Engagement of Syria Knows No Limits

 One photo - worth more than one thousand words!

Friday, June 18, 2010

Middle East and Terrorism

by  Jennifer Rubin

Although Obama's efforts to engage the Syrian thugocracy have only succeeded in pushing Bashar al-Assad closer to Iran and placing Scuds in Hezbollah's hands, the president is not deterred. Not even the Republicans' effort to block the confirmation and redeployment of our ambassador to Damascus is going to halt Obama's suck-uppery. Indeed, he insists on rewarding Syria for its aggression:

The State Department has dispatched a high-level diplomatic and trade mission to Syria, according to senior U.S. officials, marking the latest bid by the Obama administration to woo President Bashar al-Assad away from his strategic alliance with Iran. The U.S. delegation comprises senior executives from some of America's top technology companies, including Microsoft Corp., Dell Inc., Cisco Systems Inc. and Symantec Corp., according to the U.S. officials. All these companies' businesses in Syria are constrained by U.S. sanctions. The mission is controversial, given recent U.S. allegations that Syria transferred missiles to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Syria, Hezbollah and Lebanon deny the allegations. U.S. officials said the business delegation will meet with Mr. Assad and his cabinet and seek to facilitate the flow of information technology into the Arab state, which is ranked by watchdog group Freedom House as among the most repressive in the world.

This is shocking even for this crew. Obama is committed to a foreign policy in which Israel is cut no breaks — indeed, is slapped around — for innocuous activity (building in Jerusalem) or for asserting its right of self-defense. Israel's enemies are coddled, encouraged, and extended olive branch after olive branch. The president, in fact, is encouraging bad behavior and signaling that there is no price for aggression.

Not surprisingly, this is being greeted with criticism from Congress and the human rights community, the latter of which has come to view Obama as working against its efforts to promote democracy and counteract repression:

Some lawmakers and Syrian human-rights activists criticized news of the State Department's mission Monday. … Some Syrian activists also voiced concern that Damascus's repression of political opponents could grow if the government develops more sophisticated technologies. "I think the administration is fooling itself it believes that this type of engagement will bring about a more democratic Syria," said Ammar Abdulhamid, a Syrian dissident based in Washington. "Assad has shown absolutely no signs of loosening his grip on society, and in many ways he's gotten worse."

Recall that last month Obama renewed sanctions that had been imposed by the Bush administration, declaring at the time that the regime was "continuing support for terrorist organizations and pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and missile programs, continu[ing] to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States." But now we send executives bearing gifts. Meanwhile, Iran looks on, no doubt convinced more than ever that Obama is not inclined to oppose regimes that brutalize their people and threaten Israel's destruction.

Obama insists on enabling dictators. Jewish groups are wedded to a strategy of enabling Obama. That leaves Israel to fend for itself. And so it will.

Jennifer Rubin

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Posted by Harry at 11:45 PM  

Note:  

Islam - at the White House, upon the invitation of Obama - within six months after he took office.  Now, if anyone should be surprised as to why this administration enables dictators, supports dictators, ... look again, at the photo ... the White House has been turned into a modern day MOSQUE.  NYC Ground Zero is being turned into a MOSQUE.

Time for America to wake up and stop this madness!  Your votes this November will determine whether or not Americans survive under the morals and principles of our Founding Fathers, or if ISLAM taking root now,  overpowers American freedoms.

Bee Sting