian rage."

Talk about understatement! Both Syria and Iran train, arm, fund, and guide the terrorists. Almost all the suicide terrorists come into Iraq via Syria where they have been indoctrinated (or lied to; many of them believe they are going to fight us, not martyr themselves. They are then ordered to drive a vehicle somewhere, and it's blown up en route. Others are chained to the steering wheel, even). The Syrians don't "allow the transit" of these people; they organize it, as part of the war against us and the Iraqis. As for the Iranians, the provide indispensable support to al Qaeda in Iraq, to the Shi'ite militias, and to assassins who kill anyone who gets in the way of jihad. Moreover, their military forces are on the ground in Iraq. We've arrested some of them, and killed others.

So they're not just "meddling." Indeed, they come close to being the basic engine of the terror war itself. The blockbuster revelation from Gerson is that Tony Blair recently told him that if Iran and Syria were eliminated from the batlefield,"the situation in Iraq would be very nearly manageable." I think that's another understatement; we could do without the "very nearly."

No surprise, then, that Gerson has no stomach for forceful action against the Syranians. He's for sanctions-plus-hard-bargaining.

07/22 10:33 AMShare