Syria offered a defense of Hizbollah and condemned the Israeli killings of Lebanese civilians in Qaa. Syria's information minister, Mohsen Bilal, called the slayings "a racist, fascist and terrorist act committed with American weapons" Walid Muallem, Syrian foreign minister, proclaimed that, "If Israel attacks Syria by any means, on the ground, in the air, our leadership ordered the armed forces to reply immediately."
Muallem described the 'agreement' reached between the U.S. and France, as a prescription "for the continuation of the war. It's not fair for Lebanon, therefore it's a plan for the possibility of the eruption of civil war in Lebanon," he said, "and nobody, nobody, nobody has anything to gain from that happening, except Israel."
That's far from the provocation Rice pretends, and is every bit of how a regional nation would be expected to react to the continuing assault on Lebanon by Israel's occupying forces; in defense and with defiance against whoever threatens them. Rice's refusal to directly talk to the Syrians only serves to make them more defensive and more likely to decide that the U.S. has no interest in serving as anything other than Israel's protector and enabler. It seems absurd to the Syrians for Rice to complain about Syrian facilitation of Hizbollah when Israel is the beficiary of the money and military largess of their U.S. allies.
It's clear that most practical way to 'contain' Syria in this conflict would be to leave them alone; assure them that their country isn't a target of Israel's military. Making clear to Syria that Israel has no intention of attacking their territory would assure them that their country isn't going to become yet another 'opportunity' for Israel and the Bush regime to continue their bloody expansionism.
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