‘US casting Syria as scapegoat for Iraq failure’

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2005/September/middleeast_September410.xml§ion=middleeast&col=

DAMASCUS - Syria on Wednesday challenged the United States to submit evidence about its claims that it has failed to control the flow of militants into Iraq, saying Washington was trying to turn Syria the “scapegoat” for US failures in Iraq.

The comments in an editorial in the Tishrin government newspaper came in response to US President George Bush’s announcement on Tuesday that he would rally US allies in a diplomatic effort to stop Syria from blocking the emergence of democracy in the Middle East.

Speaking at a press conference with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani during the latter’s visit to Washington, Bush had said he would raise the Syrian issue in conversations with friendly countries at the United Nations this week.

“The Syrian government can do a lot more to prevent the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq,” he said, adding that Syria is “going to become more and more isolated” as a result of its policies toward both Iraq and Lebanon.

displacing blame , creating a boogie man and giving the clueless new ammo