The United States has suspended operations of our Embassy in Damascus as of February 6. Ambassador Ford and all American personnel have now departed the country.
The recent surge in violence, including bombings in Damascus on December 23 and January 6, has raised serious concerns that our Embassy is not sufficiently protected from armed attack. We, along with several other diplomatic missions, conveyed our security concerns to the Syrian Government but the regime failed to respond adequately.
Ambassador Ford has left Damascus but he remains the United States Ambassador to Syria and its people. As the President’s representative, he will continue his work and engagement with the Syrian people as head of our Syria team in Washington. Together with other senior U.S. officials, Ambassador Ford will maintain contacts with the Syrian opposition and continue our efforts to support the peaceful political transition which the Syrian people have so bravely sought.
A foregone conclusion? With a quickly-deteriorating situation in the country, the U.S. will reportedly shut its doors in the country by the end of the month, removing diplomats as soon as it can. “The security situation across Syria, which is deteriorating with each day that Assad clings to power,” an official claimed, “demonstrates further that Assad is losing control of the country and reinforces our point that Assad has lost all legitimacy.” Perhaps this is a move whose time has come: The U.S. ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, has not had a fun go of it in the country, finding himself targeted by pro-Assad activists on multiple occasions.
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