Image, Feb. 2009, John Kerry and his wife in Damascus dined in splendour with Syria Pres. Bashar al-Assad when he was chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee. UK Telegraph
9/3/2013, “John Kerry and Bashar al-Assad dined in Damascus,” UK Telegraph, Harriet Alexander
“Photographs showing John Kerry, the US secretary of state, dining in splendour with President Bashar al-Assad have emerged, as Mr Kerry likened the Syrian ruler to Hitler.”
“Mr Kerry visited Damascus in February 2009, when he was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
He said in a press conference during the visit: “President Barack Obama’s administration considers Syria a key player in Washington’s efforts to revive the stalled Middle East peace process.
“Syria is an essential player in bringing peace and stability to the region.”
Mr Kerry met with Mr Assad at least six times, and on one occasion – seen in the photographs – dining with the two men’s wives at the Naranj restaurant in central Damascus.
The restaurant, in the heart of Damascus’s Old Town, is on a marble paved avenue named Straight Street, which was built by the Romans and mentioned in the Bible.
One of the city’s finest dining establishments, it is housed in a converted old Damascus traders’ mansion and has a rooftop terrace overlooking the bustling street below.
Mr Kerry was a strong supporter of the Obama administration’s decision to re-engage the Assad regime and to send an ambassador to Damascus in January 2011 for the first time in five years.
Syria was, even then, viewed by Washington as a “state sponsor of terrorism”, but US officials argued that returning an envoy to Damascus could help persuade Syria to change its policies on issues including Lebanon, Israel and Iraq.
In a March 2011 speech at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Mr Kerry spoke on US policy in the light of what he called “the new Arab awakening.”
He referred to the situation in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Morocco, Oman and Lebanon. However, there was not a single reference in the speech to Syria.
When asked about Syria during a question-and-answer session afterwards, he voiced optimism about the direction relations were taking.
“I have been a believer for some period of time that we could make progress in that relationship,” he said. “And I’m going to continue to work for it and push it.”
In the same year [2011], when he once again wanted to go to Syria, his visit was blocked by the Obama administration.
“President Assad has been very generous with me in terms of the discussions we have had,” he said after his March speech.
“And when I last went to – the last several trips to Syria – I asked President Assad to do certain things to build the relationship with the United States and sort of show the good faith that would help us to move the process forward.”
He mentioned some of the requests, including the purchase of land for the US Embassy in Damascus, the opening of an American cultural centre, non-interference in Lebanon’s election and the improvement of ties with Iraq and Bahrain, and said Mr Assad had met each one.
“So my judgment is that Syria will move; Syria will change, as it embraces a legitimate relationship with the United States and the West and economic opportunity that comes with it and the participation that comes with it.”
Two years later [2013] and his tone has changed dramatically. On Monday Mr Kerry urged support for giving Obama a resolution to use force, saying Syria had reached a “Munich moment”.
This was a reference to 1938 Munich Agreement, seen as appeasement by Britain and France to Adolf Hitler before the Second World War.”
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