The American Spectator

For several weeks now — ever since President Bush’s latest “big, stay the course” anti-terrorism speech — there has been heightened interest in what may or may not be happening between the U.S. and Syria.

Word this morning about this takedown, which will give Saddam yet another distant relative to hunker down with in prison, will further raise questions about just what is going on behind the scenes over at State and DOD.

We were at a dinner party several days ago where several European ambassadors or senior counselors to said embassies were in attendance, and each expressed separately a certainty that the U.S. was going to invade Syria sooner rather than later. On the face of it, such a plan seems absurd given the current political and strategic problems the Bush Administration is facing right now.

The Syrians in the past have several times done just enough to relieve themselves of a degree of pressure they were feeling from America. This may be one of those moments, but if in the coming weeks, as the constitutional vote takes hold, the violence does let up a bit, and Iraqi military and police forces show some capacity to face off against insurgents, we may look back at this arrest as yet another turning point in a story with a lot of turning points.