There are five countries that are currently identified by the US State Department as having repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism. They are Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria. Because of this designation, there are supposed to be severe restrictions on U.S. foreign assistance; a ban on defense exports and sales; restrictions over exports that could be used for military purposes (dual-use items); and miscellaneous financial and other restrictions on these countries.
Why then has the Bush administration recently approved the sale of advanced, dual-use computers to the Baathist regime of Syrian President Bashir Assad, which has been repeatedly sanctioned by the U.S. for its sponsorship of international terrorism, support of Hizbollah and Al Qaida, destabilization of Lebanon and its shipping of terrorists fighters and weapons into Iraq with the specific intention of killing U.S. soldiers. The type of computers being sold could be easily be used for military purposes, or possibly be given to Iran or some terrorist organization.
The State Department provided a license for the sale of these advanced computers through the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). According to the UNDP, the deal is part of a Syrian customs modernization plan that is designed to help improve the business environment and the private sector through transparency, trade facilitation, simplification and consistency of procedures, efficient clearance of goods and national entry processing.
It appears that both the US and the European Union have been quietly engaged in incentive diplomacy with Syria, quietly laying the groundwork for some sort of a ‘trade-for-peace’ framework while talking tough in public. Apparently this program has not been working very well as the recent bombing of Syria’s suspected nuclear facility by Israel has shown. Syria apparently had been building this facility for two or three years, even as the ‘trade-for-peace’ diplomacy has been going on.
Are the member nations of the UN and the New World Order more concerned with making money, than standing firm against a terrorist state? It would appear to be the case.
Programs designed to help Syria improve their trade and giving them our latest technology will not stop the Assad regime from assisting terrorist organizations or shipping terrorist fighters and weapons into Iraq to kill American soldiers. Until Syria no longer supports terrorists, it should be considered our enemy and dealt with as our enemy, not as some sort of future trade partner.
For additional information, contact:
Candidate for Congress
NY’s 20th Congressiponal District
518-392-7062
