AJC Applauds Syria Sanctions Extension

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May 04, 2010, 11:21 ET

NEW YORK, May 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC applauded President Obama's decision to extend U.S. sanctions against Syria for another year, as a result of the Damascus regime's continued support for terrorist groups and its pursuit of missile programs and weapons of mass destruction.

"As President Obama stated clearly, Syria's actions 'pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the United States,'" said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "Syria's alliance with Iran, its generous financial and military backing for the terrorists of Hezbollah and Hamas, and the bellicosity of its leadership may yet gravely undermine an already fragile situation in the Middle East."

The Syrian threat was addressed directly by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her speech to an AJC audience last week. "President Assad is making decisions that could mean war or peace for the region," Secretary Clinton told AJC's Annual Gala in Washington. Explaining the U.S. decision to send its Ambassador back to Damascus, Secretary Clinton declared that the move was not a "reward or a concession," but aimed at conveying "strong and unmistakably clear messages to Syria's leadership."

SOURCE American Jewish Committee