Will Kerry Freeze Syria Democracy Programs?

at 12:16 AM Friday, April 22, 2011

BY: THE HILL

This month, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) announced that he would delay funding for Cuba's pro-democracy movement.

Will Kerry do the same with funds for Syria's pro-democracy movement?

According to the Washington Post:

The State Department has secretly financed Syrian political opposition groups and related projects, including a satellite TV channel that beams anti-government programming into the country, according to previously undisclosed diplomatic cables.

Doesn't this violate Syrian "law" (as Kerry and opponents of the Cuba programs argue)?

How about funding for Internet activists in dictatorships worldwide?

According to Bloomberg:

The U.S. State Department is set to announce $28 million in grants to help Internet activists, particularly in countries where the governments restrict e-mail and social networks such as those offered by Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Google Inc. (GOOG).

Isn't this exactly what American development worker Alan Gross was doing in Cuba?

Bottom line: It's absurd to withhold resources from courageous pro-democracy movements fighting against brutal dictatorships -- whether half-way around the world in Syria or ninety-miles away in Cuba.