The United States slammed the Arab League’s decision to r-admit Syria on Monday, saying President Bashar al-Assad does not deserve normalization after his country’s horrible civil war.
State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said, “We do not believe that Syria merits readmission to the Arab League at this time”.
“We remain convinced that we will not normalize our relations with the Assad regime and we don’t support our allies and partners doing so either”, Mr. Patel added.
Key members of Congress from both parties took a far harder tone, urging the US to employ sanctions to prevent normalization with Assad.
In a joint statement by Mike McCaul, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the top Democrat on the panel, Gregory Meeks said, “Readmitting Assad to the Arab League is a grave strategic mistake that will embolden Assad, Russia, and Iran to continue butchering civilians and destabilizing the Middle East”.
The statement further reads, “Assad has not changed; he will continue these atrocities while establishing a global precedent that ruthless dictators can wait out accountability for their crimes”.
Congress has barred the United States from providing for reconstruction assistance unless there is accountability for violations committed during the war.
Despite repeated US pronouncements, the Arab League voted on Sunday to welcome back Syria, effectively declaring that Assad had won the war that has killed half a million people and displaced half the pre-war population since 2011.
Mr. Patel downplayed the differences, claiming that the US and many of its Arab partners shared the same goals in Syria.
Referring to the 2015 international bid that set out a roadmap for a political transition, Patel said, “We share a number of the same goals with our Arab partners with respect to Syria, including reaching a solution to the Syrian crisis that is consistent with UN Security Council Resolution 2254”.
He also stated that the US would collaborate with Arab partners on expanding humanitarian access to Syrians and maintain stability in order to prevent a rebirth of the Islamic State extremist group.
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