As an indication of what has since become a major U.S.-Russian conflict over the fate of Syria, later in the same month, May, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov met with Lebanon's prime minister, foreign minister and parliamentary speaker in Beirut and they collectively warned that exerting further pressure on Syria after it had withdrawn it troops from Lebanon would endanger security and stability in the region.
Later in the month Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov issued a similar warning, recalling that "Significant progress has been made in implementing Resolution 1559, in particular the withdrawal of Syrian troops and security forces from Lebanon, the formation of a government there on the basis of a consensus, and organization of parliamentary elections on a date prescribed by the constitution."
In fact the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon was heralded in Western circles at the time as the beginning of the end of the government of President Bashar Assad.
A May 1, 2005 article in the Financial Times disclosed American plans at the time, which have now reached full fruition. Reporting from Washington, Guy Dinmore wrote:
"The US will keep up pressure on Syria long after the withdrawal of its forces from Lebanon, US officials say, outlining a policy that analysts believe is aimed at destabilising the regime led by President Bashar al-Assad."
The feature quoted former President George H.W. Bush administration official Flynt Leverett stating the new U.S. policy toward Syria was "basically regime change."
Leverett, at the time an official at the Brookings Institution's Saban Center for Middle East Policy, was paraphrased as adding "US officials were now inclined [to accept] that forcing Syria out of Lebanon would cause the regime to start to unravel" and that Washington could spare itself the expenditure of blood and treasure the Iraq model -- attack, invasion and occupation -- entailed, as it "believed regime change could be done "on the cheap' through destabilisation."
During the summer of 2005 U.S. troops in Iraq engaged in several skirmishes with Syrian counterparts near the two countries' border, according to the New York Times resulting in the deaths of several Syrian soldiers.
As another portent of current developments, in June Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Washington to meet with President Bush in the White House, where the two heads of state emphasized the "important strategic relation" between their nations.
Among other commons concerns discussed -- the counterinsurgency war against the Kurdistan Workers Party and Cyprus -- Bush praised Erdogan for "strong support" of the Broader Middle East Initiative.
Already indicating Turkey's new intended role in the Arab world in general and in Syria in particular, Erdogan stated: "Syria is our neighbor and we have a 800 km border with them. We talked about how we will bring Syria to our own line of action. [The prime minister had recently completed visits to Syria, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia.] They talked with our President about a troop withdrawal from Lebanon. They said, "we will pull them out' and they did."
Bush and Erdogan meet to discuss Broader Middle East
The month before, Bush had visited Georgia and his speech there contained words that were unfortunately ignored at the time and have been since, though their pertinence need hardly be stressed.
George W. Bush in Georgia promoting "color revolutions" in the Broader Middle East
Referring to the U.S.-backed "Rose Revolution" of late 2003 and early 2004, the prototype for the so-called color revolutions in Ukraine in 2004 and in Lebanon and in Kyrgyzstan in 2005 (to be followed by the Twitter Revolution in Moldova in 2009 and attempts to replicate the model in Armenia, Belarus, Iran, Myanmar, Uzbekistan and Venezuela), Bush ticked off and celebrated his geopolitical victories:
"Your courage is inspiring democratic reformers and sending a message that echoes across the world.
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