Why are we in Iraq today?

Because we didn't finish the job we started in 1991.

The objectives of the first Persian Gulf War were limited by the first President Bush's desire to bring together a large coalition of forces committed solely to chasing Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

Once that goal was accomplished, the U.S. didn't have the stomach, the will nor the support of its Arab allies to remove from power the man who ordered the invasion of Kuwait – Saddam Hussein.

It's important we don't call it quits in the region 12 years later until the job is finished.

What is the job?

The job should be destroying the terrorist infrastructure in the Middle East.

That means toppling regimes in Syria and Iraq – by any means necessary.

The logical next phase of this war should be to shift attention to Syria. Damascus not only supports terrorism, it is still at this very moment supporting Saddam Hussein's falling regime. It has been the No. 1 conduit of illegal weapons to Iraq.

Further, Syria is the only country in the Middle East actively occupying a neighboring country – just like Saddam Hussein did in 1991. That little neighbor is Lebanon – one of the few countries in the region that actually has a history of constitutional, republican-style government.

Why Syria and not Iran? Because Iran has domestic problems that could lead to the fall of the mullah regime at any moment. An invasion may not be necessary. But Syria is a second-generation, totalitarian police state. Uprisings are brutally crushed, and there is no chance of a popular rebellion. Thus, it will take outside force – the kind we are now employing in Iraq – to take down Damascus.

My G2 Bulletin was the first publication in the world to report Bush administration officials were actively considering such a plan. Now it's an open secret. The London Telegraph reported Syria was among the topics discussed by President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair during their summit in Belfast this week.

"There's got to be a change in Syria," Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."

His remark followed the March 29 threat by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld during a Pentagon briefing.

"And to Iraq's neighbor, Syria: We have information that shipments of military supplies have been crossing the border from Syria into Iraq, including night-vision goggles. These deliveries pose a direct threat to the lives of coalition forces. We consider such trafficking as hostile acts and will hold the Syrian government accountable for such shipments," Rumsfeld said.

Although left out of Bush's "axis-of-evil" illustration of countries harboring or sponsoring terrorists, Syria has gained increased scrutiny amid suspicions it allowed Hussein to transfer weapons of mass destruction across its border, allegations it supplied Iraq with illegal arms which are currently being used against coalition forces, and charges it and Iran have dispatched thousands of terrorists and suicide bombers into Iraq for attacks against coalition forces.

Syria was recently fingered as the middle man that provided GPS-jamming equipment made by a Russian firm in cooperation with the Russian military. In addition, Syria allowed the transfer of night-vision glasses to be used by Iraqi soldiers targeting American troops.

Another report suggests Syria recently also facilitated Baghdad's acquisition of 500 laser-guided anti-tank missiles from Russia.

There are also reports of Syria harboring Hussein's wife, Sajida – mother of Uday and Qusay.

Is it crazy to talk about extending the war in the Middle East? Recent history has shown us it may be crazy not to do so. Our troops are there now. We have made a huge commitment to one regime change. It won't be easy to do this again a year from now or 10 years from now.

There is no chance Syria will change its stripes without force. There is no chance Lebanon will be free without a regime change in Damascus. There is no chance we will wipe out the world's biggest terrorist base in the world – in Lebanon – without targeting Syria.

Let's not leave the job unfinished again.
 

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