By Associated Press
The Washington Post, Beirut, 25 Oct 2011- When the Obama administration sent Ambassador Robert Ford to Damascus at the start of the year, it marked a new strategy of engagement aimed at moderating one of the hardest-line regimes in the Middle East. But with the Arab Spring, all that changed.
As President Bashar Assad unleashed a bloody crackdown on protesters, Ford threw his support behind the opposition with surprising boldness and tensions between the U.S. and Syria soared.
Described by those who know him as unassuming and low-key, the career diplomat met publicly with activists, he traveled to the opposition stronghold of Hama in defiance of regime prohibitions and posted blistering critiques of a government crackdown that has now killed some 3,000 people.
His frankness was remarkable in diplomatic circles even prompting questions about whether he was trying to get himself tossed out of the country. When pressed on the issue last month, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Ford is courageously calling it like it is in Syria.
Washington quietly pulled Ford out of Syria on Saturday, saying his support for the opposition put him in grave danger and there were personal threats against him. His tenure would have finished at the end of the year anyway, unless he was confirmed by Congress.
Its not clear whether Ford will return to Damascus, although the State Department has left the possibility open. Department spokesman Mark Toner said the ambassadors return depended on a U.S. assessment of Syrian regime-led incitement and the security situation on the ground.
Still, Ford did not escape unscathed. In recent months, he was pelted with rotten eggs, his residence was attacked by vandals and the regime branded him a dangerous provocateur.
He is a highly experienced diplomat and a calm, serious person, says Hassan Abdul-Azim, a prominent Syrian dissident who was trapped with Ford for more than an hour last month as regime supporters tried to break into the office where the two men were meeting.
Outside, the demonstrators attacked an embassy motorcade with bricks.
He kept apologizing, saying he was sorry our offices were attacked because of him, Abdul-Azim told The Associated Press of his meeting with Ford. We told him, ‘Dont worry, it’s not your fault, but he was upset and felt he was the reason.
Born in 1958, Ford has served most of his career in the Arab world, including postings in Iraq, Bahrain and Algeria. His assignment in Damascus, which began in January, signaled an important shift in U.S. policy. The Bush administration had withdrawn the U.S. ambassador to Syria in 2005, cutting ties and accusing Damascus of sponsoring terrorism.
But Obama was determined to try a new tack engaging Syria.
Then Assad’s deadly crackdown jettisoned U.S. hopes that it could draw Syria into the Western fold, and Ford quickly emerged as a vocal critic of the regime.
The world was seeing the ugly side of the Syrian government, Ford wrote in one of his Facebook postings, decrying the brutal force, repression and intimidation.