America’s unconfirmed ambassador to Syria keeps busy:

The United States’ top envoy in Damascus defied the Syrian government Tuesday by making an unannounced visit to the restive town of Jassem, where he met with members of the opposition movement, State Department officials confirmed.

As gestures go, these visits by Ambassador Ford are probably the right thing to do. Meanwhile, there is still concerted opposition to Ford’s confirmation in the Senate. This doesn’t make very much sense. Opposition to Ford’s appointment last year was misguided, but at least it was consistent with overall hostility to engagement with Syria. The previous policy of engagement is obviously finished, and Ford’s presence in Damascus now represents something quite different. In spite of this, there is still enough resistance to Ford’s appointment that he will never be confirmed. Josh Rogin reported yesterday:

Though Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) reversed himself and now supports keeping Ford in place as ambassador, there are still multiple GOP senators who have no intention of letting Ford’s nomination get through the Senate.

Given these dynamics, Ford’s unauthorized visit to Jassem represents a win-win scenario for the State Department. On the one hand, it bolsters the State Department’s case that Ford is a crucial link to the Syrian revolution. And if he gets thrown out of Syria, State can avoid a messy confirmation fight they are almost sure to lose.

Spencer Ackerman posed some questions to Ford’s opponents:

What principle is possibly at stake here? What interest could possibly trump having Ford in Damascus?

Had hawkish Republicans had their way, Ford would never have gone to Damascus, and the U.S. would have even fewer options in Syria. As it happened, Ford received a recess appointment, which is why his confirmation has come up again in now. Bizarrely, the opponents of confirmation are the ones supposedly most interested in pressuring Assad and wielding U.S. influence, but they seem intent on reducing what little influence the U.S. has inside Syria. Opponents of engagement understandably made Ford’s appointment into a symbol of the policy they rejected, but now it seems that some of them are insisting that his appointment still be viewed as a symbol of that policy after it has been abandoned. Withdrawing Ford now to make a point about a policy that no longer exists seems like the most pointless form of score-settling.