Page 292 - Mass Media, Mass Propoganda Examining American News in the War on Terror

282 Chapter 11

Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act and political state-
ments hostile to the Syrian government made in support of the bill make clear.
The "Syria Accountability" bill, while assailing Assad's government for "terror-
ist connections" and the possession of WMD, leveled sanctions against Syria by
prohibiting U.S. exports and barring any Syrian flights from entering areas of
U.S. jurisdiction in ~ra~.~
A major part of the promotion of the Syrian threat is the argument that As-
sad's government is actively compromising U.S. military operations in Iraq.
Media sources have happily repeated such claims. Charges that "insurgents"
loyal to (now deceased) Abu Musab al-Zarqawi have "taken over at least five
key western Iraqi towns on the border with Syria" are reported alongside blame
placed on Syrian leaders for the estimated "300 to 400 insurgents operating in
the area," as Assad's government is said to "provide a safe transit route for for-
eign fighters" entering the c~untry.~
US. News and World Report ridiculed Syria
for its "support of terrorism and its refusal to prevent insurgents from crossing
into Iraq." The magazine cites Peter Rodman of the Defense Department, who
maintains that "elements in the Syrian" leadership "are actively colluding with
our enemies," and that "extremists in Iraq are using Syria as a place to organize
and to get support and to flow back and forth across the border. . . this means
they share responsibility for the killing of Americans, and this has to stop."'0
Syrian complicity in providing "a major point of access" for fighters entering
Iraq is reported as a major problem for the U.S. in its occupation of 1raq.I1
Reports that Syria has actually collaborated with the U.S. in the "War on
Terror" generally contradict the notion of a Syrian threat in that they indicate
that the government has indeed worked with the U.S. in regards to investigating
terror suspects. Syrian efforts to provide to the CIA intelligence that prevented
an A1 Qaeda attack on the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in ahr rain,'^ and the
State Department's own admission that Syria "has cooperated significantly with
the United States and other foreign governments against A1 Qaeda, the Taliban,
and other terrorist organizations and individuals" are problematic for the Bush
administration and media's construction of Syrian complicity with terrorism
directed against the United states.I3
Consumers of mainstream news need not look for substantive criticisms
within media commentary regarding whether the U.S. has a right to attack Syria.
Criticisms of potential U.S. plans to engage countries listed as part of the "Axis
of Evil" are generally restricted to points of procedural complaint and criticism
over the tactical dangers and drawbacks of going to war with Syria. For exam-
ple, William Kristol of the Weekly Standard, admitting the drawbacks of a full-
scale invasion of Syria, asks: "Is our Air Force overextended right now? Are we
so weak that we can't deter or punish syria?"I4 Spencer Ackerman of the New
Republic identifies other problems with an assault on Syria, not any that have to
do with the illegality of such an attack or the "imperialist" nature of such an
attack (as progressive critics have maintained), but more to do with logistical
goals. Attacking Syria, Ackerman admits, "won't mean 'winning' the Iraq
war.. .because the insurgency is overwhelmingly an Iraqi Sunni phenomenon."'5