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Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey: Time for Trump's State Department to call them sponsors of terrorism
[Washington Examiner] Since 1979, the State Department has maintained a State Sponsor of Terrorism list. Three laws inform the designation: (1) The Export Administration Act of 1979; (2) The Arms Export Control Act; and (3) the Foreign Assistance Act. If the secretary of state determines a country "has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism," onto the list it goes. Libya, Iraq, South Yemen, and Syria were charter members of the list, and Cuba, Iran, and North Korea all joined in the 1980s. In 1993, Secretary of State Warren Christopher added Sudan, which at the time hosted Osama Bin Laden. Over the next several years, however, the State Department removed most countries: South Yemen left the list in 1990 when, upon Yemeni unification, it ceased to exist, and Iraq was removed after Saddam Hussein's ouster. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice removed both Libya and North Korea less because either state abandoned terrorism, and more to advance unrelated diplomatic initiatives. Secretary of State John Kerry acted similarly with regard to Cuba. Today, only Iran, Syria, and Sudan remain listed, and it's likely that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will remove Sudan soon. The shrinking of the state sponsorship list against the backdrop of worsening terrorism, much of it supported by governments, highlights how subjective short-term diplomatic considerations corrupt what should be a tool to pressure states to stop using terror. It's time to return the terror list to its original purpose: calling out states which embrace terrorism, no matter whether they are U.S. allies or not. Certainly, Iran and Syria deserve to be on the list. The Palestinian Authority would too, if it was a state. Rice removed North Korea for all the wrong reasons, and the Trump administration should rectify that mistake. But, what about the other countries that have never been on the list but deserve to be? Posted by: Besoeker 2017-09-28 |
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