INTERNATIONAL

Obama Should Talk To Syria Now

Damascus is signaling that it's ready to negotiate a separate peace with Israel. It won't happen without America's help. The silent treatment has to stop.

By Richard N. Haass | NEWSWEEK
Published Feb 28, 2009
From the magazine issue dated Mar 9, 2009

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  • Posted By: ammnoo @ 03/17/2009 12:19:07 PM

    Golan is an occupied territory that has to returned to Syria according to the International law and UN resolutions. The Settlers have to end their illegal presence on the Syrian land. They have to turn back this stolen land to the native Syrians, more than a million Refugees in Damascus alone. Justice is the price for Peace.

  • Posted By: Albert Fournier @ 03/09/2009 1:55:55 PM

    Syria and the Golan ??? We should remember the facts!
    Syria controlled the Golan for 19 years, beginning in 1948, and used it to systematically shell and attack the Israeli towns below, such as Ein Gev and others in the eastern Galilee. 140 Israelis were killed in these attacks, many more were injured, and heavy property damage was also inflicted. Israel liberated the Golan Heights in the 1967 Six Day War, thus freeing northern Israel of the Syrian threat. Israel soon realized that the Golan was vital not only militarily, but also in terms of water, history, and more. The Golan was officially annexed to Israel in 1981, and over the years, 33 Jewish communities were built, including the full-fledged town of Katzrin. Today, close to 23,000 Jewish residents in 33 communities (27 kibbutzim and moshavim, 5 communal settlements and the town of Katzrin) live on the Golan Heights and the slopes of Mt. Hermon. More about the Golan: http://israelagainstterror.blogspot.com/2008/04/golan-heights-geography-geology-and.html

  • Posted By: Albert Fournier @ 03/09/2009 1:54:52 PM

    The Golan should remain Israeli.
    If Syria wants peace with Israel, it should offer in exchange the Golan. There is no doubt that for Syria the benefit of peace will be tremendous. The Golan represent for Israel more security than ???peace??? with Syria. As ???peace??? with Syria will not happen, there is no reason for Israel to be generous with the Mafia regime of Assad. The Assad family has established a hereditary dynasty shored up by repression within, and confrontation and terror abroad. The rule of the Assads is not aimed at improving the lot of their people or forwarding a particular ideology. They changed ideology from secular Arabism to a seemingly impossible confection of pan-Arabism and Islamist extremism. It is pointless to ???engage??? Syria in dialogue except insofar as it is possible to confront them with their violations and insist that they mend their ways. More about the Golan at :
    http://israelagainstterror.blogspot.com/2008/04/golan-heights-geography-geology-and.html

  • Posted By: Reg373 @ 03/04/2009 9:27:48 PM

    You don't make peace, talking with only your friends...

  • Posted By: garysalvat @ 03/03/2009 3:51:55 PM

    You just don't get it...they want Israel wiped out!!!!! Nothing less. Pull this up in four years and you will see that nothing will happen!!!!!!!

    • Posted By: Etiquette @ 03/04/2009 3:39:09 PM

      I am agreed with you100%. "They want Israel wiped out," the way Israel want to wipe out all the Palestinians in a recent war in Gaza with Hamas. I wish If Hamas had 30% of the similar waeponary sytems then I would see how Israel dare to attack Gaza and kill more than 1300 innocent people.

  • Posted By: Tony C @ 03/03/2009 7:04:20 PM

    Do people at Newsweek actually get paid for writing this idiotic drivel?

    Israel is the ONLY vibrant democracy in the Middle East and they should never trade land for a so called "peace" with Syria or any other Arabic states. They are genetically programmed to LIE. The Arabs will accept nothing less than the destruction of Israel if the rest of the world permits it.

    • Posted By: Etiquette @ 03/04/2009 3:28:16 PM

      Yes! you are right. A country with democracy and full of corruptions from bottom(an ordinary person) to the top(to the President). It seems to me these democratic b****** jews are "genetically programmed to lies" as well.

  • Posted By: Tan Boon Tee @ 03/04/2009 2:26:52 AM

    Verily, Syria remains a crucial factor in any peace negotiation.

    Mrs Clinton walks on a tight rope in the Middle-East. She is trying hard to appease all parties -- Israel, Syria and Palestine.

    She stresses that the US will continue its staunch support to Israelis??? cause, yet in the meantime wanting to create a viable (whatever it may mean) Palestinian State. Such impartiality does not help to ease the conflict, let alone bringing about a long lasting peace.

    The US has no choice but to opt for neutrality first before it continues acting as the supreme mediator. (Tan Boon Tee)

  • Posted By: Getitout @ 03/03/2009 8:15:12 PM

    Israel is not going to allow that to happen. Israel rather be surrounded with enemies knowing well they can defeat them in wars to justify their cause for their right to exist.

  • Posted By: bobcat4424 @ 03/03/2009 11:45:34 AM

    Newsweek is full of advice --- always telling the President what he must do --- and always right now. If the editors and writers of Newsweek are so smart, why did none of them run for elected office? Maybe because it is too intellectually demanding to put their careers where their mouth is. If Newsweek has all the answers, why is is slowly going bankrupt?

  • Posted By: Matt_PR_MN @ 03/03/2009 11:06:31 AM

    James Baker III, former cabinet member for both Reagan (Sec. of Defense) and Bush 41 (Sec. of State) has said that you can "Flip Syria" to an ally of the US and Israel and that the next two years are critial. Obama has extremely intelligent people around him who understand this (George Millier, Hilary Clinton, Susan Rice, Bob Gates, Jim Jones, and Eric Holder). This can do more for peace in the middle east than people realize. Syria wants to cut ties w/Iran and curb Hamas activities. Obama knows this and my guess is within the next few months peace talks will be under way.

  • Posted By: PRWorld @ 03/03/2009 1:40:46 AM

    America is a terrorist state.

    • Posted By: mlbuie @ 03/03/2009 8:34:28 AM

      Under Obama, America will act to protect it's interests (our security ... which is a good thing), but not resort to the gestapo-like tactics of Bush. Give him a chance.

      • Posted By: The Messiah @ 03/03/2009 10:19:46 AM

        Is your unsubstantiated belief based on the Tax Cheats that SCUMBama appointed to his cabinet or the criminals and Terrorists that SCUMBama considers personal friends -- like Blago and Ayres? Being naive will get you KILLED!

        • Posted By: natsteve @ 03/03/2009 10:54:57 AM

          Messiah, you need to calm down. Give the man a chance. After his "naive" actions actually result in something negative happening - then you can gloat all you want. Until then, your right wing attitude can take a chill pill.. After all, Bush's naive right wing attitudes have cost us dearly, thousands of US soldiers lives, billions of dollars, economic ruin????

          I'll take Obama's "naive" attitude any day over Bush's "enlightened" (my quotes) worldview any day..

  • Posted By: Ogas @ 03/03/2009 10:36:09 AM

    I cannot trust Richard Haas..period. I am concerned about where he is heading with this article

  • Posted By: isidore @ 03/03/2009 10:19:29 AM

    fantasy island .Bashaer and Haas are on different worlds

  • Posted By: The Messiah @ 03/03/2009 10:16:35 AM

    A treaty signed with terrorists isn't worth the paper it's written on... Only fools believe you can negotiate with acknowledged terrorists.

  • Posted By: laodicean @ 03/03/2009 10:12:00 AM

    "Israel has long sought peace with Syria"?
    How did you reach that conclusion? After more than four decades of keeping the peace on its border with Israel (to the ridicule of other Arabs) and even after the former annexes the occupied Golan and dotted it with its trademark settlements, yet Israel is the one in relentless pursuit of peace???

  • Posted By: Nahawand @ 03/03/2009 10:10:00 AM

    "Israel has long sought peace with Syria"?
    How did you reach that conclusion? After more than four decades of keeping the peace on its border with Israel (to the ridicule of other Arabs) and even after the former annexes the occupied Golan and dotted it with its trademark settlements, yet Israel is the one in relentless pursuit of peace???

  • Posted By: Proguardian @ 03/03/2009 10:08:10 AM

    "Israel has long sought peace with Syria"?
    How did you reach that conclusion? After more than four decades of keeping the peace on its border with Israel (to the ridicule of other Arabs) and even after the former annexes the occupied Golan and dotted it with its trademark settlements, yet Israel is the one in relentless pursuit of peace???

  • Posted By: Proguardian @ 03/03/2009 10:06:12 AM

    "Israel has long sought peace with Syria"?
    How did you reach that conclusion? After more than four decades of keeping the peace on its border with Israel (to the ridicule of other Arabs) and even after the former annexes the occupied Golan and dotted it with its trademark settlements, yet Israel is the one in relentless pursuit of peace???

  • Posted By: JL1956 @ 03/03/2009 9:32:44 AM

    The US should try to forge a peace with Syria that includes Israel. One has to wonder though if Pres Obama can bring himself off vacation, or stop spending tax dollars we don't have, long enough to pay attention to what would be a good thing for the US. As for those Bush-haters below, and the anti-Americans, no one is forcing you to participate.

  • Posted By: PRWorld @ 03/03/2009 1:40:08 AM

    America is a terrorist state. Latest economy collapse its insignificant state.

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