U.S.-Syria Relations Continue to Improve

Another significant indication that the relationship between the United States and Syria is in a full reversal from where it was during the Bush years, the Syrian ambassador to the United States has been invited to meet a senior State Department official in Washington. The meeting with Jeffrey Feltman, the acting head of the Near Eastern Affairs Bureau, comes days after Senator John Kerry (D-Mass), chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, visited Syrian President Bashar Al-Asad in Damascus. In addition to “exploring those areas where we have potential for progress," as a State Department official told reporters, the U.S. wants to know about Syrian plans to develop nuclear energy and weapons, and its continued support for terrorist organizations.