"The Syria-US relationship is likely to remain chilly for some time ..."

The GUARDIAN/ here

"Hopes of a rapprochement between the US and Syria have again been dashed by Washington's decision to renew, for another year, the economic sanctions Bashar al-Assad had hoped would end.

The Syrian president can hardly have been surprised. In recent weeks there has been little evidence of the "outstretched hand" Barack Obama proffered when he came to office. Nor has Damascus ticked the main boxes on Washington's wishlist. Not only has Assad failed to distance himself from Iran or loosen ties with Hamas and Hezbollah, he has also flaunted these alliances, hosting a summit with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Nasrallah....

Arabs will see the missile episode as a prelude to Obama's sanctions decision, and blame Israel. But the US president did note progress in one key area: a decrease in Syrian support for foreign fighters crossing into Iraq – traffic that, at its height, helped maintain al-Qaida suicide bombings on Shia targets.......... if Syria still poses an "unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States" – in Obama's words – and prospects remain slim for peace talks between Syria and Israel, the signs are that the slowly thawing relationship between Washington and Damascus will remain chilly for some time.