US sanctions on Syria will not work

5 May 2010
Yesterday's decision by the US to renew economic sanctions on Syria did not come as a surprise, at least for us, in view of the escalation of tension by the US and Israel in recent days which included fabricating lies about Syria backing Hezbollah and upsetting the military balance with Israel.

The main allegation was that Syrian had provided Hezbollah with Scud missiles although the US simultaneously acknowledged that there was no evidence proving the validity of these allegations.

This campaign against Syria amounts to blackmail and intimidation, aimed at forcing concessions in the so-called peace process and prompting it to abandon its support for the Palestinian, Lebanese, and Iraqi resistance movements. It is also designed to compel Syria to distance itself from Iran, now number one enemey for Israel, the United States, and some Arab countries.

It was noticed that the American excuse for renewing these sanctions that have been imposed on Syria for five years is its support for Palestinian organizations, Hamas in particular; Syria is required to follow the example of the Arab moderation camp and accept US dictates to return unconditionally to futile and useless peace negotiations that provide a cover for continuing the Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and judaizing the holy places in them.

Syria was one of the few Arab countries which refused to take part in the meetings of the so-called Arab peace initiative's Follow-up Committee which held an extraordinary meeting at the Arab League's premises in Cairo, at an American request and Palestinian approval, to give the green light for resuming the indirect negotiations between the Palestinian [National] Authority and the Israeli side.

The US administration is searching at present for excuses to back an Israeli move taking shape now to deliver military blows to Lebanon and Syria and ignite a regional war that takes Israel out of its current quandary and growing international isolation. We must remember in this context the statements of Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman who threatened Syrian President Bashar al-Asad to overthrow his regime and other statements by Israeli officials who said they would bring Syria back to the stone age.

Syria cooperated well with the United States in the war on terror and responded to everything that was asked of it, either through threats or enticement, in the Iraqi dossier when it tightened the controls on the borders with Iraq to prevent the infiltrators who wanted to join the resistance movement or especially Al-Qa'idah organization. It erected security watch posts all along the borders with Iraq and the US administration itself acknowledged that Al-Qa'idah organization's operations had receded because of these Syrian measures.

Imposing American sanctions on Syria and at this specific time might be totally counterproductive. Of course, it will not make Syria give up its support for the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance factions and these acts of intimidation will not coerce it into abandoning its traditional alliance with Iran. More than that, these sanctions, which are clearly a provocation, might push it into more hard-line policies by increasing the support to these factions and towards the peace process on which the United States is at present wagering for providing the fig leaf to some Arab countries which are preparing to join an American-Israeli alliance that fights a war against Lebanon, Syria, and probably Iran too.