zionism and the attack on arab nations

[S.R. Prozak]

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=2475103

Powell Calls on Syria to Abandon Support for Iraq

Mon March 31, 2003 12:19 AM ET

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Colin Powell urged Syria on
Sunday to abandon its support for "terrorist groups" and the regime of
Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein.

In a speech to a powerful U.S. Jewish lobby group, Powell also said the
United States would demand "more responsible behavior" from what
Washington
considers other potentially troublesome states, including Iran.

"Syria ... now faces a critical choice," Powell said only two days after
the Pentagon aired accusations that military supplies were entering Iraq
from
Syria.

"Syria can continue direct support for terrorist groups and the dying
regime of Saddam Hussein, or it can embark on a different and more hopeful
course," he said.

"Either way, Syria has the responsibility for its choices and for the
consequences."

Powell told a conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee
that the United States was monitoring "states that do not follow
acceptable
patterns of behavior" as part of the war on terrorism it launched after
the
Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

"It is now time for the international community to stand up and insist
that
Iran end its support for terrorism," said Powell, a former Army general
who
chaired the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff during the 1991 Gulf War.

"Tehran must stop pursuing weapons of mass destruction and the means to
deliver them."

Both Iran and Syria, the U.N. Security Council's only Arab member, came
under fire from Washington on Friday for their involvement in Iraq.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told reporters the United States would
hold the Syrian government accountable for reported shipments of materiel
including night vision goggles to Iraq, calling them "hostile acts."

Rumsfeld also claimed that armed Iraqi Shiite Muslim forces supported by
Iran were inside Iraq and warned that they would be considered combatants
if
they interfered with U.S. or British forces in the country.

Syria and Iran both dismissed Rumsfeld's warnings. The Syrian Foreign
Ministry said Washington was trying to divert attention from "war crimes"
committed against Iraqi civilians.
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