| Washington imposes punitive sanctions on Syria | 6 comments |
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13 May 2004 @ 07:10, by Sandi Hunter
From: Ray.of.Light@ Light-Mission.org
“Assume nothing, it is a Fact that *once all conditioned ideas and
images and meanings and notions of all sorts are let go of* Truth is
Truth regardless of who is looking at it. It is our conditioned notions that make us *think* that everyone can have their own truth, that is why there s so much conflict and war and abuse and abandonment and Suffering in the world. The Key of course being that we let go of our cherished conditioned notions, THEN we will all see the same answers.
For there is but One answer, Truth, and Truth does not come in various flavors according to our liking. Letting go of our dearly beloved conditioned notions is most Painful, for we have grown quite dependent on them for our seeming securityand sense of importance and the support of our ego. When we Realize that the only thing that is important is that we BE our True unconditioned Nature, we Realize the folly of our conditioned thinking and behavior. But the cost of letting go of those closely held conditioned notions is too High for most to bare, for it requires the most Painful and arduous struggle with the Grand Trickster our conditioned mind that we will ever under take. For we will give up most anything including life itself for some cause whether it be noble or foolish, yet will not give up even a minor shard of the Causes of our Suffering.”
Washington imposes punitive sanctions on Syria
By Peter Symonds
13 May 2004
In a move designed to threaten and intimidate the Middle East as a whole, the Bush administration announced a series of tough sanctions against Syria on Tuesday, claiming that the country constituted “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy and the economy of the United States”.
On the face of it, Washington’s assertion is absurd. Syria is a small, impoverished country with a population of around 17 million and an estimated GDP of just over $40 billion. Militarily, it is sandwiched between the US army of occupation in Iraq, and a belligerent American ally, Israel—both of which have carried out provocative attacks over the last year on or inside Syria’s borders.
Syria is no more a threat to the US than was Iraq prior to the US-led invasion in March 2003. Once again, Washington has cobbled together a series of unsubstantiated allegations against Damascus as the pretext for aggressive political and potentially military action. Amid the deepening crisis of its occupation of Iraq, the Bush administration is making clear that the US will brook no opposition to its plans for the economic and strategic domination of the Middle East.
High on the list of US accusations was that Syria had failed to “cooperate fully with the international community in promoting the stabilisation and reconstruction of Iraq”. Bush reiterated unproven claims that Damascus provided material aid to Baghdad prior to the US invasion and accused it of failing to hand over frozen Iraqi funds. While admitting that Syria had taken steps to close its border with Iraq, Bush declared that the country remained “a preferred transit point for foreign fighters” heading to Iraq.
The focus on Iraq is significant. The US occupation is not confronting armies of “foreign fighters” but a popular uprising with widespread support. Desperate to stem the opposition, Washington is seeking assistance, willing or coerced, wherever it can be obtained. The US message to Damascus is that it should cut off any sources of aid to the Iraqi resistance and use its political influence to bolster the illegal US-led occupation.
As further justification, Bush cited longstanding US demands, made largely on Israel’s behalf, that Syria pull out of the Lebanon and crack down on Palestinian “terrorist” organisations based in Damascus. The US sanctions on Syria were immediately welcomed in Israel as a further show of support for the Sharon government, its murderous methods and its plans to unilaterally annex large portions of the West Bank.
To rationalise the claim that Syria constitutes an “extraordinary threat”, Washington has been compelled to concoct another pretext. Notwithstanding the fact that its brazen lies about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) have been thoroughly exposed, Bush insisted that Syria has “one of the most advanced Arab state chemical weapons capabilities” and “continues to develop an offensive biological weapons capability”. Not a shred of evidence has been provided to back these claims, which Syria has consistently denied.
The Bush administration has had Syria in its sights since coming to office in 2001. In April 2003, just a month after the US invasion of Iraq, Washington reiterated its list of accusations against the country and warned of unspecified consequences if it failed to cooperate with the US. In June, the US military provocatively opened fire on a Syrian border post during an attack on a nearby village and seized five border guards.
Last November, with bipartisan support, the US Congress passed the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act, which provided for a range of sanctions as a means of ratchetting up pressure on Damascus. Bush ratified the act in December and has repeatedly insisted Syria meet its requirements. The US measures announced this week include a ban on all trade except food and medicines; a prohibition on flights between the two countries and a freeze on the assets of any Syrians accused of involvement in terrorism or the development of WMD.
Trade between the two countries is already limited, amounting to an estimated $300 million annually.
Significantly, Washington did not impose a ban on future US investment in Syria. US oil companies, including Conoco and Chevron, have an estimated $600 million invested in the country. The Bush administration has, however, warned that further sanctions will be imposed if Damascus did not “take serious and concrete steps” to meet US requirements.
The Syrian government has reacted with a mixture of bluster and appeasement. Prime Minister Mohammed Naji Otri criticised the sanctions as “unjust and unjustified” and declared that they “will not have any effect on Syria”. In the same breath, he appealed to Washington for dialogue, saying that the Syrian leadership had “no interest in creating problems with the American administration.”
Damascus is concerned that US political pressure will impact on the country’s other economic relations, particularly with the European Union, which accounts for some 60 percent of Syrian exports. Negotiations with the EU over a trade deal stalled last month after Britain, Germany and the Netherlands raised concerns over Syria’s alleged weapons of mass destruction.
The Syrian government is walking a fine line. Like other Arab regimes, its timid criticisms of Washington’s actions in Iraq are aimed at placating the escalating anger among its own population over the criminal character of the US occupation. At the same time, Damascus is desperate for a deal with the Bush administration to avoid punitive US economic measures and military actions.
This cowardly and opportunist approach has characterised Syria’s attitude to the US attack on Iraq from the outset. As a member of the UN Security Council, Syria voted for the November 2002 resolution that imposed a harsh new weapons inspection regime on Iraq that created the conditions for the US-led invasion. While absenting itself from the UN vote in May 2003 to legitimise the US occupation, Damascus later issued a contemptible statement declaring support for the resolution “out of concern to improve the living conditions of the brotherly Iraqi people”.
The Bush administration’s decision to proceed with sanctions despite the Syrian regime’s cringing concessions confirms that the US will accept nothing short of complete subservience. Efforts by Syria and other Arab nations to help stabilise the US occupation of Iraq will only lay the basis for further US aggression in the future.
See Also:
The bombing of Syria: a new eruption of US-Israeli aggression
7 October 2003
What is the US military doing on the Iraq-Syria border?
June 2003
Bush administration puts Syria in its gunsights
16 April 2003
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Category: Articles
6 comments
13 May 2004 @ 07:35 by Ashanti @196.6.198.254 : Speed is picking up
Thanks for this Spells. You know, all this is happening at such speed. One almost forgets the sequence. First, an unfair and unfree election resulted in the coup de tat of the USA by a small oligarchical cartel. (Where were the election monitors to declare the election unfree). Then a whole bunch of retrograde laws were passed on a whole lot of things. (Payback for backing the coup). Then 911. Then America started REALLY using its Weapons of Mass Destruction. First Afghanistan. (Remember Afghanistan?). Then Iraq. Now Syria.
And some people (believe it or not) are waking up, having massive inflows of insight at breakneck speed. Almost keeping pace.
I intuit a sense of speed, rushing things along by the oppressors, like their time is nearing an end. And the balance of that, people getting insights and awakenings at great speed.
Something is definitely happening.
13 May 2004 @ 07:54 by Ashanti @196.6.198.254 : Syria calls for dialogue
This just in: Syria calls for dialogue. Interesting to see if the USA is going to even attempt to pretend to dialogue with them, or will just carry out their pre-conceived Agenda anyway, without bothering to go through the charade. (Remember "weapons inpection."? And to date, no WMD found in Iraq, but the USA continues to blatantly use them themselves in their attempted conquest of the world).
13 May 2004 @ 14:17 by vaxen : yup...
America is being used but you must ask your self the question-by whom? Who will reap the rewards of a 'bankrupt' nation? As the Bush junta drives this nation deeper and deeper into debt, and as the phoney federal reserve counterfeits more and more 'fiat script' to, ah, 'pay for' the ``never ending" "war on terror," who will lose? Who will win? The 'International Monetary Fund,' 'The World Bank,' and the 'elites' who created this situation, in the first place, a very long time ago. The U.S. Government (a private corporation) will not tell you that they have been bankrupt since 1933! That the U.S. currency is'nt real money but only insurance script. That the more you use it the deeper you go into debt! Of course they do'nt want you to know that they are traitors, all of them, not one person who pigs out at the pig trough in washington dc is patriotic to the original aims of the 'American Republic!' The ``Republic" has long been replaced by a nightmare oligarchy (pseudo democracy) of fascists who not only built the USSR, then destroyed it for profit, but also financed Hitlers' Germany, destroyed it, then rebuilt it at tremendous profit (to them). You can see the very same 'nation building/destroying, then rebuilding, strategy going on all over as this 'New World Order,' not so new and not an 'order' at all, finalizes its' ancient bid for domination and control of this 'prison planet.' Wherein the vast resources of 'people' will be, and are considered to be, their slaves to do with as they please. They are beyond hideous, beyond insideous, their masks must be removed and people must begin to see what is really going on!
13 May 2004 @ 17:37 by spells : Thanks
Vaxen and Ashanti, thanks...I have nothing to add....
13 May 2004 @ 23:16 by Rick @202.154.86.214 : World Socialist Web Site
Hello,
I don't know much about this website, but I have noticed that this, and several other articles posted here are from the World Socialist Web Site (www.wsws.org).
This site does not object to having its material reposted elsewhere - but it must be clearly identified as WSWS work. To not do this is to breach copyright, and more fundamentally, breach basic intellectual etiquette.
Fraternally,
Rick
14 May 2004 @ 06:24 by spells : Thanks....................
I tend to forget that on this planet often times...it is not the message that is considered important, but the messenger....thanks for mentioning the source.
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