In the Lion's Den_ An Eyewitness Account of Washington's Battle With Syria - Andrew Tabler [119]
7. The request was still pending as of March 2010.
8. Michael Evans, “Syrian Pipeline Helps Iraq Evade UN Sanctions,” The Times, December 16, 2002.
9. A book published in 2001 in Syria by the defense minister Mustafa Tlass was rumored to have said that Rifaat received a large chunk of Syria’s foreign-exchange reserves in return for his peaceful departure.
10. Robert McMahon, “Syria’s U.S. Ambassador: Syria Can Play ‘Constructive Role’ in Resolving Lebanese War,” Council on Foreign Relations, August 7, 2006.
11. Alfred Prados, “Syria: U.S. Relations and Bilateral Issues,” Congressional Research Service, January 23, 2003. Syria reportedly provided intelligence stemming from its interrogations of a German-Syrian national, Mohammed Haydar Zammar, suspected of playing a role in the September 11 attacks. Damascus also provided information on Mohamed Atta, one of those directly involved in the World Trade Center attack, who worked in Aleppo in the 1990s. Valuable information was also given about Ma’mun Darkazanli, a Syrian businessman who allegedly served as a financial conduit to al-Qaeda members. See International Crisis Group Report, no. 23, Syria Under Bashar (I): Foreign Policy Challenges, February 11, 2004. See also Seymour M. Hersh, “The Syrian Bet,” The New Yorker, July 28, 2003. However, Syrian intelligence did not give American investigators access to Zammar, leading analysts to question the degree of cooperation. See Ryan Mauro, “Has Damascus Stopped Supporting Terrorists?,” Middle East Quarterly, Summer 2009, pages 61–67, citing Washington Institute senior fellow Matthew Levitt.
12. Syria, which was the uncontested candidate of the UN’s Asia Regional Group for a rotating seat on the Security Council, received support from 160 of 178 nations voting in the UN General Assembly. As is the case in all elections to the Security Council, the United States did not disclose its vote. “Syria Gains Seat on U.N. Security Council,” United Press International, October 8, 2001.
13. My hard feelings about Egypt did not last long, and I continue to enjoy visits there and value my Egyptian friends. See Andrew J. Tabler, “Making Peace with Egypt,” Institute of Current World Affairs (newsletter), May 2006.
2. THE GREAT UNRAVELING
1. “U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell Addresses the U.N. Security Council,” White House press release, February 5, 2003, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/02/20030205-1.html#20.
2. UN Resolution 68 1441 became the basis for the US-led “coalition of the willing,” which invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003.
3. Cuba and Yemen voted against Security Council Resolution 678, which gave legal justification for the Gulf War of 1990–1991. It passed by a vote of 12 to 2 (China abstaining) on November 29, 1990.
4. “Security Council Wraps Up Two Days of Debate on Iraq,” UN News Centre, October 17, 2002, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?Cr=iraq&Cr1=&NewsID=5078.
5. Nicholas Blanford, “London Journalist Arrested in Syria,” The Times, January 1, 2003, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article807352.ece.
6. Asma al-Assad, interview with the author, February 2003; CV of Asma al-Assad.
7. Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act, December 12, 2003, Section 2, Point 9.
8. As-Safir (Lebanon), March 27, 2003.
9. Neil MacFarquhar, “For Arabs, New Jihad Is in Iraq,” New York Times, April 15, 2003; Gary C. Gambill, “The American-Syrian Crisis and the End of Constructive Engagement,” Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, April 2003.
10. Neil MacFarquhar, “Syria Wants U.S. to Lose War, Its Foreign Minister Declares,” New York Times, March 31, 2003.
11. As cited in Gambill, “The American-Syrian Crisis.”
12. Ibid.
13. MacFarquhar, “For Arabs, New Jihad.”
14. As cited in Gambill, “The American-Syrian Crisis.”
15. Bill Gertz, “Iraqi Oil Pipeline to Syria Closed,” Washington Times, April 16, 2003, http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030416-1723360.htm.
16. As cited in Gambill, “The American-Syrian