| Submit your comments on this article |
| Syria-Lebanon |
| Bush Signs Syria Sanctions Bill |
| 2003-12-13 |
| EFL President Bush signed legislation Friday calling for economic penalties against Syria for not doing "Foreign policy would be more fun if the Senate would shut its pie-hole!" The legislation says Syria has provided a safe haven for anti-Israel terrorist groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad and is accused of pursuing the development and production of biological and chemical weapons. It states that Syria must end its support of terrorists, terminate its 27-year military presence in Lebanon, stop efforts to obtain or produce weapons of mass destruction and long-range ballistic missiles and interdict terrorists and weapons from entering Iraq. If Syria fails to meet those conditions, the president must ban sales of dual-use items, which can have both civilian and military applications. He also must impose at least two out of a list of six possible penalties: a ban on exports to Syria, prohibition of U.S. businesses’ operating in Syria, restrictions on Syrian diplomats in the United States, limits on Syrian airline flights in the United States, reduction of diplomatic contacts or a freeze on Syrian assets in the United States. Does it authorize the 4ID to swing west and march to the sea? At the White House’s insistence, the law gives Bush broad leeway to waive both the dual-use ban and the two sanctions on the basis of national security, or after determining that Syria has taken the actions required. In Syria’s case, sanctions would probably have greater political than economic effect, as bilateral trade amounts to only about $300 million a year. Though frustration remained, administration officials have cited signs of progress by Syria. They have said that Syria has taken |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #5 Now it's official. Isn't the first step to recovery admitting you have a problem? Now, let's hope that the next step will be Operation Damascus Freedom, to be quickly followed by its younger, quicker and even easier brother Operation Liberate Lebanon. |
| Posted by: Jennie Taliaferro 2003-12-13 9:41:30 PM |
| #4 Can Syria defend itself? Based on the account of the Thunder Run in Baghdad, I suspect a large portion of Syria's "armed forces" got chewed up in Iraq earlier this year. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2003-12-13 10:40:53 AM |
| #3 " March to the Sea " Kind of like the Civil War, when Sherman conducted his famous "March to the Sea". It destroyed the infrastructure that was helping the Southern armies survive. A Syrian march would most likely have a similar effect on the Terrorist infrastructure, though not bring it down. |
| Posted by: Charles 2003-12-13 5:15:57 AM |
| #2 Can Syria defend itself? Still amused with vision of Turks and Israelis sitting discreetly in the corner to figure how to divide Syria for mutual benefit. They might even let King Abdullah have a piece. You can make everyone's slice bigger when you cut the pie n-1 ways. |
| Posted by: Glenn (not Reynolds) 2003-12-13 4:37:05 AM |
| #1 "March to the sea." I like th esound of that. |
| Posted by: Pete Stanley 2003-12-13 2:31:05 AM |