Over the last few months, the administration has eased restrictions on
the Assad regime imposed over the last decade. Officials said the latest
measures approved by Washington included the export of Internet technology
to Damascus, the removal of Syria from airport security measures and the
approval of U.S. visas for Syrian nationals.
"I just experienced this firsthand," a Syrian blogger on the
authoritative Web site Syria Comment said. "I'm applying for a U.S. visa and
the form DS-157, which has an extra 10 pages that only nationals of the five
'evil' countries are required to fill, including detailed information of
countries you've visited in the last 10 years. The one I have been filling
in the last 10 years whenever I apply for U.S. visa has disappeared from
their Web site. I contacted the consulate and they confirmed that that's not
a requirement anymore."
The administration has also rejected calls from Congress to suspend the
confirmation process of Robert Ford as the new U.S. ambassador to Syria. On
April 13, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to confirm Ford amid
reports that Syria transferred Scuds to Hizbullah.
"If anything, we need [an ambassador] in Damascus full time just to
ensure that reality gets its day in court now and then," a senior
administration official was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying.
For her part, Ms. Clinton said the administration has been
concerned over reports that Syria shipped Scud-class ballistic missiles to
Hizbullah. But she said this must not stop plans to send Ford to Damascus.
Where we are as of today is that we believe it is important to continue
the process to return an ambassador," Ms. Clinton said on April 22. "This is
not some kind of reward for the Syrians and the actions they take that are
deeply disturbing."
