US sends message to Syria, Congress with diplomacy
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The Obama administration sent two distinct messages by dispatching the US ambassador to Syria to meet anti-regime protesters in a besieged city. To Syrian President Bashar Assad: Reform now. To critics in the US of its engagement policy: Stop complaining.
Greeted by demonstrators with roses and cheers, the envoy, Robert Ford, on Friday finished a two-day trip to the restive city of Hama aimed at driving home the message that the United States stands with those in the Syrian streets braving a brutal government crackdown. The visit prompted fierce reaction from the Syrian regime and a renewed American warning that Assad was failing to stabilize his country by satisfying the democratic yearnings of his people. (AP)
