The Sun News

Recent Articles

Holocaust or Hoax, The Global Warming Debate Heats Up
by Leland Lehrman

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What is a Culture of Peace?
by Louise Diamond

“Powerbrokers” (Legislative Leadership and Lobbyists) in Control of Conference Committee
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NM Senate Joint Memorial to Begin Process of Prohibiting Production of New Nuclear Weapons in New Mexico
by Leland Lehrman

Legislature is a “Brain Trust” to Accomplish All We Need in New Mexico
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Diplomacy the Watchword, Ambassadors Converge on New Mexico
by Leland Lehrman

The Council on International Relations (CIR) renders New Mexico a profound service with its regular speaker schedule, which recently included the Syrian Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Imad Moustapha. Mr. Moustapha holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Surrey, UK and has served as the Dean of the Faculty of Information Technology at the University of Damascus, as well as the Secretary General of the Arab School on Science and Technology.

Mr. Moustapha was kind enough to give us a few words before dinner at the La Fonda hotel in Santa Fe. First, we discussed the Iraqi refugee situation in Syria, recently highlighted in the New York Times, and the related violence in Lebanon. Although the events were not directly connected according to the Ambassador, they were connected by the foreign occupations, both in Palestine and Iraq, and the understandably “angry people” which those occupations produce. Mr. Moustapha explained that these occupations were fueling extremism and chaos, and stated quite matter of factly, that “no one likes a foreign occupier.” He recalled that Syria had fought France for twenty five years, enduring a twenty day bombardment of Damascus before the French finally withdrew. He also noted with pleasure that now that Syria is its own country, there is no animosity at all between Syria and France and there are active economic and cultural exchanges going on between the two countries. He was clearly pointing out that the US and Iraq could be friends if only we would just leave.
When I recalled that the United States had had some problems with foreign occupation in the past, he noted that when we were battling the British, we too would have been called “terrorists” or “insurgents.”

Discussing the Palestinian situation, he noted that the people there have “no jobs, no universities, no services, can’t collect taxes because the Israelis confiscate them,” and that extreme measures create extreme reactions. It was quite clear that Mr. Moustapha is an able ambassador, honest and forthright without being accusative.
“Death, disaster, bloodshed,” he lamented, asserting that nobody knows or can control the forces that are being unleashed in Iraq where 150-200 civilians die every day, never mind the injured. It’s a failed state, it has the second largest reserves of oil in the world and it’s importing oil from Syria because the refineries and the infrastructure can’t operate. It’s a completely chaotic situation of crimes, gangs, and ineffective US military solutions.

When I asked him what the solution was he said, “we have no magic wand,” but that there was not going to be a solution as long as the US refused to negotiate with the Syrians and the Iranians and the rest of the Middle East in good faith. There is no political process under the Bush administration, he said, stating with disbelief that it was only in the last month, after Nancy Pelosi made her trip to Damascus that the Bush Administration and Condoleeza Rice’s State Department had even been willing to talk with his office. And then they came asking for help without offering anything in return, not even a pledge to continue the negotiations.

Regarding the “neocons” as he called them - the warmongers in the Defense Department like Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle who dreamed up the strategy of regime change in Iraq, Syria, Iran and beyond - Moustapha said that their plans were no more than a “dream, a fantasy,” and that the Syrians were no longer concerned about their own fate now that the Iraq disaster has become so obvious and difficult for the Bush Administration. “Not now, not anymore,” he said, going on to report that the neocon ideology was based on “total destruction,” and that the Middle East “doesn’t want your (the neocon’s) freedom, thank you very much.” The neconservatives just create “one crisis after another,” hoping that if they fail one place they will be “successful somewhere else,” but he noted ominously that any attempt to effect regime change in Iran, as the President has just authorized the CIA to do covertly, will be “100 times more of a problem” than Iraq.

Moustapha noted that the leaders of Congress, both Republican and Democrat were all much more diplomatically engaged than the Bush Administration and wondered why the Bush Administration thought it was going to successfully solve its problems by not talking to anyone. “This is like kindergarten,” he laughed, and I have to agree.
I was left with a deep feeling of respect for the Ambassador, and asked him to convey our peaceful regards to his countrymen. As I write this, I also feel a deep sense of shame when I consider the difference between his open goodwill and the militant hard-heartedness and schoolyard bullying style of our own country’s leadership.

There will be a CIR free preview lecture on 21st Century Iran by the former Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations, Dr. Mansour Farhang and Dr. John E. Woods, June 3rd at the Santa Fe Community College. Contact Holly Bradshaw Eakes who helped us arrange this interview with the Syrian Ambassador for more details at 989-5337.

Leland Lehrman can be reached at (505) 982-3609 or leland.lehrman@gmail.com