WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden said Sunday that the sudden fall of the Syrian government under Bashar Assad was an “important act of justice” after decades of oppression, but it was a “moment of danger and uncertainty” in the Middle East.
Biden spoke at the White House hours after rebels finished taking over the country following more than a dozen years of violent civil war and decades of leadership by Assad and his family. Biden said that the United States had been alert to reports of Assad’s whereabouts, with Russian media claiming that he fled to Moscow and found refuge with his colleagues for a long time.
The outgoing administration of Biden and President-elect Donald Trump have been working to make sense of new threats and opportunities throughout the Middle East.
Biden praised the action of the US and its allies for weakening the supporters of Syria – Russia, Iran and Hezbollah. He said that “for the first time” they will no longer be able to protect Assad’s hold on power.
“Our approach has changed the dynamics in the Middle East,” Biden said, after a meeting with his national security team.
Trump said Sunday that Assad fled because Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, “was no longer interested in protecting him.”
Those comments on Trump’s social media platform came a day after he used another post to complain about the possibility of US military intervention in Syria to help the rebels, saying, “THIS IS NOT OUR WAR.” The Biden administration said it was unintentional. entering.
The US has about 900 troops in Syria, including Kurdish-led coalition forces working with the opposition-held northeast to prevent any resurgence of the Islamic State group. Biden said he intends for those troops to remain, adding that the US military on Sunday carried out “direct airstrikes” on IS camps in Syria.
US Central Command said the operation hit more than 75 targets.
“We’re very clear about the fact that ISIS will try and use any vacuum to restore its credibility, and create a safe haven,” Biden said, using the group’s distinct idiom. “We will not allow that to happen..”
The Syrian opposition group that has overthrown Assad is led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which the United States says is a terrorist organization affiliated with al-Qaida, although the group says it has severed ties with al-Qaida.
“We will remain vigilant,” Biden said. “Make no mistake, some of the rebel groups that ousted Assad have their own terrible history of terrorism and human rights abuses.” He added that the parties are “saying the right things now.”
“But as they take on a greater responsibility, we will not only examine their words, but also their actions,” said Biden.
A senior Biden administration official, when asked about communications with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leaders after Assad’s departure, said Washington had been communicating with Syrian groups of all kinds. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the situation publicly and who was not named, also said that the US had concentrated in the past few days on chemical weapons controlled by the Assad government, with the aim of ensuring that they are protected.
Still, Assad’s fall adds to an already tense situation in much of the region on many fronts — including Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza and its cease-fire with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Like Biden, Trump, who takes office in five-plus weeks, has made a connection between the turmoil in Syria and Russia’s war in Ukraine, noting that Assad’s allies in Moscow, as well as Iran, the main sponsor of Hamas and Hezbollah, “are in a weak position right now.”
Vice President-elect JD Vance, a veteran of the US-led war in Iraq, took to social media on Sunday to express doubts about the terrorists.
“Many of the ‘rebels’ are the true offshoot of ISIS. One would hope they moderated. Time will tell,” he says, using another acronym for the group.
Trump has suggested that Assad’s ouster could advance the chances of an end to fighting in Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia in February 2022.
The president-elect wrote that Putin’s government “lost interest in Syria because of Ukraine” and the republic called for an immediate ceasefire, a day after meeting in Paris with the leaders of France and Ukraine.
Daniel B. Shapiro, the deputy secretary of defense for the Middle East, said that the presence of American troops would continue in eastern Syria but “was only to ensure the permanent defeat of ISIS and has nothing to do with other aspects of the conflict.”
“We call on all parties in Syria to protect civilians, especially those from Syria’s minority communities, to respect international military norms and work to achieve a political settlement,” Shapiro said.
“Many of the actors in this conflict have a dark history that includes Assad’s heinous crimes, Russia’s indiscriminate aerial bombardment, the involvement of the Iranian military in the past and the brutality of ISIS,” he added.
Shapiro, however, was careful not to say directly that Assad was ousted by terrorists.
“If it is confirmed, no one should cry about the Assad regime,” he said.
As they push towards Syria’s capital, Damascus, the rebels are freeing political prisoners from government prisons. The family of missing American journalist Austin Tice have renewed calls to find him.
“To everyone in Syria who hears this, please remind people that we are waiting for Austin,” said Tice’s mother, Debra, noting that advocacy groups for the hostages have spread on social media. “We know that when he comes out, he will be surprised and will need a lot of care and guidance. Please guide him to his family!”
Tice disappeared in 2012 outside Damascus, at the height of what became a civil war lasting more than a decade.
“We are committed to returning him to his family,” Biden said at the White House. “We believe he is alive, we think we can bring him back but we don’t have direct evidence on that yet. And Assad must be held accountable.”
The president added: “We have to identify where he is.”
The US has no new evidence that Tice is alive but continues to operate under the assumption that he is alive, according to a US official. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly, added that the US will continue to work to identify Tice’s whereabouts and try to bring him home.
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