Why did Rice and the State Dept. switch and admit talking to Syria?

[bigtree]

Rice: Poor Syria relationship overstated

Sunday, July 23, 2006

SHANNON, Ireland (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday the United States' poor relationship with Syria is overstated, pointing out that there are existing channels for talking with Syrian leaders about resolving the Mideast crisis when they're ready to talk.

En route to the region, Rice noted that the United States still has a diplomatic mission and State Department officials working in the Syrian capital. That presence, she said, is a "channel for dealing with Syria."

"The problem isn't that people haven't talked to the Syrians. It's that the Syrians haven't acted," she said. "I think this is simply just a kind of false hobby horse that somehow it's because we don't talk to the Syrians.

"It's not as if we don't have diplomatic relations," she said. "We do."


but . . . what about the reports that Rice and her gang weren't going to talk to Syria?

like this one:


21 Jul 2006

WASHINGTON (AP)--Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, heading for a weekend trip to the troubled Middle East, said she would work with allies in the region to help create conditions for "stability and lasting peace" during her visit, centered on a stop in Rome.

She ruled out a quick cease-fire as a "false promise" and defended her decision not to talk to officials from Hezbollah or Syria.

http://framehosting.dowjonesnews.com/sample/samplestory.asp?StoryID=2006072117540004&Take=10


and this one:


"In interviews, senior administration officials said they had no plans right now to resume direct talks with the Syrian government."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/23/washington/23diplo.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print


so, they're talking?

[fooj]

1. These rat bastards can't keep their lies straight, can they?

[Rex]

2. False hobby horse.

Greeeaaaat. Is that like a trojan horse? :eyes:

[blonndee]

3. I thought I read an earlier link

that stated they were asking Saudi Arabia (I think) to "talk" to Syria for them; but your first snippet seems to indicate that the US is dealing directly with them.

Wonder if the visit had anything to do with it? :eyes:

[bigtree]

4. more from the NYT article

"officials said this week that they were at the beginning stages of a plan to encourage Saudi Arabia and Egypt to make the case to the Syrians that they must turn against Hezbollah."

". . . while analysts say it is possible for the Bush administration and Israel to work out a solution without including Syria in the diplomatic wrangling, it would be difficult. Some Bush administration officials, particularly at the State Department, are pushing to find a way to start talking to Syria again."

I'll bet you're right about the Saudi influence in the reversal.

[sandnsea]

6. also "urgent" ceasefire

In another thread. This is pathetic, Saudi Arabia is dictating our foreign policy. Gads. Not that Bush and Rice were doing such a bang-up job of it, but still. Unreal.

[bigtree]

7. thanks for the linkage

[bigtree]

9. Bush Sr.'s influence?

"boy you're in over your head . . . let me bail you out on this one"

[Garbo 2004]

15. Or perhaps Syria reminded the US how it cooperated in the rendition

program, imprisoning people the US sent to them for "interrogation," among other favors in the "war on terror." (Remember the guy years ago who was on his way home to Canada and was taken into custody by the US while changing planes at a NY airport and wound up spending almost a year in a Syrian prison? http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A522-2003Nov4¬Found=true )

Despite the Bushco public talk and Syria's presence for years on State Dept's list of nations that support terrorism, after 2001 the US gov't and Syria got rather chummy. The relationship may have cooled within the last year or so due to the Bush Administration publicly turning on Syria when it suited the Administration to do so. But Bushco and Syria were much more friendly than one would think from hearing only Bushco rhetoric.

[blonndee]

16. Whoa, I guess I didn't realize that. Great info there.

It seems like they've been demonizing Syria for as long as I can remember. Guess that may have been a strategic move.

[bigtree]

17. Interesting that the 'mission' is still functioning there.

From the way the administration talked, they shut it down after the Harri killing.

The syrian government, and the lebanese government are more aligned with the Bush regime in many ways than they are with their own citizenry. In Syria the mostly secular govt. is at odds with the religiousity of their subjects. Same with the new Lebanese authority. If those two governments don't get propped then who will the Bush regime eventually use to regain order?

[madrchsod]

5. the guy that runs bush told him to settle the problem

cause it`s bad for business. when bandy boy talks bush listens...

[Pepper32]

8. Interesting

We are looking more and more like puppets.

[cynatnite]

10. What's a 'false hobby horse'?

Is it just me or does she make less sense the more she keeps talking?

[bigtree]

11. Hobby-horse is a corruption of Hobby-hause (hawk-tossing),

or throwing off the hawk from the wrist.


"So long as a man rides his Hobby-Horse peaceably and quietly along the King’s highway, and neither compels you or me to get up behind him—pray, Sir, what have either you or I to do with it?"
-- Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)

[blonndee]

12. But it's typically used to refer to some sort of

hobby, literally, or some sort of idea that's meant to be described as somewhat obsessive. Example: "She can't get off her hobby-horse, as usual, keeps claiming we need paper ballots."

So Condi doesn't seem to be using it in the correct way.

[bigtree]

13. right, she's just trying claim she already took all the right steps

and the Syrians are just being obstinate.

But, I've heard many proposals from the Syrians in the past few days that have gone unanswered. She should be pressed to account for the U.S. response to these.

[blonndee]

14. I agree with your last statement

and I admit I'm not quite up to date on Syria's latest, but I remember Moustapha seeming to be a reasonable enough person in all his interviews. Either he is the best liar I have EVER seen or heard, or he was being sincere in his efforts to communicate.