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Saturday, Feb 05, 2005

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International

Iran, Syria hit back at Bush

By Julian Borger

WASHINGTON, FEB. 4. The Syrian and Iranian Governments have reacted angrily to the U.S. President, George W. Bush's vow to confront them over their alleged harbouring of terrorists and pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.

Mr. Bush's State of the Union speech on Wednesday identified Syria and Iran as the primary obstacles to the administration's declared mission to spread peace and democracy in West Asia.

It sent tremors through the region, raising fears that the administration might have more military action on its second-term agenda.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, denounced the U.S. as ``like one of the big heads of a seven-headed dragon,'' menacing his country under the direction of ``Zionist and non-Zionist capitalists''.

``Bush is the fifth U.S. President seeking to uproot the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Carter, Reagan and father Bush and Clinton failed. This President will also fail,'' the Associated Press quoted him as saying.

Growing nervousness

The response from Damascus also reflected growing nervousness at Mr. Bush's intentions. ``Freedoms cannot be exported by tanks and planes, death and destruction,'' said Syria's Information Minister, Mehdi Dakhlallah.

``Everyone knows that Syria is cooperating in fighting terrorism, but the definition of terrorism cannot be selective and based on ideology and politics,'' he said.

In his speech, Mr. Bush restated the commitment he made in last month's inaugural address to dedicate foreign policy to spreading democracy — particularly in West Asia.

He pledged $350 millions in support for Palestinian nation-building. He also made a distinction between non-democratic allies, such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, to whom Mr. Bush offered encouragement for democratic reforms, and adversaries such as Syria and Iran, for whom he reserved tougher words.

Using the sort of rhetoric once applied to Saddam Hussein, he said: ``To promote peace in the broader Middle East (West Asia), we must confront regimes that continue to harbour terrorists and pursue weapons of mass murder.''

He said Syria was harbouring terrorists, and dubbed Iran ``the world's primary state sponsor of terror,'' accusing it of pursuing nuclear weapons. In an apparent call for an Iranian democratic uprising, he declared: ``To the Iranian people, I say tonight, `As you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you.'''

Flynt Leverett, a West Asia expert in the National Security Council during Mr. Bush's first term, pointed to a difference in tone between the warnings aimed at Syria and at Iran.

``He still is basically addressing the Syrian regime,'' said Mr. Leverett. ``With Iran, it struck me that ... this President is not going to do a deal that would legitimise the regime.''

If that analysis proves accurate, the speech is bad news for Europe's hopes of getting the U.S. more involved in talks with Iran over suspending uranium enrichment. —

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