This is not a parody: Obama wants to enable Syrian repression
It's one thing to refuse to go to bat for democracy movements - as President Obama has done. It can at least be debated whether American attempts to 'encourage' democracy in other countries are helpful. But to actually enable a repressive regime to control its people is simply beyond the pale - or at least it was until this administration took power.The Wall Street Journal reports that the Obama administration has sent a trade delegation - including representatives of Microsoft, Dell, Cisco and Symantec - to Syria, to seek to woo the Assad regime by upgrading their telecommunications capabilities. I kid you not (Hat Tip: Jennifer Rubin).
The mission is controversial, given recent U.S. allegations that Syria transferred missiles to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Syria, Hezbollah and Lebanon deny the allegations.Of course, it's never been done before - no other American President would countenance giving a repressive regime the means for subjugating its citizenry for the sake of 'engagement.' I suppose we ought to be thankful that he didn't send Boeing and Lockheed and Textron while he was at it.
U.S. officials said the business delegation will meet with Mr. Assad and his cabinet and seek to facilitate the flow of information technology into the Arab state, which is ranked by watchdog group Freedom House as among the most repressive in the world.
The delegation will also meet with Syrian businessmen, members of the country's civil society and travel to two leading Syrian universities in a four-day stay, ending Thursday.
Mr. Assad has previously expressed to the Obama administration his desire to develop Syria's telecommunications infrastructure, which has been imperiled by U.S. sanctions since 2004, according to American officials involved in the trip.
The State Department views the mission as a test of Mr. Assad's desire for better ties with Washington and to potentially pave the way for a more open political environment inside Syria.
"We're going into this open-minded. This has never been done before with a country of this nature," said a senior U.S. official. "We're hopeful and optimistic that this will lead to collaborations. But that's something we can't be sure about until the trip is done."
Obama ought to be ashamed.
Read the whole thing.
UPDATE 2:12 PM
Not that I'm such a big fan of theirs, but Obama is refusing to sell the same equipment to the 'Green Movement' in Iran to keep their regime from shutting down the internet.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:06 PM
6 Comments:
For a moment let us set aside the idiotic misguided steps being taken by our narcissistic, Islamist Prez.
The time was ripe post 9-11 to show the Syrian Regime who was boss. Oh boy, we shunned them! That told em, didn't it? Well, what needed to happen, never did. All the meaningless blather about state sponsors of terror were just meaningless words.
I remind you during that period of time Syria became stronger and bolder and did as they pleased not in hiding but in the open.
...So we went to Iraq. Yes, there are many positives because of it. The biggest negative consequence of the Iraq war fell upon Israel in a multitude of ways. In the mean time the brilliant Fouad Ajami maintains our good friends (sarc) the Saudi's,Jordan,Egypt and of course our not good friends, Syria and others continued to fuel that war at no consequence to them. NONE! ZIP! The U.S and partners turned a blind eye.
Now we have a stronger more empowered Syria. Iran because of past weak sanctions become more of a danger every day. We find ourselves in the pockets of all the dictatorial nations and worse, much much worse we have Obama to thank for pounding the stake in even harder of our most certain demise.
Diplomacy stinks, past and present. If we can not see the past WITH EYES WIDE OPEN and what brought us to this moment we will have learned nothing.
We need a hero to run this country who most certainly and unabashedly stands before evil BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY matches words with actions...
...someday G-d forbid before there is no world in which the history of idiots can be recorded.
How quaint.
Drudge is reporting that Gates and Buffet want all the billionaires to give away 1/2 of their wealth. I hope Soros, Cameron, and other Hollywood elitists feel warm and fuzzy as well. I think all that money should go to the poor Palestinians.
//right.....
Nomatter,
As I have described many times on this blog (do a Google search - not Blogspot - for Meyrav, "Israel Matzav" and you will find it), the Bush administration gave Israel a green light to go after Assad in the summer of 2006 and our incompetent triumvirate (Olmert, Peretz and Halutz) didn't take advantage of it.
You can't pin this one on Bush.
Carl, I am not pinning this on Bush. You look at this as "picking on George W. Bush."
This is about understanding who lays the ground work to be at this point today. I don't personally care if it were a democrat or a republican because they are all liars.
My point is that Bush emboldened the Syrian regime and the Syrian regime knew it.
The green light to go after Assad came from others in the Bush administration not from Bush. The others were not ruled by the Saudi's. In the end, it is Bush who ran the White House.
Indeed Olmert, Peretz and Halutz were whimps. Perhaps this is why upon leaving Israel Bush proclaimed: "Take good care of Olmert."
Hate to tell you but there was an article which I can't get my hands on in Arutz Sheva back in the last term Bush administration speaking to the issue of the Bush administration procuring liberals in the Israeli government.
This is not a kindergarten issue so I will not engage on who gets 'pinned' with what. I am not one who blames Bush for the ills of the world! I am however not going to let up on what Bush did to Israel because like it or not, this is why we are where we stand right now. I simply want people to learn to not fall for empty words. If we need new leaders who are strong and unafraid, (nearly impossible task mind you) who can not be "bought out" (nearly impossible task mind you) we must have a clear vision of where we came from even if it defames our own.
Until then we are nothing more then political pawns of our own making wearing the same kind of blinders we accuse others of.
Carl, I will never dispute the fact there is a clear difference in the two parties. Nor would I ever uphold one move Obama has made in regard to Iran, Israel and the rest of the world. I loathe Obama. If we live through him I hope we learn the fact we have no friends, just friends who claim they are.
In the mean time..
...waiting for the million person march on Washington by 'our friends' to protest Obama policy on Israel and Iran.
I would like to add if you think you can balance the mistakes of the Iraq war and those who fueled it (Jordan,Egypt and the HOUSE OF SAUD) once the war began by using three inept Israelis as a reason for why Assad has risen to such power you are mistaken.
The cover-up of three supposed U.S allies who literally fueled the war makes me sick to my stomach. Then the matter of billions of tax dollars and loss of life because of it can not be forgiven. Worse that phony democracy of Iraq hates Israel every bit as much now as they did when Saddam was in power.
Who paid the most because of that war, Israel. Who still pays to placate Iraq and all the others, Israel. Yet after of that, political and ideological divisiveness still reigns supreme.
The axis of evil not flushed down the toilet. The axis of evil alive and well. The biggest pariahs on the block because of it, Israel.
Of course companies are running to do business with the tyrannical government of Syria. Why not. Petrol dollars and the ever constant bottom line means everything. Even Israel wiped off the map!!!
I hold the U.S government present and past in contempt. Even a good guy like Bush who I believe had good honest intentions ended up selling his soul.
BTW: It is not amusing at all that those in the Bush administration wanted to use Israel as the canary in the coal mine to do their work which as the strongest nation in the world, they are responsible to do. Especially, post 9-11 war on terror!! But then the House of Saud controls the oval office. Double-dealers, all.
Let this be a lesson.
What can go wrong, indeed?
The 'Green Movement' in Iran went no where. The false hope of using them to overthrow the mullahs is just that, a false hope and a misbegotten one at that. In our lifetimes we will not see that evil Islamic theocracy go anywhere.
The only thing that will kill that regime is to actually KILL IT. In the mean time the world continues to delude itself.
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