With the incessant fighting continuing to engulf Syria, speculation started to stir that President Barack Obama and US Secretary John Kerry have different philosophical views with regards to foreign policy which leads to a perception that the US is perhaps ambivalent about its involvement of the war-stricken country.
In an interview with Catherine Chomiak of NBC, US Secretary John Kerry clarified the issue saying the speculation is totally erroneous.
“It’s news to me.” – Secretary Kerry
In fact Secretary Kerry says he and President Obama are completely on the same page with respect to each and every engagement that they are involved in right now particularly the Middle East peace process, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, our efforts in the Maghreb, Egypt, Syria.
He says he is carrying out the President’s instructions with respect to my responsibilities.
“We’re totally in sync with respect to what we’re trying to accomplish.” – Secretary Kerry
US Deeply involved in the crisis?
Earlier this year, with speculations continue to stir that US is turning a deaf ear on Syrian crisis especially when it come to its leaderhip role, US State Secretary John Kerry said the US playing the significant role in addressing the crisis.
In an interview with with Nicole Gaouette of Bloomberg in Qatar, Secretary Kerry said he doesn’t agree with the premise that US is not playing greater role in Syrian crisis.
He explaine President Obama has initiated from the beginning the leadership role in putting the sanctions in place.
In addition, President Obama has led an effort together with a number of other countries, but led an effort that Secretary Clinton was very active and moving around, trying to speak with the opposition, identify them, bring them together, help them unify, get them recognized.
US aid to Syria
In November 2012, the United States of America provided$30 million in additional humanitarian assistance to respond to the needs of Syrian people affected by the turmoil.
In Syria, the additional funding will allow for provision of food aid to families in need.
In neighboring countries, the additional assistance from the United States will provide food supplies, hot meals, and food vouchers for families who have fled the violence in Syria.
In addition, the additional assistance will be provided through the World Food Program (WFP), which is providing food aid to 1.5 million people in Syria and the refugees who have fled to neighboring countries.
The United States is the largest donor of food aid for those affected by the conflict in Syria through WFP.
In August 2012, with the violence engulfing Syria, the United States of America has announced an additional $12 million in humanitarian assistance, bringing the total amount of U.S. emergency aid to more than $76 million.
The U.S. government continues to place on ending the escalating violence which has uprooted hundreds of thousands of Syrians.
The humanitarian needs continue to grow whre the number of Syrians displaced to neighboring countries now exceeds 130,000, with nearly 1.5 million in need inside Syria, including UN-estimated one million internally displaced persons.
The Syrian violence has led a crisis on a humanitarian scale that is of the highest priority within the U.S. government, and for which the US pledges to continue to provide support.
In April 2012, with the deteriorating situation in Syria due to turmoil, the United States of America has bolstered efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to people affected by the conflict in the country.
The UN estimates that there are over 2 million Syrians inside Syria in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Of that number, it’s an estimated 300,000 internally displaced.
The United States has dedicated some $33 million to support the important work to assist and protect those in need in Syria and neighboring countries, and much more is on the way.
The violence in Syria, which began in March 2011 as a protest movement similar to those witnessed across the Middle East and North Africa, has claimed over 70, 000 lives, mostly civilians, and displaced tens of thousands.
