Trump says US should not intervene in Syria as opposition forces gain ground

WASHINGTON– President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States should avoid military involvement in Syria In the midst of an opposition offensive that has reached the suburbs of the capital, declaring in a publication on social networks: “THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT.”

Trump’s first extensive comments on the Dramatic Rebel Push came while he was in Paris for the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral. He argued that Syrian President Bashar Assad did not deserve US support to remain in power.

Assad’s government has been propped up by the Russian and Iranian militaries, along with Hezbollah and other militias allied to Iran, in a war that has been going on for 13 years against opposition groups seeking his overthrow. The war, which began as a largely peaceful uprising in 2011 against the Assad family’s rule, has killed half a million people, fractured Syria and drawn in more than half a dozen foreign armies and militias.

The insurgents are led by Hayat Tahrir al-Shamwhich the United States has designated as a terrorist group and says it has ties to Al Qaeda, although the group has since severed ties with Al Qaeda.” The insurgents have so far encountered little resistance from the Syrian army.

The Biden administration has suggested that its rapid advances toward Damascus demonstrate how distracted those countries are by the war in ukraine and other conflicts, but said the United States does not support the offensive and has not suggested that the US military intervene.

The United States has about 900 troops in Syria, including American forces working with Kurdish allies in the opposition-held northeast to prevent any resurgence of the Islamic State group.

However, Syrian opposition activists and regional officials have been closely watching for any indication from both the Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration about how the United States would handle the sudden rebel advances against Assad.

The United Nations special envoy for Syria on Saturday called for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition” in Syria.

In his post, Trump said Russia “is so involved in Ukraine” that it “seems powerless to stop this literal march through Syria, a country they have protected for years.” He said the rebels could possibly oust Assad from power.

The president-elect condemned the overall handling of the war by the United States, but said defeating Assad and Russian forces might be for the best.

“Syria is a disaster, but it is not our friend. & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY. DON’T GET INVOLVED!” he wrote in Saturday’s post.

An influential Syrian opposition activist in Washington, Mouaz Moustafa, interrupted a briefing with reporters to read Trump’s post and appeared to gasp. He said Trump’s declaration that the United States should stay out of the fighting was the best outcome Syrians aligned against Assad could hope for.

The rebels have been releasing Assad government political detainees from prisons as they advance through Syria and seize cities. Moustafa promised reporters Saturday that opposition forces would be alert for any American detainees in their midst and would do everything possible to protect them.

Moustafa said that includes Austin Ticean American journalist missing for more than a decade and suspected of being held by Assad.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham resigned from Al Qaeda in 2016 and has worked to change its name, including cracking down on some Islamic extremist groups and fighters on its territory and presenting itself as a protector of Christians and other religious minorities.

While the United States and the United Nations still designate it as a terrorist organization, the first Trump administration told lawmakers that the United States was no longer targeting the group’s leader, Abu Mohammed al-Golani.