The Administration Ramps Up Efforts Against Assad

Josh Rogin of Foreign Policy writes that Congress is starting to warm to the idea of confirming the U.S. ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford to Damascus despite the fact that some on Capitol Hill are still against the confirmation of having a U.S. ambassador to Syria.  Some on Capitol Hill are reluctant to confirm Ford since many other countries are withdrawing their envoys as a means to protest against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Despite thèse conflits, Rogin writes that the administration has been hinting that the “White House will officially call for Assad to step down this week.”  Additionally, the State Department has been involved in the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s visit to Syria by sending Fred Hof to Ankara in an effort to “coordinate pressures and messaging with the Turks.”  State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, ”In the case of Syria, the message from 2009 was, if you are prepared to open Syria politically, if you are prepared to be a reformer, if you are prepared to work with us on Middle East peace and other issues we share, we can have a new and different kind of partnership. And that is not the path that Assad chose.” In addition, the Treasury Department announced new sanctions against the Commercial Bank of Syria and its subsidiary, the Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank and Syriatel, which is the largest mobile phone operator. Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced a new Syria sanctions bill that would allow President Barack Obama to close off the U.S. financial system, markets and federal contracts to companies that invest in Syria’s energy sector, purchase oil and sell gasoline to Syria.

Joe Lieberman also released an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal confirming his support for the confirmation of Ambassador Robert Ford to Syria.  In addition, Lieberman argued that President Obama should not only “say unequivocally that Assad must go,” but that the administration should also persuade key countries “and companies to ratchet up the pressure on Assad- in particular by sanctioning the Syrian energy sector.”  Lieberman also emphasized the importance of working with Syria’s neighbors, like Turkey, to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches Syrians in cities like Hama and Deir Al Zour.

The administration is ramping up efforts to increase pressure on Assad as the violence has increased over the past several months with a report of nearly 1,800 people killed .  Assad’s thugs have used violent methods to kill people, including killing peaceful protesters in the head.