Dave Eberhart, NewsMax.com
Friday, April 11, 2003

The Rumsfeld camp claimed Iraqi irregulars had come from Syria to fight in northern Iraq and that Syria was providing weapons to Baghdad -- both warlike acts. Reports in the media even had the Pentagon whipping up plans for a possible invasion of Syria and undersecretaries burning the midnight oil composing fresh policy papers highlighting how Syria's support of terrorist groups threatens the region.

But the Colin Powell camp has been stamping on such rumors of war, resting comfortably on the notion that once the U.S. takes interim charge in Iraq, it will hold the purse strings that can throttle Syria into obeisance.

Iraq: Key to Syria's Economic Health

The fact is that over the past few years Iraq has been one of Syria's largest export markets and vital to its flagging economy. The disruption of trade in terms of oil, agricultural and industrial goods -- brought on by the war alone -- could amount to annual losses to Syria of as high as $2 Billion.

Standing by itself, the oil issue is potentially catastrophic for Syria’s economy. In those halcyon days before the invasion and the soon to come American payback, the illegal Iraqi oil flow was the Golden Goose of the Syrian economy.

U.N. sanctions to the Devil, Syria gobbled up bootlegged Saddam oil at a discount of up to 50 percent of market value. This happy state of affairs permitted Syria to sell more of its own premium-priced crude at a windfall -- rather than consuming it at home.

Not that Syria was alone in turning a blind eye to the U.N. sanctions. Jordan was happy to gulp 100,000 barrels a day, with U.S. ally Turkey taking its share at the rate of 50,000 barrels a day. All told during last year alone, Iraq smuggled some 450,000 barrels a day outside the U.N. oil-for-food program.

Oil Under the Bridge

However, what will really cost Syria its payback of economic sanctions is how that underground railroad of oil featured a two-way street of betrayal.

The offending northern pipeline that carries crude from Iraq's northern fields to Syria's Souedieh area was (and perhaps still is) pumping away at the rate of 20,000 barrels a day. Supplementing the pipeline, a railway between Syria and Iraq transported relatively small amounts of oil. Furthermore, according to Western intelligence sources, that same railway transported bartered-in-exchange-for-oil military equipment back to Iraq.

Ironically, Syria, fast earning its stripes as an associate member of the Axis of Evil, was not always in bed with Iraq. The two countries went to the brink of war in 1975 in a border dispute over the Euphrates River. Syria stood fast with Iran during the long and bloody Iran-Iraq war. Furthermore, Syria was a salient in the international force that pushed Iraq out of Kuwait during the 1991 Gulf War.

But after signing a lucrative free-trade pact with Iraq in 2000, Syria felt well disposed enough towards the dictatorship to lobby the U.N. to end sanctions against Iraq.

Paybacks Are Hell

And the rest is history -- with the most unpalatable part yet to be eaten by Syria as its free trade heyday with Iraq perhaps dwindles to the role of most unfavored nation.

The House has already passed an amendment to the nearly $80 billion emergency war spending bill that bars French, German, Russian and Syrian companies from any of the $2.8 billion in the budget appropriated for rebuilding Iraq.

Meanwhile, Syria continues to march, refusing to aid in the capture of Hussein and his henchmen:

"The United States Army has secured the Iraqi borders with Syria since the early days of this conflict," said Imad Moustapha, Syria's deputy ambassador to United States, in an interview with CNN Thursday.

"They are the ones that are controlling those borders. Let them decide who ... they want to go into Syria or stay in Iraq."

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

Saddam Hussein/Iraq

United Nations

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