Clinton Calls For Sanctions Against Syria

[sandnsea]

In response to a thread in LBN that says Hillary is calling for "punishment" of Syria, here's the letter she wrote 2/17 which sounds like what she said today. Just to get it straight from the horse's mouth.

Dear President Bush,

In light of this week's assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut, we urge you to tighten sanctions on Syria. Our message to the Syrians, and to other undemocratic regimes in the region, must be clear and direct: terrorist activity will not be tolerated.

The Syria and Lebanese Sovereignty Act of 2003, on which you based your May 2004 trade sanctions against Syria, was passed in response to Syria's support for terrorism, its occupation of Lebanon, and its pursuit of dangerous weapons. As you know, the legislation we passed gives you the discretion to adjust the level of sanctions on Syria.

Neither the U.S. nor our allies can afford to let Syria off the hook. The Syrians have failed to secure the Iraq border, permitting the infiltration of foreign terrorists into Iraq. Syria continues to harbor leaders who order, plan, and finance terror attacks against Israeli citizens. Operatives of the Islamic Jihad, Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades regularly receive training in Syrian camps. In addition to its sponsorship of terrorism, the government of Syria has ignored and violated multiple U.N. resolutions by refusing to remove its troops from Lebanon. As long as Syria continues to occupy Lebanon and train suicide bombers, the region is not safe.

In order to demonstrate our nation's intolerance for terrorism, we urge you to take strong action against Syria. We also urge you to reach out to our allies around the world to encourage them to stand firm against Syria's actions and policies.

Sincerely,

Sen. Allen
Sen. Smith
Sen. Hutchison
Sen. Brownback
Sen. Kyl
Sen. Lautenberg
Sen. Clinton
Sen. Wyden
Sen. Ben Nelson
Sen. Bill Nelson
Sen. Schumer

[DireStrike]

1. Both of my senators eh?

This really sucks.

[Gabi Hayes]

2. what ASSHOLES!!!

can you rush to judgment a little bit faster?

they're blaming EVERY fricking terror attack lately on Syria.

amazing, isn't it?

somebody from Syria should say, "I'm just a patsy."

could it be any more transparent?

[papau]

3. In that thread I suggested "sanctions" was the topic - not war - but

Hillary bashing is a DU sport that is hard to stop.

[Dave Reynolds]

11. It's not necessarily Hillary bashing for the fun of it,

it just seems at this time she is going along with bushco's "evidence" that Syria was behind the Lebanon situation.

Some of us have a healthy distrust of so-called evidence.

[cthrumatrix]

4. there is one voice when it comes to "who owns these clowns"

where the hell are these people demanding that Sibel Edmunds testify in public?

[Gabi Hayes]

5. amen to that.......isn't it amazing what NEVER gets covered?

Sibel Edmonds?

who's she?

what happened to that second 60 Minutes story?

wouldn't that be pretty relevant, now that the election's over AND there's a new development, paving the way for the public continutation of her lawsuit?

[Stop_the_War]

6. .

.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

7. I will work like hell to make sure that she is NOT our 2008 nominee...

for the POTUS.

[Deja Q]

8. Nice of her to try, but I think it's safe to say that Bush has other plans

:-(

:nuke:

[Dave Reynolds]

9. On another note,

Condi says she has solid "evidence" of Syria's involvement.

It all smells like boolsheet.

[ultraist]

10. Don't you mean Bushit? ;)

[Dave Reynolds]

12. Yep, that too!

:thumbsup:

[davidthegnome]

13. Damn

I'm amazed that Clinton is pushing this.

[Just Me]

14. So, urging sanctions rather than war is "bad"?

:shrug:

I'm confused.

The letter urges sanctions and reaching out to allies to take a stand against Syria's inappropriate behavior (e.g. DIPLOMATIC and ECONOMIC PRESSURE).

Is that "bad"?

:shrug:

[autorank]

17. It's bad (and that's a good question, BTW). Here's why.

It "enables" the rationale for an attack on Syria by blaming them for these events based on the same lousy intelligence that gave us a mistake on every single point regarding the Iraq invasion. She's having her cake and eating it too. She can say, "well I didn't mean attack" and then say "the Syrians are evil." This is the height of cynicism.

We need ALL new leaders in the Democratic Party. Thanks the memories Clinton's but it's your time to step aside...travel with GHW*, do some commercials, and Hillary, become a New York hack politician...but don't enable another war! NEW LEADERS FOR A NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

15. Didn't take her long to jump on Bush's bandwagon.

Surprised by Wyden though.

[autorank]

16. Lies about WMD; lies about Al Queada-Iraq link; this is probably a lie.

Sorry Hillary, this doesn't cut it. Are you relying on the same "intelligence" folks who gave us 911; meetings in Prague that didn't take place; AlQueda operating in Iraq; Iraqis welcoming us with cheers and flowers; Iraqi self-funding the occupation and repair process; less rather than more terrorists after the invasion of Iraq?

Please, anyone with a brain and/or an ounce of intellectual integrity would know that there are methodological and veracity problems with any intelligence about the Middle East based on the series of mistakes and lies about Iraq.

NOW I AM EVEN MORE AN UNAPOLOGETIC HILLARY BASHER. SHE'S ENABLING ANOTHER ATTACK ON A MIDDLE EAST COUNTRY. WHO IS SHE WORKING FOR ?

[rfkrfk]

18. other than HRC, what are leading Dems saying?

Haven't seen anything.
Others needs to speak up,
especialy Dems on the Senate Foreign Relations committee.

Otherwise, another head in Cheney's trophy case.