Natalie Gonnella
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Joining the growing wave of voices demanding that the White House to get serious about the current situation in Syria, House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Ileana Ros-Lehtinen this morning issued a stern statement calling for the immediate recall of the US Ambassador to Syria, an action the Obama administration should have initiated long before today.
A vocal advocate of the protection of freedom and human rights, here's a look at what the Congresswoman had to say:
The recess appointment of an Ambassador to Syria was an ill-advised overture to the Syrian regime by the Administration. The Administration should reverse this mistake by recalling the Ambassador immediately.
Ambassador Ford’s recent participation in a regime-organized tour of northern Syria provided legitimacy to a ploy aimed at covering up the regime’s violence against the Syrian people. It compromised U.S. credibility with freedom and pro-democracy advocates within Syria at a critical time.
The regime has made it clear though its brutal actions and through the refusal of senior officials to meet with the Ambassador that it is not interested in diplomacy. Any continued presence of a U.S. Ambassador will either be used by the regime for propaganda purposes or just plain ignored
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