U.S. Considers Syria Sanctions

The Wall Street Journal reports:

The U.S. is readying sanctions against senior officials in Syria who are overseeing a violent crackdown as Washington and Europe suggest the regime of President Bashar al-Assad is increasingly fragile.

The Obama administration is drafting an executive order empowering the president to freeze the assets of these senior Syrian officials and ban them from any business dealings in the U.S., according to officials briefed on the deliberations.

Unilateral sanctions by Washington on Syrian officials wouldn't have much direct impact on Mr. Assad's inner circle, as most regime members have few holdings in the U.S. But countries in Europe, where the Assads are believed to have more substantial assets, will be pressured to follow Washington's lead, the officials involved in the discussions said.

The legal order is expected to be completed by the U.S. Treasury Department in the coming weeks, these officials said. The move indicates a hardening of the Obama administration's policy toward Mr. Assad, whose family has ruled the country for four decades.

If Mr. Obama imposes new sanctions on Syria, it will mark a break from his initial efforts of seeking rapprochement with Mr. Assad. Over the past two years, the U.S. has eased some of the financial penalties imposed on Damascus by the George W. Bush administration. And in January, Mr. Obama returned a U.S. ambassador to Syria for the first time in nearly six years.

The U.S. in 2004 imposed expansive trade sanctions on Syria, barring virtually all imports or exports between Washington and Damascus. Mr. Bush also imposed financial penalties on Syria officials for their alleged support of militants in Iraq and involvement in corruption.

A new executive order would specifically target Syrian officials for human-rights abuses.

Still, a number of the U.S.'s Mideast allies, such as Israel and Saudi Arabia, remain wary of destabilizing the Assad regime. Israel fears an even more radical government coming to power in Damascus, while Arab leaders worry it could foment more revolutions in the region. U.S. officials say Washington's cautious approach toward Damascus has been fueled, in part, by these concerns.