Powell Asserts No Plan for War With Syria

16/04/2003| IslamWeb

Trying to calm a charged atmosphere, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday the United States has no plans to go to war with Syria or anyone else to bring democracy to a totalitarian state. "Iraq was a unique case, where it wasn't just a matter of a dictator being there," Powell said at a news conference with foreign reporters.

"There is no war plan to go and attack someone else, either for the purpose of overthrowing their leadership or for the purpose of imposing democratic values."

"Democratic values have to ultimately come from within a society and within a nation," he said, tempering heated rhetoric
from Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and some other senior U.S. officials.

Having declared war against terror worldwide, singled out Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an "axis of evil," and then gone to war with Iraq, President Bush has raised fears abroad, particularly in Europe and the Middle East, that the world's only superpower would use its muscle freely against dictatorial regimes.

Accusations that Syria provided Iraq with war materiel, gave haven to senior Iraqi and Baath party officials and permitted Syrian fighters to join the war against the U.S.-led coalition fueled those apprehensions.

And while generally avoiding the harsh words, Powell renewed the accusations against Syria on Tuesday.

But he rejected any suggestion the administration had a list of countries against whom it might send troops again.

"There is no list," he said, even as he registered unhappiness with some policies of Iran as well as Syria.

At the Pentagon, a U.S. defense official said Syria had not repositioned its military forces in anticipation of any U.S. attack from Iraq.

Other U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Syria had been helpful quietly in the war against the al-Qaida network and there was no evidence that help was abating.

Rumsfeld said U.S. forces in Iraq had reported that they had shut down a pipeline that carried oil from Iraq to Syria in violation of U.N. sanctions.

Syrian officials have denied having chemical weapons and said the United States has yet to prove similar charges against Iraq. They also have accused Israel of spreading misinformation about Syria.

PHOTO CAPTION

Secretary of State Colin Powell, right, and a Secret Service agent leave the White House, Tuesday, April 15, 2003, after his morning intelligence meeting with President Bush. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)