"Thank You Mr. Ford!" (We want some of that 'Iraq-TLC!)

Via FLC

"... "Thank u Mr. Ford, US Ambassador, in Hama among the protesters, and welcomed with flowers," Syrian activist Malath Aumran, who describes himself as "tweeting the police state in revolt," posted to Twitter. He added, "Arabic Tweets saying we need US Ambassadors for every city in #Syria."...senior White House hands were gratified to see the hero's welcome that anti-government protesters granted to U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert S. Ford in the Syrian city of Hama ...

 

"You should know that Ambassador Ford is in Hama today," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told journalists at the State Department press conference Thursday. "He has spent the day expressing our deep support for the right of the Syrian people ... We've talked for a number of weeks here about the role that an ambassador can play in a country like this at a time like this," Nuland continued. Given Hama's role "in the history of free expression in Syria,"... 

"It's impressive, though not surprising," said David Schenker with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (AIPAC's sidekick) referring to the video of Ford's reception in Hama. "It's the regime that's anti-American, not the Syrian people..."One wonders whether this important and well-received gesture will be accompanied by an unambiguous [White House] policy statement laying out the Administration's vision for the future of the Asad regime," Schenker continued. 

For his part, Syrian blogger Aumran dismissed concerns that some activists have aired that the Syrian regime might try to claim, as leaders in other recent uprisings in the Arab world have, that anti-government protesters are conspiring with the United States.

"Guys It's not smartness to consider any solidarity with our cause is a conspiracy," Aumran wrote."

Posted by G, M, Z, or B at 8:33 AM

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