We really don't have much leverage with Syria because we have so little trade with them. But these sanctions are designed to hit President Assad, his family, and his cronies where it hurts; in their personal pocketbooks. Reuters: With international pressure intensifying on Assad over his brutal crackdown on protests, one U.S. official said the Obama administration is expected to lay out a tougher line this week. But a source familiar with the situation said while a decision was expected soon, the timing had not yet been finalized. The Treasury Department expanded sanctions against Assad's government and inner circle, adding Syria's largest commercial bank and mobile phone operator to a blacklist of companies slapped with asset freezes and barred from doing business in the United States. The White House reasserted President Barack Obama's view that Assad has "lost legitimacy" and Syria "will be a better place" without him, but again stopped short of specifically calling on him to...(Read Full Post)