US warns Syria’s Ba’athist regime

The Ba’athist regime in Syria has been given ample opportunity to join the United States in the war against terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

During the war to oust the fellow Ba’athist dictatorship of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, the US warned Syria that it would consider shipments of weapons and supplies to regime forces a “hostile act.”

Now, Syria is reported to be thwarting the US-led coalition even further, sheltering former senior Iraqi officials wanted for crimes, and possibly safeguarding Iraqi chemical weapons from UN inspectors and coalition forces.

President Bush has warned, “the Syrian government needs to cooperate with the United States and our coalition partners and not harbor any [Iraqi] Ba’athists, any military officials, any people who need to be held to account for their tenure during what we are learning more and more about what was one of the most horrendous governments ever.”

Even Secretary of State Colin Powell is taking a hard line on Syria – a sure sign that the American leadership is united and is probably in the planning stages of a regime change for Damascus.