What is oing on? This is the time to intesify pressure on Syria!
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/549602.html
U.S. blasts Israel over Lebanon remarks
By Akiva Eldar
The United States has asked Israel to stop making statements about the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon. Washington believes these comments undermine American interests in the area by serving the interests of extremists in Arab countries who oppose the reforms that President George W. Bush wants to bring to Syria and other Arab nations.
U.S. Ambassador Dan Kurtzer delivered the message to the Foreign Ministry after Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom turned an Israeli demand for the withdrawal of all Syrian forces from Lebanon into the centerpiece of his latest visit to the United States, making it the main subject of all his public addresses.
A government source in Jerusalem said last night the issue was expected to be raised in conversations between Shalom and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Advisor Steve Hadley.
The message from Washington criticizes leaks to the press about contacts between Lebanese opposition figures and Uri Lubrani, the government’s special adviser on Lebanon, over the opening of a communications channel between Israel and its northern neighbor.
The Americans are also displeased with reports that Israel is demanding that the United States and Europe not reduce their pressure for a complete withdrawal of both Syrian forces and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. A Western diplomatic source said, “You don’t have to be a political genius to understand that public pressure from Israel for steps to be taken against Syria on the Lebanon issue could boomerang, since it would turn the U.S. and Europe, in Arab eyes, into puppets of Israel.”