Chapter 8, Part 2 Summary

A chance to develop an ally in Syria was thwarted when the Bush Administration refused to entertain the notion of giving the Syrian government "back-channel" access to Washington via the C.I.A. The Syrians had been cooperating by assisting the C.I.A. with anti-terrorism operations, and the C.I.A. wanted to reward Syria by removing them from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. The Bush Administration wanted no part of it, and accused Syria of possibly hiding Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Negotiations with Syria broke down, and a possible key ally was lost, in the C.I.A.'s view.

Chapter 8, Part 2 Analysis

Syria is in a unique position, in that it supports the 'struggle' against Israel by the Palestinians (which is viewed as overt terrorism by most of the world) but opposes other international terror...