30 October 2003
Bush Administration Hardens Policy toward Syria
Burns explains administration agreement with Syria Accountability Act
By David Shelby
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- In a tangible shift of the White House's policy regarding the Syria Accountability Act, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs William Burns said the pending legislation would address U.S. concerns about Syrian behavior.
"[W]e face some real problems in Syrian behavior that we cannot afford to ignore. Action on the Syria Accountability Act certainly makes clear the depth of congressional concern on these issues and the consequences of inaction by Syria," Burns told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington October 30.
"Dialogue and diplomacy between the United States and Syria have always been difficult and often frustrating," Burns told the Senators. "In the years past, American administrations have sometimes found solid ground on which to build with Syria. I hope that our efforts at engagement can eventually produce that again in the future," he continued.
Burns acknowledged several positive steps that the Syrians have taken in recent weeks. "It voted for the United Nations Security Council resolution 1511. It has demonstrated cooperation on the issue of the former Iraqi regime assets in Syrian banks, and it has improved control of its border with Iraq," he said.
He also noted that "Syria has offered valuable cooperation against al-Qaeda. That is in both our interests, and we welcome it." But he insisted, "That does not outweigh Syria's continued support for other terror groups."
"Groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad continue to operate out of Syria, directing and supporting attacks on innocent civilians in Israel and the Occupied Territories," Burns asserted. He also raised concerns about Syria's support for Hezbollah as well as its continued military presence in Lebanon and its reported pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.
"Syria simply cannot have it both ways. It cannot claim an interest in a political solution and a resumption of negotiations for the return of the Golan and at the same time shelter terrorists determined to do all they can to prevent such a political solution," Burns explained.
Senator Lincoln Chafee (R, R.I.) raised concerns regarding the possibility that passage of the Act would simply aggravate Arab public opinion without giving the administration any powers that it does not already have. Burns responded that the administration continues to hope for positive action from Syria but said, "unfortunately we haven't seen that kind of a fundamental change in behavior so far."
He continued, "it is hard for me to assess right now what the impact of the passage of the Syria Accountability Act, should it be passed by the Congress, will be on Syrian behavior and on our relations with Syria."
"We've made very clear in repeated conversations with the Syrian leadership that inaction in the areas that Secretary Powell first outlined last May is going to have consequences. We've made equally clear, as I've said before, our willingness to build on issues that should be of common concern for us," he added.
Burns further stated, "We continue to hope for changes in Syrian behavior and we will continue to work hard to achieve them, but hope alone is not a reliable basis for policy, and the administration has recognized that the relevance of Syrian behavior right now will cause real problems for our interests as they have for years, and it was against that backdrop that the White House took the decision that we would not oppose passage of the Syria Accountability Act."
In the recent past, the administration discouraged Congress from passing the Syria Accountability Act, saying such legislation was not necessary.
Several non-governmental witnesses offered their assessments of Syria's current actions and proposed strategies the administration might adopt in its diplomatic efforts with the Syrian leadership.
Patrick Clawson, deputy director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, gave a stark assessment of the potential for constructive engagement with the current regime. Clawson asserted that "Bashar Asad's rule has been worse than that of his father -- which is impressive, given how a bad a ruler his father was. And the problems are growing, not diminishing."
Clawson enumerated several areas in which the Syrian leader has, in his view, acted unconstructively, notably in increasing support for terror organizations, pursuing weapons of mass destruction, cracking down on civil society and shutting down negotiations with Israel. He also noted inconsistency in Syria's position with regard to Iraq.
Clawson called for passage of the Syria Accountability Act, noting, "The reaction by Damascus to the Act's progress -- extensive coverage in the Syrian press and frequent statements by Syrian officials -- demonstrates how deeply the Syrian government cares about the U.S. stance towards their actions."
Richard Murphy, senior fellow for the Middle East Policy Council on Foreign Relations, agreed that Syria is sensitive towards statements by American leaders but argued that "it very much values continued dialogue with the United States. It would, I know, welcome a renewed peace process."
However Murphy went on to state, "our dialogue is so often a dialogue of the deaf. We see Syria as unresponsive to our demands that it curb terrorism. Syria considers that our Middle East policy is so biased towards Israel that we blur any distinction between actions of terrorists and those engaged in acts of national resistance."
Murphy maintained, "They would cooperate with us on al-Qaeda but not on Palestinian terrorists or not on the Lebanese Hezbollah."
George Washington University Professor Murhaf Jouejati agreed that the Syrians simply view the Palestinian issue in different terms than does the United States but argued that Syria has been very helpful in dealing with al Qaeda.
"Syria has been probably one of the closest partners with the United States in the war against al-Qaeda, so much so that senior American officials, including this morning, have said that Syria has saved American lives," Jouejati remarked.
He argued that the U.S. government's insistence on using the "old stick approach" would elicit only "half-hearted cooperation."
Flynt Leverett from the Brookings Institution agreed that the stick without a carrot is useless. Leverett maintained that in fact "The United States does not really have a policy towards Syria if by policy we mean a series of measures and initiatives rooted in a strategy towards changing Syrian behaviors that are inimical to our interests and eliciting more constructive behavior from the Syrian regime."
He argued that "we need both bigger sticks and bigger carrots with regard to Syria if we're going to construct such a strategy."
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2003&m=October&x=20031030195249ndyblehs0.5216486&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html
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