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STATEMENT BY SENATORS McCAIN AND LIEBERMAN REGARDING THE RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN SYRIA
March 30, 2011
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) today released the following statement regarding the recent developments in Syria:
“President Assad of Syria boasted eight weeks ago that the democratic wave sweeping the Middle East would not reach his country. The Syrian people, he said, were happy with his regime. It is now clear President Assad was badly mistaken.
“Two weeks ago, protests began in the town of Dara’a after more than a dozen schoolchildren were arrested. The protests have since spread, as Syrians in other cities and towns have peacefully taken to their streets to demand greater political freedoms and economic opportunities.
“Rather than addressing these legitimate demands, the Assad regime has responded with repression and brutality. Hundreds of protestors have been unjustly imprisoned, and more than 60 people have been killed.
“President Assad’s speech this morning should put to rest any notion that he is a ‘reformer.’ Rather than offering the reasonable reforms that the Syrian people have been calling for, Assad instead bizarrely blamed the protests on outside ‘conspirators,’ ignoring the true source of the unrest – his own regime’s failed and repressive policies.
“We commend the courage of the Syrian people who have vowed to continue to demand their rights in the days ahead, despite threats from the regime. And we applaud those Syrian officials – including two members of parliament and one member of the Baath Party leadership in Dara’a – who have broken with the Assad regime and now stand in solidarity with the protesters. The United States must stand unambiguously with the Syrian people at this pivotal moment.
“For more than two years, the Obama Administration has pursued a policy of engagement with President Assad, with little to show for it. A new Syria strategy is now needed – one that aligns the United States with the legitimate demands and aspirations of the Syrian people for their future. We applaud Secretary Clinton for strongly condemning the violence and killing of civilians by Syrian security forces earlier this week, and we urge the Obama Administration to continue to speak out loudly and clearly, together with our allies, against the Assad regime’s conduct. We also urge the Administration to work with members of the international community to make clear to President Assad that if he continues on the path of repression and violence, it will carry serious consequences.”
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