Word: damascus
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...Hezbollah. The Crimson staff also incorrectly suggests that the U.S. has, over the decades, uncritically given Israel carte blanche to pursue its military objectives. However, it is in part thanks to U.S. efforts that Israel did not oust the radical nationalist Nasser regime in 1956, or march on Damascus in 1973, or eliminate Yassir Arafat...
...Over the past few months, U.S. and Israeli officials allege, Damascus has expanded and accelerated its customary deliveries of weapons to Hizballah, the Iran-backed Shi'ite militia in neighboring Lebanon. Israeli President Shimon Peres on Tuesday accused Syria of ratcheting up the stakes by sending midrange Scud missiles to Hizballah. The significance of the Scud is more symbolic than strategic. Though they have a longer range than any of the smaller rockets already in Hizballah's ample arsenal - and that would allow the group to theoretically target any location in Israel - the larger Scuds can be easily tracked...
...Ford has not yet been sent to Damascus, in part because of U.S. concerns over the increase in weapons deliveries to Hizballah and other issues. Administration officials were particularly miffed when Assad hosted both Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah at a dinner in Damascus in February, shortly after the U.S. had named Ford as ambassador-designate. In his testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during confirmation hearings, Ford voiced concern that though the Syrian government says it is committed to a comprehensive Middle East peace agreement, it also threatens to revert to its old behavior...
...Syria's escalation of weapons deliveries probably represents frustration in Damascus that the U.S. hasn't brought Israel to the negotiating table, according to Andrew Tabler, a fellow at the Washington Institute of Near East Policy. Israel's right-wing Likud Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has repeatedly vowed that he won't give up the Golan, which he says Israel needs for military reasons, and has proposed that instead of trading "land for peace" - the basic formula for the Middle East peace process, as prescribed by successive U.S. Administrations and by U.N. resolutions - that Syria should simply accept "peace...
...Bashar al-Assad promised change but has brought few reforms since his father Hafez died in 2000. In neighboring Egypt, Hosni Mubarak's son Gamal could face a similar predicament if he runs in next year's presidential elections. (See "Why the U.S. Is Back on the Road to Damascus...