Posted on 12/13/2003 12:29:25 AM PST by IsraelBeach
Bush Signs Syria Sanctions Bill
By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - President Bush signed legislation Friday calling for economic penalties against Syria for not doing enough in the fight against terrorism in the Middle East and in Iraq.
Bush signed the bill into law with no fanfare before leaving the White House for the Camp David retreat in Maryland. The White House announced the move Friday evening.
Bush is generally not enthusiastic about such restraints on his diplomatic options and, in a statement, signaled that was the case with this bill as well.
"My approval of the act does not constitute my adoption of the various statements of policy in the act as U.S. foreign policy," he said.
Syria long has been on the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism, along with North Korea, Sudan, Cuba, Iran and Libya. But Syria is the only country on that list to have full diplomatic relations with the United States.
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.
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 the past, the Bush White House and its predecessors have made liberal use of waivers to avoid disrupting diplomatic links.
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 steps to prevent anti-American terrorists and weapons from crossing its border with Iraq, offered more cooperation in searching for Iraqi frozen assets and lent support for a U.S.-sponsored U.N. Security Council on Iraq.
However, lawmakers who supported the bill said Damascus had fallen short in numerous other areas.
Following the bill's passage last month, Syria's Prime Minister Naji al-Otari dismissed the sanctions threat. He said in remarks published in the Egyptian magazine Al-Mussawar that they would have only a "very modest" effect. He also labeled the anti-U.S. fight inside Iraq a "liberation movement."
But Bush is is dismaying Christians and Jews more and more by the day.
It's that insanity of fighting the war on terror,
while wanting to create a terrorist state next to our best friend in West Asia, Israel.
Bush
must
think
he's
unbeatable
and
doesn't
need
Christians
or
God
any...
more.
[...]
Syria's Prime Minister Naji [...] labeled the anti-U.S. fight inside Iraq a "liberation movement."
Uh-huh, they're making progress ... riiiiiiight.
Hardly..this isn't Bill Clinton we're talking about here. He doesn't act based on polls or whether he perceives himself as vulnerable on the subject.
So then we should support evil else the other supporters of evil will get to support evil even more...aye?
Anyway, these sanctions are meaningless because the Congress doesn't have the constitutional power to tell the president that he "must" do something.
U.S. congressional delegation presses Syria to curb militants
By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press
Posted: Saturday December 13th, 2003, 7:47 AM
Last Updated: Saturday December 13th, 2003, 7:47 AM
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - U.S. Congress members pushed Syria to do more to curb militants and stop infiltration into Iraq during a visit Saturday, a day after President Bush signed legislation threatening sanctions on Syria.
Damascus has denounced the legislation, passed last month, saying it would hurt U.S.-Syrian ties and set back the Mideast peace process - and Bush, who has resisted the bill's restraints on his diplomatic options, has signaled he likely won't follow through with sanctions.
The eight-member congressional team, led by Representative Christopher Cox, arrived in the Syrian capital Saturday and went into talks with President Bashar Assad. The delegates belong to the House Homeland Security Committee, which is chaired by Cox, a California Republican.
The new U.S. law accuses Syria of hosting Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad and seeking biological and chemical weapons. It says Syria must withdraw its 20,000 troops from neighboring Lebanon and stop militants and weapons from crossing the border into Iraq.
If Damascus does not comply, the law calls for Bush to impose economic sanctions, ranging from banning the sale to Syria of dual-use items, which can have both civilian and military applications, to freezing Syrian assets in the United States.
Bush signaled he would likely use waivers in the bill to avoid imposing sanctions. "My approval of the act does not constitute my adoption of the various statements of policy in the act as U.S. foreign policy," he said in a statement after signing the bill late Friday.
The Syrian government, which is usually slow to react to sensitive matters, maintained a silence on the law Saturday. Newspapers did not report the enactment, which came after newspapers had gone to print.
Syrian officials have previously said the threatened sanctions will not have much affect, since Syrian trade with the United States is worth only about $300 million a year.
Cox told reporters Friday that the new law is intended to tell the Syrian government "the door is open to greater cooperation."
"We haven't seen (cooperation) thus far, and we would like very much to see it. But we're certainly not going to be quiet about it," Cox said during a stop in Rome.
Syria long has been on the State Department's list of sponsors of terrorism, along with North Korea, Sudan, Cuba, Iran and Libya. But Syria is the only country on that list to have full diplomatic relations with the United States.
Syria says it has shut down the offices of Palestinian militant groups in its capital and insists the groups are not terrorists but fighters resisting Israeli occupation of their homeland. It also says it is doing as much as it can to prevent fighters from crossing the long and porous eastern border into Iraq.
Syria denies it is pursuing weapons of mass destruction.
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