IS SYRIA NEXT ON THE HIT PARADE?

HOW LONG BEFORE ASSAD ENDORSES JOHN KERRY. YOU KNOW HE'S PRAYING FOR A KERRY VICTORY. OTHERWISE, IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE THE MARINES ARE USING ASSAD'S PRIVATE BATHROOM IN HIS PRESIDENTIAL PALACE.

Bush administration completes get-tough plan for Syria
The Bush administration has drafted contingency plans for bringing military and economic pressure against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Officials said the administration has determined that diplomacy has failed to resolve U.S. concerns that Syria has been working to destabilize the interim government in Iraq. They said the Assad regime has been harboring senior operatives of Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi, regarded as the most lethal insurgent in Iraq, aides to Saddam Hussein as well as Iraqi nuclear scientists as part of a Syrian policy coordinated with Iran.

On Monday, the State Department reiterated its criticism of Syria for its harboring groups deemed as terrorists, Middle East Newsline reported. The department refused to condemn the Sept. 26 assassination of a Hamas leader in Damascus in a car-bombing attributed to Israel. "If Americans are dying in Iraq because of Syrian policies, then this is something we are not going to tolerate," a senior official said....

Officials warned that unless Syria changes its policy within the next few weeks, the administration would consider economic and military measures against Damascus that would intensify in 2005. They said the Defense Department has drafted a range of military options meant to put Damascus on the defensive and encourage insurrection within Syria.