Syria: "Can we play too?"

Walid al-Muallem wants to join Hezbollah and can't wait for his country, Syria, to go to war with Israel.

No big deal? People mouthing off about Israel is nothing new, but this isn't some random meat head rising to the bait in an Arabic version of "chicken hawk". Walid al-Muallem is Syria's foriegn minister.

from Gulf News
Syria's foreign minister offered yesterday to join Hezbollah and said his country's army had standing orders to respond immediately to any Israeli attacks.

"If you wish, I'm ready to be a soldier at the disposal of [Hezbollah chief] Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah," Walid Muallem said on arrival in Lebanon in a symbolic gesture.

Asked about concerns that the war in Lebanon could spill over into a regional war, Muallem said: "Most welcome".

"Syria is readying itself and doesn't hide its [military] readiness. We will respond to any Israeli aggression immediately," he added.

Muallem said later after talks with President Emile Lahoud: "If Israel attacks Syria by any means, on the ground, in the air, our leadership ordered the armed forces to reply immediately."

Syria's foreign minister thinks a full blown regional war would be "most welcome", but says the country won't actually get into the shit until Israel attacks them.

Some may see this as WWF-style bravado, but if his country decides to play host to Hezbollah and they so much as fire a spitball over the Golan, he'll probably get his wish.

Meanwhile Syria's information minister, Mohsen Bilal, described an Israeli air strike as "a racist, fascist and terrorist act committed with American weapons".

This is rather an odd statement for a Syrian government representative to make when you consider the amount of weapons his own country have supplied to terrorists, the warm welcome they gave to American Racist David Duke and the famously fascistic nature of the Syrian regime.

The statement was made on Syrian television, but I can't help thinking he was really playing to a certain audience in another country.

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