ICYMI – FPI and FDD Outline U.S. Policy Options To Assist the Anti-Regime Syrian Opposition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 4, 2012

Media Contact:
Elise Stefanik, 202-296-3322 or estefanik@foreignpolicyi.org

ICYMI – FPI and FDD Outline U.S. Policy Options To Assist the Anti-Regime Syrian Opposition

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  In December 2011, fifty-eight former U.S. government officials, foreign policy experts, and Syrian dissidents signed an open letter organized by the Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI) and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) urging President Obama to act more assertively to halt the Assad regime’s continuing atrocities against Syrian civilians.  And in November 2011, FPI and FDD jointly released Towards a Post-Assad Syria, a discussion paper outlining policy options for the United States and like-minded nations to further assist the anti-regime Syrian opposition.

Recent events have only made these FPI and FDD-led efforts more relevant.  The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reports that over 5,000 Syrian civilians have been killed, and 14,000 more detained, since the Assad regime’s brutal crackdown on protestors began in March 2011.  To date, however, the international community has been unable to muster a collective response.

The Arab League recently sent observers into Syria, but President Bashar al-Assad’s war on the Syrian people has continued unabated.  This should come as little surprise, given that the Arab League’s observer mission is being led by General Mohammad Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi—a booster of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, whom the international community has accused of perpetrating genocide and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

With the threat of civil war looming now over Syria, the United States has a moral obligation to work with like-minded nations to stop the escalating humanitarian crisis.  But it also has a powerful strategic interest in seeing not only the collapse of the Assad regime, but also the emergence of a post-Assad Syria with a moderate, representative government that respects human rights, upholds the rule of law, promotes stability in the Middle East, and dramatically weakens the region’s Iranian-led anti-American bloc. 

It is high time for the United States to act.  The December 2011 open letter calls on the President to impose crippling multilateral sanctions on the Assad regime; form a contact group of like-minded international partners to further pressure President Assad to step down; establish direct contact with the Syrian National Council and other anti-regime Syrian groups; and work with Turkey and other regional partners to establish safe havens for Syrian civilians and no-go zones for the Assad regime’s security forces.  And in Towards a Post-Assad Syria, FPI and FDD examines in greater detail these and other U.S. policy options, including the use of limited retaliatory airstrikes against select Syrian military targets.

In addition, FPI believe that these recent op-eds and blog posts may be useful for policymakers in formulating a more assertive U.S. response to the situation in Syria.

• Foreign Policy Experts Urge President Obama to Take Action Against Assad – Open Letter – December 19, 2011

• Towards a Post-Assad Syria: Options for the United States and Like-Minded Nations to Further Assist the Anti-Regime Syrian Opposition – Foreign Policy Initiative and Foundation for Defense of Democracies – November 8, 2011
   
• The Assad Regime’s Continuing Mass Murder of Syrians: Policy Options for U.S. Response – Foreign Policy Initiative and Foundation for Defense of Democracies – October 25, 2011

• FPI Bulletin: What Congress Can Do to Hasten Assad’s Exit – FPI Executive Director Jamie M. Fly and Policy Director Robert Zarate – Foreign Policy Initiative – September 22, 2011

• It’s Time to Tip the Scales in Syria – James Kirchick – New York Daily News – January 3, 2012

• The West Has a Duty to Intervene in Syria – Nick Cohen – The Guardian – December 31, 2011

• Arab League Needs to Tell the Truth About Syria – Editorial – Washington Post – December 28, 2011

• Bolstering the Arab League Mission to Syria – Andrew Tabler – Washington Institute for Near East Policy – December 23, 2011

• Breaking Assad's Hold on Russia – David Pollock – Washington Institute for Near East Policy – December 22, 2011

• As Syria Crisis Worsens, UN Security Council Must Act – Salman Shaikh – Christian Science Monitor – December 15, 2011

• Intervention in Syria: Assessing the Options – Lt. Col. Steven Beasley (USAF), Michael Eisenstadt, and Jeffrey White – Washington Institute for Near East Policy – December 13, 2011

• Intervention in Syria? An Analysis of Legality, Logistics, and Hazards – Michael Weiss – Henry Jackson Society – December 2011