Former secretary of state urges Bush administration to expand Mideast peacemaking efforts beyond Israel and Palestinians to include Damascus just hours after US said it would join Iraq-sponsored 'neighbors meeting' with Iran, Syria
Former US Secretary of State James A. Baker III on Tuesday urged the Bush administration to expand Mideast peacemaking efforts beyond Israel and the Palestinians to include Syria.   
Israel needs peace on both fronts, he said, while Syria may be able to influence the Hamas militia to recognize Israel's right to exist, thereby removing a roadblock to peace talks.  
At the same time, Baker said Syria must "stop screwing around" in Lebanon and stop transporting weapons to the Hizbullah militants there.  
Baker was co-chair of the Iraq Study Group, which in December recommended US dialogue with Iran and Syria, a course the administration has resisted until now.  
'We have no alternative'
He spoke in a lecture series at the Library of Congress just a few hours after the Bush administration, in a reversal, said it would join an Iraq-sponsored "neighbors meeting" with Iran and Syria.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said following an announcement on the launching of the new diplomatic initiative, "We hope these governments seize this opportunity to improve their relations with Iraq and to work for peace and stability in the region.”  
Baker, who was secretary of state under President George H.W. Bush, outlined a policy he called "pragmatic idealism."  
"We need to recognize and accept that the United States will sometimes have to deal with authoritarian states," he said, adding that the United States "must be comfortable using our power" but also recognize that it has its limits.  
"We have no alternative," Baker said. "If the United States does not exercise power, others will."  
In a lecture dedicated to former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, who sat in the front row, Baker said other countries depend on US leadership, particularly allies in Europe and East Asia.  
But, Baker said, "we cannot be, even if we wanted to be, the policeman for the world.'  
He cited Iraq as an example of the maxim that there are limits to US military strength.  
Baker, as secretary of state, organized the military coalition of European and Arab states that joined US forces in the Gulf War of 1990-91 that liberated Kuwait from Iraqi annexation.
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