Escalating anti-government demonstrations in Syria have put the Obama administration in a quandary as it tries to protect a range of wider U.S. interests while supporting what it has called the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people…
“We already have sanctions,” a senior administration official said. “We could pursue whether there are additional ways to tighten pressure, but I don’t want to suggest there is anything imminent.”
Some of the administration’s hesitation is doubtless due to a palpable sense of weariness among policymakers buffeted by months of political crises across the Middle East. But there are more tangible reasons where Syria is concerned, including a reluctance to add further uncertainty to the tenuous Israeli-Palestinian peace process; an unwillingness, shared by Turkey and others allies in the neighborhood, to readily trade a known quantity in Assad for an unknown future; and a latent belief among some that the Syrian leader can be persuaded to adopt real reforms… (more)
