Twisting Syria’s Arm

While the war in Iraq divided the United States and “Old Europe,” the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri helped bring about a rapprochement of the trans-Atlantic alliance with Brussels, Paris and Washington joining the Lebanese opposition in demanding the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon.   Indeed, France, which had bore the brunt of the American’s reaction to Europe’s anti-war stance, has seen a thawing of what until now were icy relations between French President Jacques Chirac and the Bush administration. The dictum “punish France, ignore Germany and reward Russia,” which Condoleezza Rice was reported to have said while national security adviser, is now a policy of the past.   The administration of Bush’s second term in the White House appears to have had an epiphany - or to use its own terminology -- a change of heart and mind - moving away from the first term