Syria begins to feel 'pinch' of sanctions: US

An increasing number of Syrian military officers are
defecting, said the US State Department
© AFP/File Louai Beshara

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US State Department said Monday that the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is beginning to feel the “pinch” from US and European Union sanctions.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland also said that an increasing number of Syrian military officers were defecting as international condemnation grows over the regime’s deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

“We do believe that the sanctions that we have put on Syria, that the EU in particular has put on Syria are beginning to pinch,” Nuland told reporters, citing US embassy and “anecdotal” reports.

A month after Syria cracked down violently on protests that erupted in mid-March, the United States and the European Union imposed their first sanctions against the regime and its officials. They have since tightened them.

One goal of sanctions is “to stanch the money that the regime uses… to fund its armed insurrection against its own people,” Nuland said.

Another goal is “to make those around Assad who continue to support him and to continue to support his tactics think twice about whether they are on the right side of history in Syria,” she added.

She said more sanctions would be welcomed, however.

“What we want to see are more countries joining us in closing off trade with the Syrian regime, that give it the money to continue its onslaught, and particularly those countries who are still trading in weapons with Syria, which it is now turning on its own people,” she said.

Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution last month threatening action against Syria. In August, the Russian Rosoboronexport group said it would continue weapons deliveries to Syria.

Nuland said the fact that Syria’s deadly crackdown on protesters was continuing was not a sign of strength but one of weakness.

“These are desperate moves by a desperate regime, but we are seeing the number of military officers who are defecting beginning to increase,” she said.