US Media Discovers Syria's Sanctions, Ignores 12 Years of Devastation
The story about Jasmine and Tarek Naemo, tirelessly campaigning against Syria's Caesar Act sanctions, humanizes a crisis. What it downplays is the context: these sanctions, imposed in 2019 under then-President Trump (HR 31), weren't a humanitarian gesture. They were designed to economically squeeze the Syrian government, effectively strangling the civilian population, as reports from the U.S.
Institute of Peace highlighted . It's a classic case of collective punishment, cloaked in diplomatic language. While we hear about couples struggling, mainstream outlets rarely dissect the bipartisan consensus that maintained these crippling measures for years. You won't hear about the lobbying groups pushing for 'maximum pressure' campaigns, nor the politicians who consistently vote to extend
them, often while decrying 'humanitarian crises' they actively exacerbate. (One might wonder if a similar 'hero couple' could end the US military presence in Syria).