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White House, Congress on collision course over Syria

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Sunday, September 22, 2002

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."

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