Bush Imposes New Sanctions On Syria

President Seeks To Punish Government Officials For Activities In Iraq And Lebanon

(AP)  President Bush, stepping up pressure on Syria, ordered new sanctions Wednesday to punish officials in Damascus for alleged efforts to undermine stability in Iraq and meddle in Lebanon's sovereignty and democracy.

Bush, in an executive order, said he was expanding penalties against senior government officials in Syria and their associates deemed to be responsible for — or to have benefited from — public corruption. The order did not specifically name any officials.

Bush signed the order a day after Imad Mughniyeh, one of the world's most wanted and elusive terrorists, was killed in a car bombing in Syria nearly 15 years after dropping from sight. The one-time Hezbollah security chief was the suspected mastermind of attacks that killed hundreds of Americans in Lebanon and of the brutal kidnappings of Westerners.

"The world is a better place without this man in it," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. "One way or the other, he was brought to justice."

The White House said Wednesday's executive order built on one Bush issued in May 2004 that banned all U.S. exports to Syria except for food and medicine. His earlier action followed long-standing complaints that the Middle Eastern nation was supporting terrorism and undermining U.S. efforts in Iraq.

The 2004 order also banned flights to and from the United States; authorized the Treasury Department to freeze assets of Syrian nationals and entities involved in terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, occupation of Lebanon or terrorism in Iraq; and restricted banking relations between U.S. banks and the Syrian national bank.

The U.S. had complained that Syria was supporting militant groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah and failing to stop guerrillas from crossing the border into Iraq.

A White House statement on Wednesday said Syria was undermining efforts to stabilize Iraq and allowing Syrian territory to be used for that purpose.

Syria's government "continues to pursue other activities that deny the Syrian people the political freedoms and economic prosperity they deserve, and that undercut the peace and stability of the region," according to the statement.

"Syria continues to undermine Lebanon's sovereignty and democracy, imprison democracy advocates, curtail human rights and sponsor and harbor terrorists," it said. "The United States will continue to stand with the people of Syria and the region as they seek to exercise their rights peacefully and to build a brighter future." Lebanon is gripped by turmoil as Syrian-supported Hezbollah struggles for power with the U.S.-backed government.

Just last June, Bush signed a proclamation barring U.S. entry to people it says are undermining the stability of Lebanon and its government.

Syria held political and military sway in tiny neighboring Lebanon for some three decades. Besides armed troops on Beirut streets, Syrian intelligence forces were often a shadowy but pervasive force in Lebanese daily life.

[gce65]

More sanctions? What are these ones, no more Coca Cola? No more Nikes?

[quetzal0666]

Sounds Like Syria Balked at having the Pipeline
to ISHREAL Cut through their territory with not enough Compensation...

[neoconrcrazy]

It baffles me to hear how we are so quick to condemn, but so reluctant to understand.

The forcable eviction of over 1 million palestinians in 1948-49 from their homes and villages by israeli terror squads created long-term refugee problems in neighboring; Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt.

Ghettos in these countries formed by the masses of palestinians now without a country. Their populations increased and they became a social sore as well as a political problem.

Most of these countries sympathize with the plight of the palestinians but would prefer they had their own home.

israel refuses their right to return;
israel refuses to return their lands;
israel refuses to pay them reparations;
israel refuses their right to exist.

so before condemning blindly, try to understand why things have become what they are.

[brianbwb-2009]

"If we have to fight a war, shouldn''''t we fight with muscle in our action?" Posted by dumbshun

Absolutely, the problem is that we didn''t, and don''t have to fight this one, we are there only because Bush lied.

[brianbwb-2009]

"(AP) President Bush, stepping up pressure on Syria, ordered new sanctions Wednesday to punish officials in Damascus for alleged efforts to undermine stability in Iraq and meddle in Lebanon''s sovereignty and democracy."

So when Bush destroyed stability in Iraq, and ignored its'' sovereignty, then destroyed any semblance of democracy by imposing a puppet government on them, as well as having done the same in Afghanistan, that was OK?

No wonder the US has lost its international respect.

If held to the same standard, the US should have been sanctioned long ago by the rest of the world.

[rudy654-2009]

Posted by dumbshun at 01:42 AM

They are third world countries. Other than weird governments, the people really don''t have anything. Their militaries don''t have the same level of weaponry. They are poor people, that''s all they are. When you go showing muscle to people who have a hole in the ground for a toilet, what''s the purpose? How proud can you be beating up people who have zilch? The Syrian government was all to happy to give the US a hand and torture some Canadian citizen. How strange these governments.

[rudy654-2009]

Didn''t the US send people to Syria (particularly a Canadian citizen) for some "questioning"? So then, how does it work that the US can get them to torture someone for them, while at the same time the country is aiding the enemy in Iraq? When is this ever going to make any sense?