I met with two prominent Syrian dissidents today who both expressed serious concern and disappointment about the Obama administration's lack of support for democracy activists in the Middle East. They told me the Syrian regime is divided internally and very vulnerable to outside pressure right now. If the U.S. played its cards right, it could put tremendous pressure on the Assad regime. Instead, the Obama administration's strategy has been all carrots and no sticks: rewarding Syria with an
ambassador for the first time in five years despite the country's
continued support for terrorism, its
alliance with Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas and its
threats towards Israel. The Syrian dissidents tell me this is a disastrous policy that has demoralized many democracy activists inside Syria. I hear the same frequently from
Iranian dissidents, who tell me the State Department under President Obama is cutting funding for a variety of pro-democracy projects geared towards the Middle East. If promoting democracy and opposing tyrannical regimes in the region is not the President's policy, then what is? I think we know the answer,
and it's not pretty.