Quoted in The American Spectator

Ammar Abdulhamid, the Executive Director of the pro-democracy Tharwa Foundation, was much more critical of the Obama Administration’s policy (as well as that of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who recently visited Syria). “Nothing can be gained from engaging tyrants,” he said. Abdulhamid noted that the regime that Western governments are attempting to engage does not speak for the Syrian people, saying “the true leaders of Syria are in prison.”

“Peace and stability cannot happen at the expense of our freedom,” Abdulhamid insisted. He’s right of course. I fear that the Obama Administration is determined to learn this lesson the hard way.