| Summary/Abstract |
n the spring of 2012, I came to Washington for two specific meetings. One was with Senator John Kerry, at the time the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Senator Kerry had also chaired the Senate committee that held my confirmation hearing, and he'd come to Saudi Arabia to visit me on a number of occasions, so I knew him well. That night, I had a private dinner with General David Petraeus, who at the time was head of the CIA. When I was ambassador in Saudi, he was coalition commander in Iraq, and we worked on a number of programs together. My message to both of them was simple and straightforward. Number one, Syria was of critical strategic importance to the United States, and if we wanted to be serious about pushing back the spread of Iranian influence in the region, Syria was key. If we wanted to send a message to Hezbollah, it was through Syria. Finally, from a moral standpoint, this was a true people's revolution. These were common people coming out onto the streets, peacefully protesting, initially, against a repressive regime. If we were going to support any revolution in the Middle East, this should be the one we stand behind.
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