This is quite an indictment by the Syrian dictator, Assad. Still, you can bet that the Obama administration will continue to plow merrily ahead with its futile attempts to court the Syrians. Look no further than this grand kiss off from Assad to Obama back in February, which was greeted by shocked disappointment by O's administration, followed by--you guessed it--still more oblivious, tone deaf "outreach" to the Syrian regime. More on the latest insult out of Damascus, from Haaretz:
Syrian President Bashar Assad said Monday that the United States has lost its influence in the Middle East due to its failure to contribute to regional peace, in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
U.S. President Barack Obama "raised hopes" in the region, said Assad, but has failed to accomplish any significant peace maneuvers.
Assad's comments came just before Obama was to meet with Lebanon Prime Minister Sa'ad al-Hariri to raise Washington's concerns about Syria arming Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.
The Syrian leader met on Sunday with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in Damascus earlier Sunday and urged the West to "break its silence" in the face of Israeli "aggression" in the Middle East.
During their talks, Assad denounced "the ongoing Israeli threats to ignite wars and undermine the stability in the region."
"The region has changed and the West's policy in the area is no longer acceptable, keeping silent over Israeli violations is no longer acceptable," Assad told Kouchner, according to Syria's official news agency SANA.
"If the West wants security and stability to be established in the Middle East, [it] must start to play an effective role to contain Israel and put an end to its extremist policies," Assad said.
I once asked a Syrian government spokesman in Washington what concessions his country was willing to make in order to establish peace with Israel. This after he ran down a long list of demands detailing what Israel needed to give up, including the strategically crucial Golan Heights. I asked if Syria would be willing, first and foremost, to end its support of the terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah. The Syrian official gave me a dismissive look and replied, "these are secondary issues." Really? Not to Israel. And not too long ago, these weren't secondary issues to the U.S., either. Israel's Ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, summed it up nicely during our recent exclusive interview (hit ahead to around the 1:25 mark).