If a government falls in the world, but Congress isn't around to hear it, did it really fall? Apparently not. The military budget signed into law by President Joe Biden on Monday includes a five-year renewal of the Caesar Civilian Protection Act, an economic sanctions package designed to lead to the overthrow of Syrian ruler Bashar Assad, which already happened weeks ago.
The Caesar Act is not just a case of Congress passing redundant zombie legislation. It's also an example of economic sanctions, sold as a way to protect human rights from a dictatorship, instead causing suffering and instability. Although the architects of the law presented it as a way to punish Assad and his cronies personally, the sanctions were explicitly designed to keep Syria in ruins as long as Assad was in power.
