Robert Ford, U.S. Ambassador To Syria, Causes Controversy With Visit To Hama

U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford sparked a row with the Syrian government when he visited protesters in the embattled city of Hama on Thursday.

Ford was joined on Friday by French envoy Éric Chevallier, the New York Times reports. The visit was seen as a boon to protesters, with activist Omar al-Habbal telling the Times, "Residents feel a kind of protection with the presence of the ambassador. The authorities wouldn't dare react with violence."

The Syrian government has condemned the visit as a provocation. "The presence of the U.S. ambassador in Hama without obtaining prior permission from the Foreign Ministry as stipulated by instructions distributed repeatedly to all the embassies is clear evidence of the U.S. involvement in the ongoing events in Syria," state media reported, citing an unnamed source at the Foreign Ministry, according to the AP.

While foreign journalists have been expelled from Syria, the videos below reportedly shows protesters greeting Ford with rose petals while holding olive branches:

Comments

[Steelsil]

03:10 AM on 07/11/2011

Could it be that we are actually doing something right, for a change?   May it be so!

[Johnny Fruckles]

11:51 AM on 07/10/2011

hey, bob: those little brown balls of camel dung that some of the syrians throw at you is also how they show their love and respect.

[Rexter]

10:47 AM on 07/10/2011

They brought him flowers and olive bracnhes, eveything is cool.

[bobnpath]

10:37 AM on 07/10/2011

if Hama represents some of those in the Muslim-Arabian world who
reject the old regimes of despotism and reject the narrow salafi-militant-
jihadi views of "al-Wala' wa'l-Bara" (love and hate for the sake of Allah;
that is basically a mandate to hate any who do not agree with you in most every detail!)

Then, the people of Hama should recieve US support and the support
of all people who oppose dictators and purveyors of hate.

[Mary Mendy]

10:34 AM on 07/10/2011

sorry Syria but I think they should try lookinhgh elsewhere for help... how about China they're rich

[chedet]

12:00 AM on 07/11/2011

Er they don't champion freedom. There lies the problem.

[lqw]

10:30 AM on 07/10/2011

Is this going to be Obama 7th war?

[jo smith456]

03:58 PM on 07/10/2011

it has already started. we already have our cia and its assets and fronts operating among the protesters and crowds. Usual MO.

[hypnotoad72]

10:05 AM on 07/10/2011

"Evidence" being the key word used in the article as quoted, but I have to ask: Is it "evidence" or "Inference" that the US is involved? It's definitely a strong inference... but i don't know enough about Syria's government and practices to fully know if such a visit is actual evidence. Either way, how much should the US be getting involved in other countries to begin with and, more importantly, *why* we would need to do so. And the other factor, let's play "role reversal" - what if representatives of other countries started conversing with our government? How much would be legitimately allowable? What happens if it becomes "meddling" for personal gain as well?

[dawnag44]

11:21 AM on 07/10/2011

Evidence, Inference, it all boils down to meddling into everyone elses business instead of concentrating on the huge problems we have overall and ignoring one of the biggest, the drug situation at the Mexican border and the killing of innocent people everyday.

[hungryaardvark]

09:43 AM on 07/10/2011

Syria should beware "The Kiss." Sometimes it comes with all the benefits of being kissed by a mafia don. Just ask Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc. American kisses are not signs of affection. Rather they are a sign that we see at least a temporary opportunity to manipulate and control for OUR ends, not theirs. Sometimes these policies are successful at creating large job increases down the road. But by then we call them terrorists, and our policy statements "drone" on and on for years.

[bobnpath]

10:41 AM on 07/10/2011

check out the book
Radical Islam in America...chris Heffelfinger.
Might just help you see some things
you don't see. Check out the term
"al-Wala wa'l-Bara" and its radical
salafi emphasis....and then, see if maybe
people with an interest in peace & democracy mightnot
want to reach out to the people of Hama...who
in our age may be much like the people of
Warsaw or Prague in ages past.

[PolicyDraft]

09:39 AM on 07/10/2011

a platform for the fledgling foreign policy student... http://t.co/7YKkcmj

[fapescia]

09:13 AM on 07/10/2011

I don't like fake stories. I would like to think that citizens spontaneously broke out the rose petals and love but the story reeks of a setup. Tori Nuland spoke glowingly about how the Syrian people greeted the ambassadors's visit. I watch all the Statre Dept. press conferences. Matt Lee tried to puncture the balloon of false reporting but we want to believe it so despite Iran, Lebanon in 2006, Gaza in 2008, Afghanistan Kabul bombings, Iraq Sunni assualts on the green Zone, America is still loved. Smell test on this is a fail. When they tell us that Syrians like Americans and Israelis, we are being fed a total lie.

[Steelsil]

03:12 AM on 07/11/2011

They like moral support in their stand against a brutal dictatorship.  Maybe we have begun to practice what we preach.  I hope so.

[karim banned]

08:40 AM on 07/10/2011

Medeling in internal affairs of Syria cannot be more clear than this.

When we want to stop putting our nose in other people's businesses and take care of our own people? When? When we all become homeless and jobless, and without health insurance.

The 10% who currently are unemployed and the 50 million people without health care are not good enough reasons to take care of our own people instead of medeling in ME countries and waging meaningless wars?

[JBK78]

09:15 AM on 07/10/2011

It doesn't matter either way to you. If unemployment was at 0% and everybody had health care you would still have an anti-government point of view and find something else to rant about. Get over it. Lay of the Alex Jones.

[hypnotoad72]

09:49 AM on 07/10/2011

Can you even begin to substantiate your claim?

[hungryaardvark]

09:45 AM on 07/10/2011

Get ready for Obama to announce billions in aid for Syria instead of Detroit and Flint. Somehow whatever he is smoking tells him that his voters are all locate between Turkey and Morocco on the south side of the Med.

[karim banned]

05:20 PM on 07/10/2011

The voters are not in Israel, but the money that can buy votes are in the hands of the AIPAC and other powerful lobbyists.

[Giveadamn]

08:18 AM on 07/10/2011

Everyone loves us, at first! Just wait till they get to know us better! Besides, after we help them get rid of their dictator, they'll use religion to turn on us with.

[hungryaardvark]

09:47 AM on 07/10/2011

Using religion to turn on us sounds like they might be planning a Crusade? Maybe if they do want to send all of their missionaries here to practice freedom of religion, our airlines and hospitality industries will produce more jobs. Our churches already are doing this. All because they can't agree on wha color the unicorn's horn is. Hysterical.

[NYC123]

07:22 AM on 07/10/2011

HP subscriber comment.
Its almost as if Middle Eastern people have amnesia. One day they hate us, then when their government oppresses them like we said they would; they come running back to us for help.

My reply!
The enemy of my enemy is my friend" is the principle at work here! Lets not fool ourselves -- The Syrian people have good reason to not trust us; but since they hate their own governing leaders - we are buddies!

[NYC123]

07:20 AM on 07/10/2011

"The enemy of my of my enemy is my friend" is the priinciple at work here! Lets not fool ourselves -- The Syrian people have good reason to hate us; but since they hate their own governing leaders - we are buddies!

[TheConColby]

07:04 AM on 07/10/2011

Its almost as if Middle Eastern people have amnesia. One day they hate us, then when their government oppresses them like we said they would; they come running back to us for help.
We need to seriously consider who we "police" for these days.