The Obama team has lifted a ban on the sale of some high-tech equipment to Syria. A recognized state sponsor of terrorism. WSJ reports:
"The Obama administration has told Syria that it will work to ease U.S. sanctions against Damascus, as Washington intensifies its pursuit of détente with a longtime Middle East rival."
[As Obama intensifies his efforts to legitimize a dictatorial state sponsor of terrorism, having just recently decided to return a U.S. ambassador]
"The U.S. decision targets spare aircraft parts, information-technology products and telecommunications equipment, sales of which have been restricted by U.S. sanctions on Syria enacted in 2004. The step was conveyed Sunday by Washington's special Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, to Syrian President Bashar Assad during an hour-long meeting in Damascus." "The move represents the latest action in a rapidly accelerating reaproachement between Washington and Damascus initiated after President Barack Obama took office this year, said officials from both countries." [The move represents rapidly accelerating appeasement] The ban is formally called the "Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003". HR 1828. Signed into law by President Bush in 2004. The Act bans the exporting to Syria of all items on the Commerce Control List.The full text is here. The purpose of the Act is to- "To halt Syrian support for terrorism, end its occupation of Lebanon, and stop its developement of weapons of mass destruction, and by so doing hold Syria accountable for the serious international security problems it has caused in the Middle East, and for other purposes." [Obama's Syrian track is counter to those purposes] In that regard Congress made a total of 34 "findings" as important reasons for the action taken.These are listed in numerical order in the text of the bill. For example, in numerical order in the text, "finding #1 reads: 1. On June 24th 2002, President Bush stated "Syria must choose the right side in the war on terror by closing terrorist camps and expelling terrorist organizations." [Hizbullah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, they all still operate freely in Syria.] 2. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 [September 28, 2001] mandates that all states refrain from providing any form of support , active or passive, to entities or persons involved in terrorist acts, and deny safe haven to those who finance, plan, support, or commit terrorist acts. 3. The Government of Syria is currently prohibited by the United States law from receiving United States assistance because it has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism, as determined by the Secretary of State for purposes of section 6[j][1] of the Export Administration Act of 1979 [ 50 U.S.C. App.240 [j][1] and other provisions of law. [Lifting the ban on the sale of high-tech equipment such as telecommunications and information technology is providing support to a state sponsor of terrorism, Hizbullah and other Islamic terrorist groups that operate freely in Syria will certainly gain access.] It is not necessary to reproduce the whole list of findings here, they can be viewed by the reader easy enough by visiting the link to the Syria Accountability Act. But here are a few of the most noteworthy findings: 5. Terrorist groups, including Hizballah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the PFLP's General Command, maintain offices, training camps, and other facilities on Syrian territory, and operate in areas of Lebanon occupied by Syrian armed forces and recieve supplies from Iran through Syria. [To what extent are Syrian armed forces still in Lebanon ?] 20. On May 6, 2002, the Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, John Bolton, stated, "The United States knows Syria has long had a chemical warfare program. It has a stockpile of the nerve agent VX. Syria, which has signed but not ratified the [Biological Weapons Convention], is pursuing the developement of biological weapons and is able to produce at least small amounts of biological warfare agents. 27. Syria's illegal imports and transshipments of Iraqi oil during Saddam Hussein's regime earned Syria $ 50,000,000 or more per month as Syria continued to sell its own Syrian oil at market prices. [ One reason why the UN should be rejected as no longer a useful constructive body is demonstrated in #30 below] 30. Despite Article 23[1] of the United Nations Charter, Syria was elected on October 8,2001, to a 2-year term as a nonpermanent member of the United Nations Security Council beginning January 1, 2002, and served as President of the Security Council during June 2002 and August 2003. [Imagine that.] 31. On March 31,2003, the Syrian Foreign Minister, Farouq al-Sharra, made the Syrian regime's intentions clear when he explicitly stated that "Syria's interest is to see the invaders, [U.S. Coalition Forces], defeated in Iraq. 32. On April 13th 2003, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld charged that 'busloads of Syrian fighters entered Iraq with hundreds of thousands of dollars and leaflets offering rewards for dead American soldiers. 33. ...Syria permitted volunteers to pass into Iraq to attack and kill our service members during the war, and is still doing so*** [Syria's] behavior during Operation Iraqi Fredom underscores the importance of taking seroiusly reports and information on Syria's WMD capabilities. [Thank goodness Israel took it seroiusly, and "took out" Syria's nuclear site.] Reading through the list of 34 "findings" that served as the basis for the Syria Accountability Act, a total of six would no longer apply today. This is only because Saddam is no longer in power in Iraq to to continue selling oil illegally to Syria, and because Syria has withdrawn its army from Lebanon. [However, their proxy army Hizbullah is ].
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