with war plans rumored to already have been drawn up by US military European command...Syria fears US attack- and rightly so...

Syrian President Says Attack By U.S. Possible

28 February 2005 -- Syrian President Bashar Assad says in a newspaper interview that he suspects the United States might eventually take military action against Syria.

Assad told the Rome-based daily "La Repubblica" that he has seen the possibility of an attack on his country since the end of the initial invasion in Iraq.
Assad said he does not believe an attack is imminent. But he said "the language used by the White House indicates a campaign similar to the one that preceded the attack on Iraq."
Syria has come under increasing diplomatic pressure from the United States since the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Many opponents of the pro-Syrian government in Lebanon blame Syria, which denies responsibility.
Assad said it would have been "political suicide" for Syria to kill Hariri.
The United States has insisted that Syria withdraw its troops from Lebanon. And today, protesters in Beirut demanded the Lebanese government resign and Syria remove its soldiers.
(Reuters/dpa)



2005-02-28
Assad predicts US onslaught on Syria
Syrian leader denies his country’s involvement in Harir’s murder, says Syria is essential to peace' in Mideast, Iraq.
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ROME - Damascus is "essential to the peace process" in the Middle East and Iraq as well as in the fight against terrorism, Syrian President Bashar al Assad said in an interview published here Monday, rejecting Washington's "rhetoric" against his country.

"We are essential to the peace process, for Iraq. You will see, maybe one day the Americans will knock on our door," Assad told the Italian daily La Repubblica.


"Europe knows that our first interest is stability, and it knows that we know how to fight terrorism," Assad said.


Again rejecting accusations that Damascus had a hand in the killing two weeks ago of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, he said: "If we really killed Hariri, that would be political suicide for us. Beyond ethical and human principles, the question is, who benefits from the crime? Certainly not Syria."


Assad told La Repubblica that Washington's rhetoric against Damascus is reminiscent of the saber-rattling that preceded the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.


"The language of the White House leads one to predict a campaign like that that preceded the conflict against Saddam," he said.


"Will we be the next target of Israel and the White House? All of this has been written for a long time. Iraq was the first phase, then it will be Iran's and Syria's turn. But it's not a given that things will go that way."


The Syrian leader said he had offered to help the United States in the fight against terrorism, adding: "Sooner or later it will realize that we are the key to the solution."

Washington accuses Syria of backing terrorist groups operating in Iraq and Israel and of destabilizing Lebanon by its military presence there.


Assad said Syria would withdraw its troops, which are in Lebanon under a bilateral accord, "when there is stable peace there."


Keeping troops in Lebanon "is not in the interests" of Damascus, he said. "It has a high price not just in economic terms but also political. But what is in play is very important: Lebanon's stability and that of our borders.


"Technically, we can withdraw our troops before the end of the year. Strategically, that can take place only if we obtain serious guarantees - in other words, peace," he said.