As a brand new govt is about to shape in Syria following a unexpected coup previous this week, the US’ reaction to the political upheaval seems unsure.
Insurrection teams rapidly overthrew Syria’s longtime chief, Bashar al-Assad, on Dec. 8, 2024, sending the dictator into exile in Russia.
President Joe Biden has warned that the rebellion teams have a “grim record of terrorism” and mentioned that the U.S. might be staring at the teams’ movements. However President-elect Donald Trump has mentioned that the U.S. must now not interfere within the unexpected takeover and its aftermath.
Amy Lieberman, a politics and society editor at The Dialog U.S., spoke with Jordan Tama, a pupil of U.S. international coverage at American College, to higher perceive the position that the U.S. has performed in Syria – and what Assad’s unexpected fall from energy may imply for this courting.
A damaged portrait of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a central authority development on Dec. 7, 2024, in Hama, Syria.
Omar Haj Kadour/AFP by means of Getty Pictures
What’s maximum vital to know about US engagement with Syria?
U.S. involvement in Syria dates again to no less than 2011, when the Arab Spring, a pro-democracy Center East protest motion, broke out and unfold to Syria.
This triggered a brutal crackdown via the Syrian govt, led via Syrian chief al-Assad. One of the most protesters then changed into a part of rebellion teams in Syria and fought in opposition to the Assad govt, leading to civil struggle. The U.S. instantly imposed heavy monetary sanctions at the govt of Syria.
In 2013, the U.S. started offering hands to probably the most rebellion teams that have been resisting the Assad govt. That yr, the Syrian army additionally crossed a “red line” that have been set via then-President Barack Obama via the use of chemical guns in opposition to civilians. Regardless of power to implement the purple line, Obama opted to not interfere as soon as Assad agreed to break Syria’s chemical guns – a dedication that Assad didn’t absolutely reside as much as.
In 2014, the Islamic State team, frequently referred to as ISIS or IS, took over portions of Syria. The U.S. deployed forces without delay to struggle IS in 2015. Via 2019, the U.S. had critically weakened IS, and the U.S. scaled again its presence. The U.S. by no means approved the Assad govt’s legitimacy, nevertheless it did develop into in large part resigned to Assad’s rule.
What does US involvement these days appear to be?
The U.S. has remained occupied with Syria in different tactics. First, it has about 900 troops deployed in some far off portions of Syria to forestall ISIS from regrouping.
2nd, the U.S. has given greater than US$1 billion in army help to extra average armed teams that resisted regulate via the Assad govt. A lot of this help has long gone to the Syrian Democratic Forces, an army pressure led via the Kurds, a minority ethnic team that controls northeast Syria and has labored carefully with the U.S. on combating ISIS whilst keeping up its opposition to Assad.
3rd, the U.S. has saved heavy monetary sanctions in position in opposition to the Syrian govt courting again to 2011. And fourth, the U.S. has been offering humanitarian help for Syrians affected by the rustic’s 13-year civil struggle.
The U.S. didn’t play an instantaneous position within the contemporary toppling of the Syrian govt. The Syrian rebellion teams that overthrew Assad are principally subsidized via Turkey, which seeks to weaken the Syrian department of any other Kurdish team referred to as the Kurdistan Staff’ Birthday party. Turkey perspectives this team as a danger to regulate over its personal Kurdish inhabitants.
What does the overthrow of the Assad govt imply for the United States?
The U.S. isn’t but making any company judgments about whether or not this variation goes to be just right for the U.S. General, Assad’s fall opens the potential of stepped forward family members between the U.S. and Syria, however that can rely, largely, at the new management in Syria.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, the gang that led the overthrow of Assad, has dominated in an authoritative means within the space of Syria it has already been controlling.
ISIS additionally represents a unbroken worry for the U.S. The U.S. has performed a sequence of moves on ISIS objectives in contemporary days so that you could save you ISIS from gaining floor following the cave in of the Assad govt.
Other people accumulate with rebellion opponents on Umayyad Sq. in Damascus, Syria, on Dec. 10, 2024.
Nael Chahine/Center East Pictures/AFP by means of Getty Pictures
What does Trump’s election imply for the United States engagement in Syria?
Trump has taken the placement that Syria is a large number and that it’s not The united states’s drawback. All through his first time period, Trump sought after to drag out the entire last U.S. troops from Syria, and his advisers persuaded him to stay a small choice of troops there. Whether or not Syria’s new leaders act in an authoritarian means most probably gained’t subject to Trump.
However Trump is strongly pro-Israel, and he’ll most probably now not have any drawback with Israel wearing out moves in Syria.
Underneath Trump, the U.S. will almost certainly now not be a significant participant shaping occasions in Syria, however I believe it’s within the country’s passion to stay engaged, as a result of what occurs in Syria does impact the remainder of the Center East – and, via extension, the U.S.
