Posted on 02/18/2009 2:39:28 PM PST by nuconvert
Ambassador to Syria? It's all true that we haven't had one since 2005, and that we have imposed sanctions on the country, accused it of collaborating with Al Qaeda, and of trying to secretly build a nuclear reactor with the good help of North Korea. And it was Rafik Harrari's assassination in Lebanon in 2005 which precipitated our breaking relations with Syria and recalling our ambassador, as we assigned his murder to Syria.
And now, we are expecting a new ambassador to the Arab nation?
It was announced today that President Obama, in consultation with Secretary of State Clinton, decided to drop sanctions against Syria's military and energy programs. You may recall that in 2007, Nancy Pelosi went to Syria. And in early 2008, Obama adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, as well as then rival Clinton's national finance chair, Hassan Nemazee, were meeting with Assad.
Obama had apparently conveyed the message to Assad that should he win the election, he would reinstate diplomatic relations with Syria. And he's making good on that promise. An announcement should be forthcoming soon about the appointment of Frederic Hof.
Mr. Hof is best qualified for this post, in that first and foremost, he speaks Arabic. He has also been immersed in Middle East affairs for many years, and more specifically in trying to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He delivered a spectacular speech on March 20, 2008 at the The Palestine Center of the Jerusalem Fund titled "From Mitchell to Annapolis and Beyond: Thoughts on the American Role in Palestinian-Israeli Peacemaking'. You can download the pdf document or read it online here.
Mr. Hof and George Mitchell enjoy a close relationship, which is a definite plus for the U.S.
Though diplomatic sources have indicated that they would prefer Assad to cease his support of Hamas and Hezbollah, they are not expecting this to be a pre-condition to the appointment. Yesterday, a Syria daily announced that the United States had agreed to sell Boeing 747 spare parts to the state-owned Syrian airline. A breakthrough indeed.
Someone please shake me and wake me from this nightmare.
I feel the same way
We have had diplomatic relations with Syria all through the 8 years of Bush 43, Clinton, and the four years of Bush 41. Our embassy has always been up and operating and so has the Syrian Embassy in Washington. We have not sent an ambassador since 2005, instead using a Charge'.
I have heard that this report is false.
He hasn’t been announced yet. We’ll see.
we haven't had one since 2005, and that we have imposed sanctions on the country, accused it of collaborating with Al Qaeda, and of trying to secretly build a nuclear reactor with the good help of North Korea. And it was Rafik Harrari's assassination in Lebanon in 2005 which precipitated our breaking relations with Syria and recalling our ambassador, as we assigned his murder to Syria. And now, we are expecting a new ambassador to the Arab nation? It was announced today that President Obama, in consultation with Secretary of State Clinton, decided to drop sanctions against Syria's military and energy programs. You may recall that in 2007, Nancy Pelosi went to Syria. And in early 2008, Obama adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, as well as then rival Clinton's national finance chair, Hassan Nemazee, were meeting with Assad.
What I’d like to know is more about this Hof guy.
I fully expect him to fit into the unbroken string of decisions by Obama which favor Arab and Islamist interests. See my tagline for a small sampling.
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