According to The Guardian, Arab leaders are pushing Bashar Assad to reopen talks with Israel:

Bashar Assad, the Syrian president, is being urged by Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan to restart bilateral talks with Israel that collapsed in 2000.

...

But US neo-conservatives are urging the US Bush administration to isolate Mr Assad, even if that means blocking talks with Israel. Richard Perle, former Pentagon adviser, said: "Assad has never been weaker and we should take advantage of that."

Aargh! That is exactly when you want to negotiate with someone — when they have their backs to the wall.

Assad is widely perceived as a weak heir to his father's country. The other Baathist state (Iraq) has collapsed. He is under criticism for letting jihadis sneak across the desert to kill Westerners and Iraqis. He was basically forced to flee the former puppet state of Lebanon, and is still under suspicion for the murder of a pro-independence politician. The list goes on and on.

An opportunity to show leadership, gain prominence and, most importantly, get the international community off his back (or even behind him, like Arafat immediately after Oslo) would be something that he could not resist.

It would be asinine for the US to stand in the way.

(via Jew School)

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