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Obama To Send Ambassador To Syria
Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee John Kerry (D-MA) today offered strong support for President Obama’s decision to fill a four year vacancy and return an American ambassador to Syria.
“President Obama has made a smart strategic decision to return an American ambassador to Damascus,” said Kerry. “While there remain a number of serious disagreements between the United States and Syria, vigorous diplomatic efforts offer the best way forward and we have much to gain strategically by having this diplomatic channel formally open. Syria can play an important role in moving the region towards peace, and historically Syria has been a vital swing state in a troubled region. Strenuous diplomacy will be required to advance our interests, and the ultimate challenge – moving Syria away from its marriage of convenience with Iran – will certainly not happen overnight. But if the past eight years taught us anything, it is that we gained no leverage by trying to ignore Syria and instead ended up isolating the United States. I fully support the President’s commitment to a deeper engagement with the Middle East and believe that we are starting to see the fruits of these efforts.”
Chairman Kerry has long advocated the return of an American ambassador to the country. Kerry has made several trips to Syria in recent years to meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, most recently this past February.
“President Obama has made a smart strategic decision to return an American ambassador to Damascus,” said Kerry. “While there remain a number of serious disagreements between the United States and Syria, vigorous diplomatic efforts offer the best way forward and we have much to gain strategically by having this diplomatic channel formally open. Syria can play an important role in moving the region towards peace, and historically Syria has been a vital swing state in a troubled region. Strenuous diplomacy will be required to advance our interests, and the ultimate challenge – moving Syria away from its marriage of convenience with Iran – will certainly not happen overnight. But if the past eight years taught us anything, it is that we gained no leverage by trying to ignore Syria and instead ended up isolating the United States. I fully support the President’s commitment to a deeper engagement with the Middle East and believe that we are starting to see the fruits of these efforts.”
Chairman Kerry has long advocated the return of an American ambassador to the country. Kerry has made several trips to Syria in recent years to meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, most recently this past February.
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