For Some, Syria Looms as Next Goal

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a new relationship has developed between the CIA and Syrian intelligence because Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network targeted the secular government in Damascus as well as the United States.

Rumsfeld's recent statement that singled out Syria along with Iran for assisting Iraq surprised not only the White House but also the CIA, which had not reported any major flow of military equipment or Islamic fighters from Syria to Iraq. It was seen by some as a shot not only at Syria but at CIA Director George J. Tenet.

"It is clear that the policy group in the Defense Department is intent on eliminating the present Syrian government as a factor in the Arab-Israeli dispute," said Walter P. "Pat" Lang, a former Defense Intelligence Agency specialist in Mideast affairs.