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Turning Up Financial Pressure on Bashar Assad
(The Hill) David Adesnik - The Senate voted 77-23 last week to approve the Caesar Act, a sanctions bill named for the Syrian military photographer who risked his life to expose the horrors of Bashar Assad's torture chambers. The bill passed the House last month and the White House signaled its support last November. Its passage sends a clear message to regional allies, especially in the Gulf, that even if U.S. troops withdraw from Syria, no one has a green light to bankroll Assad's reconstruction plans. The Assad regime could not survive without Iran's support. In turn, it serves as a conduit for the transfer of Iranian weapons to Hizbullah. It has also begun serving as a base for direct Iranian attacks on Israel. Turning up the pressure on Assad is both a strategic necessity and a moral imperative. The writer is director of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.