So Syria is the next target.

Strategy of making the enemy weak before attacking it.
Worked in Iraq.

/Michael Cornelissen



"Jean Guernon" <jguernon@globetrotter.net> wrote in message
news:3F859DDE.CACF1122@globetrotter.net...

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/US/10/08/whitehouse.syria/index.html

Syria sanctions bill moves forward
Wednesday, October 8, 2003 Posted: 2148 GMT ( 5:48 AM HKT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House International Relations Committee

recommended

approval Wednesday of a bill that would authorize President Bush to impose
economic and diplomatic sanctions against Syria.

The vote was 33-2 for the Syria Accountability Act, which now goes to the

House

floor. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee plans to look at the bill

later

this month, according to The Washington Post.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Secretary of State Colin

Powell

told Syrian President Bashar Assad during a visit to Damascus in May that

unless

Syria took steps against terrorist groups there would be moves in Congress

to

restrict U.S.-Syria relations.

"That's what we're seeing unfold because Syria hasn't taken any

significant

action against terrorist groups," Boucher said.

The vote followed an indication from the White House that Bush would sign

the

legislation, administration and congressional sources said.

For months, the White House had asked Republican leaders not to move

forward to

avoid complicating administration efforts to push the "road map" for

Middle East

peace.

But because of growing frustration with Syria's alleged support for

terrorism in

Israel and its failure to stop the flow of militants into Iraq,

administration

officials informed Republican leaders late last week they would no longer

oppose

the legislation, the sources said.

The change came before Israel's military strike Sunday against an alleged
terrorist training camp in Syria.
The Middle East peace plan has been stalled by continued terrorist

attacks, the

resignation of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmood Abbas, and accusations

Israel

is not sufficiently dismantling housing projects built on Palestinian

territory

against Palestinian objections.

The bill would threaten economic and diplomatic sanctions against Syria if

it

does not abandon support for the militant group Hezbollah and for Hamas

and

other terrorist groups.

It also would threaten sanctions if Syria does not end its occupation of

Lebanon

and stop producing and acquiring chemical and biological weapons.

The bill would direct the president to impose two of six possible

sanctions

against Syria. The options are:

. Ban exports to Syria of military and dual-use technology, such as
pharmaceuticals and related items.

. Prohibit U.S. businesses -- currently mostly oil companies -- from

operating

in Syria.

. Restrict Syrian diplomats in the United States.

. Block Syrian airline flights to the United States and its territories.

. Reduce or remove diplomatic contacts with Syria.

. Freeze Syrian assets in the United States.

The legislation would allow the president to waive any or all of the

sanctions,

and administration officials conceded the intent is to send a symbolic

message

to Syria about U.S. displeasure with its actions.

House leadership aides said the bill is likely to pass within the next two

weeks

or so.

The bill has more than 275 co-sponsors from both parties in the House,

including

Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas. Delay had pressed the Bush

administration to

support the bill. He formally signed on Friday after the administration

did.

The main House original co-sponsors are Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen,

R-Florida, and

Rep. Elliott Engel, D-New York.

In the Senate, the bill has 76 co-sponsors, led by Sen. Rick Santorum,
R-Pennsylvania, and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California.

CNN correspondent Dana Bash contributed to this report.
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The mere start of getting terrorists outside help addressed.

J.