The Bush administration and Congress are clashing over a proposal to impose additional sanctions on
Syria. The ongoing dispute has been complicated by the delay in U.S. plans to topple the regime of Iraq's Saddam Hussein.
The administration, seeking Arab support in any war against Iraq, has
asked Congress to delay a bill that would impose additional sanctions on
Syria. But several key supporters of sanctions have refused.
"For us to hold sanctions against other nations on the terrorist list
and turn a blind eye to what is happening in Syria today I think is an
oversight that only invites other nations to duplicate their trespasses,"
House Majority Leader Richard Armey said. "I think we can say again both of
us here are reluctantly but with resolve, asking this committee to move
forward with this resolution."
The proposed sanctions would limit the movement of Syrian diplomats in
the United States and ban U.S. exports to Syria of dual use items, Middle East Newsline reported. About 400
U.S. companies conduct business in Syria and bilateral trade was reported at
$224 million in 2001.
Administration officials have kept a low profile on the legislation,
called the Syrian Accountability Act. At first, the administration sought
and obtained a week's delay in a hearing by the House International
Relations Committee, originally scheduled for Sept. 11, as President George
Bush sent a letter to a key member of the committee.
"We both have genuine differences and areas of common interest with
Syria, managing our complex relationship with Syria requires a careful and
calculated use of all the options we have to advance U.S. interests," Bush
wrote Rep. Robert Wexler in a Sept. 3 letter. "Imposing the new sanctions
regime envisioned by the Syria Accountability Act, would limit our options
and restrict our ability to deal with the difficult and dangerous regional
situation at a particularly critical juncture."
At the rescheduled hearing on Wednesday, the administration did not send
a representative. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield
cancelled his appearance on the day of the hearing.
Instead, Satterfield submitted a statement that opposed the imposition
of additional U.S. sanctions on Damascus. The State Department official said
the administration has concluded that such a measure could hurt U.S. foreign
policy.
"The imposition of new sanctions on Syria would severely limit our
ability to address a range of important issues directly with the highest
levels of the Syrian government," Satterfield said.
Former U.S. ambassador to Morocco Edward Gabriel agreed. Gabriel,
currently a consultant, was representing the American Task Force on Lebanon.
"The passage of this act would not increase the U.S. leverage over Syria
or Syrian policy in Lebanon and in my opinion, Mr. chairman, it would
decrease it," Gabriel said. "Moreover, its passage would seriously impact
efforts underway by the United States to encourage Syria to increase its
cooperation in the war on terrorism and to move positively towards
implementing many of the goals set forth in the proposed act through
diplomacy and quiet persuasion."
But Rep. Eliot Engel, who with Armey is cosponsoring the bill, said the
Bush administration and its predecessors have never supported bills that
impinged on U.S. foreign policy. This included legislation that imposed
sanctions on Iran and Syria.
"The administration will say that they share our goals, that they think
what we're trying to do is the right thing but they don't think this is the
right way to do it, this is not the right time," Engel said. "I frankly
think Syria has a worse record than Iraq. I think Syria probably has the
worst record of any country in the world, perhaps other than Iran."
