Fox in the henhouse

The United Nations once again laid bare the fundamental flaws inherent in its organization and provided the United States with another reason why involving the U.N. in America’s war on terrorism would be more than just a bad idea.

Syria is a nation on the United States Department of State’s official list of nations that actively promote and support terrorism. They’ve made the list every year for the last 15 years, thanks to its policy of openly sponsoring 11 terrorist organizations including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah.

It was hoped that the death of the butcher of Hama, Hafez al-Assad, would bring with it the dawn of a new day in Syria. His son, Bashar was a mild-mannered ophthalmologist – a doctor and healer. But when he came to power after his father’s death, Bashar proved that the acorn does not fall far from the tree. Any hope of a thawing of relations between Jerusalem and Damascus faded almost immediately after Bashar picked up the reins of power.

But what Bashar has over his father is his shrewdness. The younger Assad has carefully weighed his options, looked for advantage, and seized opportunities his father would have missed. It was this shrewdness, coupled with the incomprehensible stupidity of the global diplomatic corps that allowed Syria to gain a seat on the 15-member Security Council. As I write these words, I am still stunned by them, even as they appear on the screen. Syria on the Security Council! In the middle of what is supposed to be a global war against terrorism.

Syria won’t have veto power, as do the five permanent members, but Syria is now a member of the global elite – an insider who will be intricately involved in all U.N. efforts, including the war on terrorism.

The U.N. didn’t reach its decision in a vacuum. Syria didn’t get picked out of a hat. The Security Council is the global community’s premier organization, the one responsible for ensuring global security. Giving it a seat on the Security Council is like giving the Columbian Cartel membership in the DEA. Or Yasser Arafat a seat in the Israeli Knesset. Damascus is a sworn enemy of peaceful negotiation – the stated mission and purpose of the United Nations since its inception.

Syria’s support of terror is not a figment of Israel’s imagination. Neither is it just a tool used by the State Department to contain the powder-keg situation between Israel and the surrounding Arab states. Syria has been the principal sponsor, defender, safe haven and training center for terrorist groups for decades.

One of the terrorist groups sponsored by – and based inside – Syria, is the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The PFLP was named last week by the State Department as a terrorist organization. Its spokesman, Ahmed Jabril, was quoted in the New York Times recently concerning the Sept. 11 terror attack against America that claimed more than 6,000 civilian lives: “I don’t feel sad at what happened in New York and Washington,” he said. “The American administration used to say that there are certain rogue states. You used to be proud of your democracy, and you visit the polls and you feel proud of your democracy. But if you would make ballot boxes in all the countries of the world, you would find that almost a majority would name the United States as the first rogue state.”

Syria called its elevation a vindication of its position of, “the just position of Syria which backs the fight against terrorism without confusing this phenomenon with resistance against (Israeli) occupation.”

One of Syria’s first official acts on the Security Council will be to call for the lifting of sanctions against Saddam Hussein. Syria has already voiced its opposition to the U.S. war on terror, repeating Osama bin Laden’s argument that it isn’t a war on terror, but on Islam.

There are a number of nations, particularly among our European allies, who have either refused to participate or have been harshly critical of Washington for launching its war without involving the United Nations. These same nations were among the 160 nations who voted to put Syria in the cat-bird seat at the U.N.

The inclusion of Syria as a member of the U.N. Security Council has just guaranteed that the West, in general, and the U.S. and Israel, in particular, will be in much greater danger from terrorists. Syria will, in all probability, sabotage efforts to effectively combat world terrorism, especially terrorism that originates with the Muslim fundamentalists. And you know what percentage of world terrorism they represent.