Syria Document: US Ambassador's Facebook Response to Regime "This is a Crisis About Dignity, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law"

On Thursday, the US Ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, took the diplomatic risk of going to Hama, the current locus of the uprising against the Assad regime, and meeting activists and demonstrators.

The visit brought a furious reaction from the regime and its allies, who accused the US of waging "jihad" against President Assad. On Sunday,  Ford and his French counterpart, Eric Chevallier, were summoned to the Syrian Foreign Ministry.

Afterwards Ford posted a note on the Facebook page of the US Embassy:

Outside the Embassy, [pro-regime] demonstrators complained about U.S. policy towards the Syrian government and my trip to Hama.

As I have said before, we respect the right of all Syrians --- and people in all countries --- to express their opinions freely and in a climate of mutual respect. We wish the Syrian government would do the same --- and stop beating and shooting peaceful demonstrators. I have not seen the police assault a “mnhebak” demonstration yet. I am glad – I want all Syrians to enjoy the right to demonstrate peacefully. On July 9 a “mnhebak” group threw rocks at our embassy, causing some damage. They resorted to violence, unlike the people in Hama, who have stayed peaceful. Go look at the Ba’ath or police headquarters in Hama – no damage that I saw.

Other protesters threw eggs and tomatoes at our embassy. If they cared about their fellow Syrians the protesters would stop throwing this food at us and donate it to those Syrians who don’t have enough to eat. And how ironic that the Syrian Government lets an anti-U.S. demonstration proceed freely while their security thugs beat down olive branch-carrying peaceful protesters elsewhere.

The people in Hama have been demonstrating peacefully for weeks. Yes, there is a general strike, but what caused it? The government security measures that killed protesters in Hama. In addition, the government began arresting people at night and without any kind of judicial warrant. Assad had promised in his last speech that there would be no more arrests without judicial process. Families in Hama told me of repeated cases where this was not the reality. And I saw no signs of armed gangs anywhere – not at any of the civilian street barricades we passed.

Hama and the Syrian crisis is not about the U.S. at all. This is a crisis the Syrian people are in the process of solving. It is a crisis about dignity, human rights, and the rule of law. We regret the loss of life of all Syrians killed, civilians and security members both, and hope that the Syrian people will be able to find their way out of this crisis soon. Respect for basic human rights is a key element of the solution.

Blake Hounshell, a US journalist closely watching the Syrian crisis, notes, "Pointedly, no direct word about today's "national dialogue," which the opposition is boycotting --- though his remark that "this is a crisis the Syrian people are in the process of solving" suggests the United States is still not quite ready to dump Bashar al-Assad."