What Obama Should Write Assad
Hon. Bashir Assad
President of Syria
via US Embassy-Damascus
Dear Mr President:
Thank you for your kind invitation to visit your country this year. However, I have concluded that a state visit to Syria must await the resolution of several important issues between your country and ours.
As you know, the United States supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unfortunately, some of the policies and actions of your government are making the achievement of this goal extremely difficult. Most salient is Syrian support for Hamas, which operates openly in Damascus, and receives major supplies of Iranian arms through Syria, including medium and long-range rockets. During my 2008 visit to Sderot, Israel, I vehemently condemned firing these rockets at civilian targets in Israel, particularly Sderot. Israeli co-operation in establishing a Palestinian state is possible only if Israel is secure from attacks such as these.
In addition, your government has been supplying rockets and other arms to Hezbollah, which deliberately provoked a war between Lebanon and Israel in 2006 by crossing an internationally-recognized border to capture Israeli soldiers. Although a cease-fire is in effect, the soldiers have not been repatriated. We are also concerned about the role of Hezbollah in fomenting violence within Lebanon.
The United States supports bi-lateral negotiations aimed at restoring Syrian sovereignty over the Golan Heights. We consider the 1977 settlement between Israel and Egypt a model for attaining this goal. But progress on this issue, too, is not possible while Syria continues to support Hezbollah, whose actions continue to threaten the security of Israel.
We believe that peace and stability in the Middle East are in the interests of your country, as well as that of other states in the region. Accordingly, I have instructed the Department of State to work with your Foreign Ministry to seek areas of common interest between our two countries. However, a significant change in Syrian policy regarding both Hamas and Hezbollah is essential if Syria is to play a positive role in securing a durable and just peace in the Middle East.
If Syria will support our peace efforts with both words and deeds, the United States will co-operate with you. In that case, a presidential visit to your country before the end of my current term in office will be possible.
Aleikum es-salaam.
Yours truly,
/s/ Barack Hussein Obama
President of Syria
via US Embassy-Damascus
Dear Mr President:
Thank you for your kind invitation to visit your country this year. However, I have concluded that a state visit to Syria must await the resolution of several important issues between your country and ours.
As you know, the United States supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unfortunately, some of the policies and actions of your government are making the achievement of this goal extremely difficult. Most salient is Syrian support for Hamas, which operates openly in Damascus, and receives major supplies of Iranian arms through Syria, including medium and long-range rockets. During my 2008 visit to Sderot, Israel, I vehemently condemned firing these rockets at civilian targets in Israel, particularly Sderot. Israeli co-operation in establishing a Palestinian state is possible only if Israel is secure from attacks such as these.
In addition, your government has been supplying rockets and other arms to Hezbollah, which deliberately provoked a war between Lebanon and Israel in 2006 by crossing an internationally-recognized border to capture Israeli soldiers. Although a cease-fire is in effect, the soldiers have not been repatriated. We are also concerned about the role of Hezbollah in fomenting violence within Lebanon.
The United States supports bi-lateral negotiations aimed at restoring Syrian sovereignty over the Golan Heights. We consider the 1977 settlement between Israel and Egypt a model for attaining this goal. But progress on this issue, too, is not possible while Syria continues to support Hezbollah, whose actions continue to threaten the security of Israel.
We believe that peace and stability in the Middle East are in the interests of your country, as well as that of other states in the region. Accordingly, I have instructed the Department of State to work with your Foreign Ministry to seek areas of common interest between our two countries. However, a significant change in Syrian policy regarding both Hamas and Hezbollah is essential if Syria is to play a positive role in securing a durable and just peace in the Middle East.
If Syria will support our peace efforts with both words and deeds, the United States will co-operate with you. In that case, a presidential visit to your country before the end of my current term in office will be possible.
Aleikum es-salaam.
Yours truly,
/s/ Barack Hussein Obama
Labels: Syria
posted by Gerald S Glazer at 5:06 AM
2 Comments:
So what will YOU do if Obama does not say this? What will YOUR opinion of Obama be if he does not say this and goes anyway? What has Obama done with regard to the Middle East that you agree with?
I agree with Ivan. Jews can't just stand by idly as our president offers up Israel on a platter to its enemies. The sentiments of your letter are great (though pure fantasy), but you have to hold Obama accountable. Also, how could Obama credibly press the Syrians to take action against Hamas when he himself lifted up Hamas' status in his Cairo speech, and his proposed Palestinian state would in effect hand Judea and Samaria over to them?
Also, you've made a factual error re: "Although a cease-fire is in effect, the soldiers have not been repatriated."
Actually, the soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, were in fact "repatriated" - in body bags - in return for the baby killer Kuntar.
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