February 10, 2005

HOW ABOUT THE EIGER SANCTION?:

U.S. calls in Syrian envoy, hints at sanctions (Reuters, 2/10/05)

The U.S. State Department called in Syria's ambassador this week and warned him Damascus must stop insurgents from crossing into Iraq and end support for Palestinian militants or risk fresh U.S. sanctions, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

The warning to Ambassador Emad Moustapha appeared to signal Washington is edging closer to imposing new sanctions on Syria, which Washington accuses of supporting Palestinian militants and of allowing money and arms to flow to insurgents in Iraq.

"You've got to move quickly and you've got to move definitively and it's probably going to take something big to forestall some very unpalatable options," said an official who summarized the message conveyed at the meeting.

While the official did not say what sanctions were being considered, U.S. officials have said they include restrictions that would effectively isolate Syria's banks and prohibit U.S. financial institutions from dealing with them.


Whose palate?

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 10, 2005 2:59 PM
Comments

How long is it now that the US has been hinting at sanctions against Syria? (Yikes! Sanctions!)

Guess we're waiting for the Syrians to take delivery of those new-fangled Russian surface-to-air missiles.

The American way. Wouldn't want it to not be a fair fight.

Posted by: Barry Meislin at February 10, 2005 3:12 PM

Whose palate? Obviously the one owned by organizations who threaten us. Oops, silly me, that still can't distinguish State from Syria.

Posted by: Luciferous at February 10, 2005 3:15 PM

What would sanctions against Syria mean? We have virtually no trade with them as it is.

The way to get rid of Baby Assad and the Baathists(sounds like a Reggae Group) is through Lebanon. It should be a fairly simple matter to force the French to put up or shut up( a win-win situation itself) and back real action in the UN to get the 'world community' behind the notion of a free Lebanon.

Posted by: Bart at February 11, 2005 9:34 AM
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