Yearbook 2006
Syria. According to
CountryAAH, President Bashar al-Asad carried out a government
reform on February 11. Faruq al-Shara, Deputy Prime Minister
and Foreign Minister, was appointed new Vice President. He
replaced Abdel Halim Khaddam, who resigned in June 2005 and
then went into exile where he accused al-Asad of
participating in the assassination of Lebanon's former prime
minister Rafiq al-Hariri. Prime Minister Muhammed Naji
al-Otari retained his post. The new foreign minister became
Walid al-Muallim. On March 23, al-Asad appointed Najah
al-Attar as Syria's first female vice president. The former
Minister of Culture (1976-2000) was also given
responsibility for cultural issues.
Oppositionists in exile formed a national rescue front in
March. At the Brussels meeting there was the leader of the
Muslim Brotherhood and Khaddam. They also met in June in
London.
UN investigator Serge Brammertz, a Belgian lawyer who in
January took over the investigation into the assassination
of Lebanon's former prime minister al-Hariri, reported to
the Security Council at the beginning of the year that Syria
showed more willingness to cooperate. In late April, he
interviewed President al-Asad and other Syrian leaders and
presented a sixth report at the end of the year.
The plans for an international tribunal created tensions
in Lebanon, where Syria's influence and role remained
disputed.
In May, it was reported that Syrian writer and government
critic Michel Kilo was arrested after writing a draft call
demanding Syria cease to interfere in Lebanon's internal
affairs. Several others were also arrested, including a
member of the Communist Labor Party and representatives of
various human rights groups. Syria or Syria-friendly forces
were also accused of the November 21 assassination of
Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel. The murder
sparked vigorous protests in Lebanon.
In November, Syria restored relations with Iraq after
almost 25 years of interruption. A cross-political inquiry
into US future policy in Iraq and the Middle East, led by
former Secretary of State James Baker, also suggested that
the United States should include Syria and Iran in these
talks, which would be a major departure from the US ruling
line.
The Danish Muhammad cartoons triggered riots in Syria's
capital Damascus in early February. Protesters invaded
February 4 in the area that housed the Danish, Swedish and
Chilean embassies, which caught fire. The Norwegian embassy
was also attacked. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
accused Syria and Iran of trying to inflame the conflict.
The Nordic governments also criticized Syria.
Syrian security forces averted several suspected acts of
violence during the year. In February, three militant
Islamists who were allegedly planning terrorist acts in the
capital were killed. In June, four men were killed and one
security guard trying to attack the Syrian state television
and radio house in Damascus. In September, four men were
killed trying to storm the US embassy.
Prime Minister Muhammed Naji al-Otari was reported in
February to have signed a decree that state authorities and
state-owned companies would use the euro instead of the
dollar to pay foreign goods and services. The purpose was
probably to reduce the vulnerability to US pressure.
Why did the gas crisis occur in Syria at all? In early
April, US President Trump surprisingly announced that the
United States would withdraw completely from Syria, where it
would otherwise have 2,000 troops deployed. This message
provoked much bitterness in Israel, fearing that Iran would
gain a strong position in the country once the country's
Islamists were defeated. Rumors therefore spoke of the
Israeli intelligence service taking part in the plot
surrounding the alleged poison gas attack, with the
intention of making the United States stay. Two days after
the alleged attack, Israel even attacked a Syrian military
base with F-15 fighter jets over Lebanon. Israel had
routinely attacked targets in Syria for years, but this
attack was different as it obviously went after Iranian
troops in Syria. During the previous attacks, Russia had
kept low profile because Israel apparently went after
Hezbollah, but the attack on Iranian troops triggered a
sharp Russian reaction. Russia declared that it would no
longer allow unprovoked Israeli attacks on Syria. In other
words, Russia threatened to shoot down Israeli aircraft. An
escalation of the conflict that was in Israel's interest. On
April 4, delegations from Russia, Turkey and Iran met to
discuss a future plan for Syria. Israel wanted to clamp down
on this plan by creating conflict and bringing the western
colonial states into the conflict, and Russia, on the other
hand, would not allow the Israeli leg span. As the armed
conflict ended in increasingly large parts of Syria, Israel
and the West created new conflicts because they did not want
the new map to be drawn. A new element of
internationalization was thus brought into conflict. Israel
wanted to clamp down on this plan by creating conflict and
bringing the western colonial states into the conflict, and
Russia, on the other hand, would not allow the Israeli leg
span. As the armed conflict ended in increasingly large
parts of Syria, Israel and the West created new conflicts
because they did not want the new map to be drawn. A new
element of internationalization was thus brought into
conflict.
Russia brought the West's attack on Syria to the UN
Security Council and issued a resolution calling for the
cessation of armed foreign aggression against Syria. Apart
from Russia, the resolution was supported only by China and
Bolivia. The UN Secretary-General called for no escalation
of the conflict and called on the Member States to respect
the UN Charter, which prohibits international military
actions not sanctioned by the Security Council. Colonial
attacks on Syria were condemned throughout most of the
world, but welcomed by Islamic dictatorships in the Arabian
Peninsula, the EU, NATO and the vassal states of Europe.
In early May, Israel presented "evidence" that Iran
breached the International Cooperation Agreement on Nuclear
Disarmament with the EU, US, Russia and China. However, the
Israeli evidence was rejected by both the EU, Russia and
China as completely untrustworthy. When the false offensive
failed, Israel carried out extensive May 8 attacks on
Iranian targets in Syria. 15 were killed, including 8
Iranians. The purpose was, as in April, to force an Iranian
backlash. It failed again. Nevertheless, on May 10, the
United States declared - as expected - that it would no
longer comply with the International Cooperation Agreement
with Iran. The decision was in violation of international
law, as the agreement had the UN Security Council blue
stamp, but both the United States and Israel routinely
violate international law. A few hours later, Israel carried
out the most extensive aircraft attack on Iranian targets in
Syria since the war in 1973. 27 were killed, including 11
Iranians and 6 Syrian soldiers. Once again, the Iranian
counterpart failed. Israel claimed that it had been
subjected to Iranian rocket fire in the Golan prior to the
attack, but Israel could not subsequently provide any
material evidence of it, and it did not make sense that Iran
should attack in the highly explosive situation Israel and
the United States had created in the region. (and it did not
make sense for Iran to attack in the highly explosive
situation Israel and the United States had created in the
region. (and it did not make sense for Iran to attack in the
highly explosive situation Israel and the United States had
created in the region.
Netanyahu had been in Moscow a few days before the May 10
attack. Apparently threatening Russia not to send the S-300
anti-aircraft system to Syria, which Russia had threatened
after the Western attack on Syria in April. Israeli generals
had stated in advance that if Russia sent the S-300 to
Syria, Israel would attack the systems even before Russia
could install them. The S-300 would provide Syria with
significantly better protection against the constant Israeli
airstrikes, and this was what Israel wanted to prevent. The
rogue state would have free space in Syrian airspace. Israel
and the US had drastically exacerbated the already dramatic
political-military situation in the region with the attacks
on Syria and the US threats to Iran.
The Assad regime, with Russian aid, continued the fight
against jihadists in the eastern, western and southern parts
of the country. The United States came to the rescue of
jihadists in late May as it bombed pro-Assad militias around
Deir Azzoor and in early July, Israel bombed Syrian forces
in Quneitra province, which border on the Golan Heights. In
the south, Assad's offensive sent hundreds of thousands of
Syrians to flee. Jordan had closed its border, so they were
spread across most of the southern part of the country. In
July, Assaf regained the Deraa regime, where the uprising
against his regime had begun 7 years earlier.
In June, Amnesty International published a report
dismantling US lies about "precision bombing" in Syria.
During the Raqqa recapture, the United States conducted
thousands of drone and aircraft attacks on the city. Attacks
that, according to Amnesty, cost thousands of civilians and
destroyed 90% of the city. Following the inauguration of
Trump as President of the United States in January 2017, he
ordered the military to no longer take into account
civilians during military operations in Syria, Afghanistan
and other countries where the United States ravaged. The
concept of "collateral damage" disappeared from the military
discourse. The military no longer distinguished between
civilians and armed men - a clear violation of the 4th
Geneva Convention.
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