Ros-Lehtinen Calls for International Isolation toward Syria

U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said that Italy’s decision to recall its ambassador from Damascus will “help increase international isolation of the bloodthirsty Syrian regime.”  Ros-Lehtinen said that rather than seeking confirmation of Robert Ford’s position as ambassador to Syria, the Obama Administration should “immediately implement the full range of sanctions under existing U.S. law, including by recalling our ambassador.”

Additionally, Ros-Lehtinen with Representative Eliot L. Engel (D-NY) authored the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-175), which mandated sanctions, such as the reduction of U.S. diplomatic ties with the Syrian regime, against Syria for “threatening activities.”  Both Ros-Lehtinen and Engel also authored the Syria Freedom Support Act (H.R. 2106), which seeks to strengthen existing U.S. sanctions against the Syrian regime.

Josh Rogin writes on Foreign Policy that lawmakers and activists are increasing pressure on the Obama Administration to call for President Bashar al-Assad’s removal.  The U.N. Security Council issued a presidential statement on Wednesday that condemned the violence in Syria and called for those responsible to be held accountable, however, the statement did not call for an international investigation.  Additionally, Rogin writes that U.S. senators are calling on the administration to ban U.S. businesses from “operating or investing in Syria, impose stringent sanctions on Syria’s banking sector, restrict the travel of Syrian diplomats within the United States, and block property transactions in which the Syrian government has an interest,” as well as halting investments in Syria’s oil and gas sector.