“American-Syrian honeymoon over...”“The sources believed that the collapse of the project to restore the relations went back to before the assassination of Lebanon Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in February 2005, saying: “The Syrians do not understand [what] the normalization of relations [means] and Syria’s behavior [is such that it is acting] as though it had defeated America in a world war." They added with anger: “(President Bashar) Al-Assad has started counting the American eggs in his basket before offering us anything in return”, continuing: “Al-Assad would launch a rocket here or there and expect us to run to him. This is a security blackmail which no longer works in the United States”. However, according to senior American officials, what broke the camel’s back between Washington and Damascus was the Syrian behavior following Mitchell’s last visit and his meeting with Al-Assad in July.
“They said: “During the meeting between Mitchell and Al-Assad in Damascus, the Syrian president asked the American envoy to explain to him the articles of the sanctions on Syria. Mitchell took the draft, read it and explained it to Al-Assad in detail. This lasted over one and a half hours. Mitchell then concluded by explaining the mechanism of the imposition and the lifting of the sanctions and said that these sanctions were reviewed every year and could be lifted in the presence of the required conditions. For its part, the Syrian side which is always in a hurry to say that its relations with Washington are definitely heading toward a breakthrough, intentionally or by mistake, leaked that the United States promised to lift the sanctions imposed on Syria.
“They continued: “Before Mitchell’s plane had landed in the Dallas International Airport in Washington on the way back from the Middle East, an overwhelming wave of anger had come to prevail over the decision-making hallways in Washington, since the Department of State had not granted Mitchell any instructions giving the impression that it was planning on lifting the sanctions. Anger also prevailed in the ranks of numerous congressmen who hurriedly summoned Department of State diplomats to learn about what went on between the American envoy and Al-Assad. However, when Mitchell put forward the minutes of the meeting with Al-Assad, the latter said: “When we read what truly happened between the two men, we learned that Al-Assad was trying to manipulate us and we had to prove to him that Washington’s projects in the region were not waiting for him”.
“The sources then stated: “The obstruction of the government formation in Lebanon in which some are accusing Syria and its allies in Beirut, does not concern the United States. We do not address these details and they are a matter of Lebanese affairs”. However, what raised the American administration’s discontent as it was related by the sources was that “a few months following the dialogue with him (with Al-Assad), the latter did not change his behavior and did not meet any of our demands. He is always asking us what we could offer him under the mercy of blackmail and the occurrence of incidents in the region. America will not succumb to the Syrian blackmail”.
“Al-Rai al-Aam then asked the American officials about the existence of an Arab role to secure rapprochement between Washington and Damascus, to which they replied: “Egypt is also mad at Al-Assad and shares our viewpoint in that it is useless to talk to the Syrian regime. As for Saudi Arabia, we have watched it as it offered one concession after the other to Al-Assad, whether in Lebanon or elsewhere, without seeing any results worth mentioning until this moment”. They added: “More than any time before, Israel has discontinued the attempts to distance Al-Assad from Iran. However, the Syrian president tried to use the indirect negotiations card with Israel - via Turkey - to reach Washington. But Israel categorically refused the offer that was presented by Syria and its godmother Turkey”…
“The sources concluded by saying: “We came to see Al-Assad as the weakest link in the anti-American alliance in the Middle East. However, he is acting as though he is the strongest link and is imposing conditions instead of seizing the opportunity. In light of this paradox, the dispute was inevitable and the total severance of relations is possible.” - Al-Rai al-Aam, Kuwait
