JERUSALEM—President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday weighed in for the first time on the Syrian Islamist revolt against the country’s dictator Bashar al-Assad who is holed up in his palace in Damascus.
The radical Islamist movement reached the suburbs of the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Saturday and are preparing to storm the main bastion of Assad’s fledgling regime.
Trump warned on the social media platform Truth Social: ‘Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!’
He took former President Obama to task for failing to enforce his ‘red line’ in 2013 to launch military strikes against Assad after the Syrian strongman executed a shocking mass chemical weapons strike on civilians, in which more than 1,400 people were killed.
Critics accused Obama’s administration at the time of reneging on its promise to take military action against Assad for his crimes against humanity.
‘This is where former President Obama refused to honor his commitment of protecting the RED LINE IN THE SAND, and all hell broke out, with Russia stepping in. But now they are, like possibly Assad himself, being forced out, and it may actually be the best thing that can happen to them. There was never much of a benefit in Syria for Russia, other than to make Obama look really stupid,’ wrote Trump.
He added ‘Opposition fighters in Syria, in an unprecedented move, have totally taken over numerous cities, in a highly coordinated offensive, and are now on the outskirts of Damascus, obviously preparing to make a very big move toward taking out Assad. Russia, because they are so tied up in Ukraine, and with the loss there of over 600,000 soldiers, seems incapable of stopping this literal march through Syria, a country they have protected for years.’
Also on Saturday, the Israeli military, which is on high alert, announced, ‘A short while ago, an attack was carried out by armed individuals at a U.N. post in the Hader area in Syria. The IDF is currently assisting the U.N. forces in repelling the attack.’
The IDF added that it has deployed ‘reinforced forces in the Golan Heights area and will continue to operate in order to protect the State of Israel and its citizens.’
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his Turkish counterpart on the situation in Syria. Turkey is the principal backer of the Islamist coalition seeking to topple the Assad regime.
The U.S.-designated terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist former Al-Qaeda affiliate that is part of the rebel forces, is the key force that has secured large swaths of Syrian territory over the last few days.
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement that ‘Blinken spoke today with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to discuss developments in Syria. Secretary Blinken emphasized the importance of protecting civilians, including members of minority groups, across Syria.’
Miller added, ‘The Secretary discussed the need for a political solution to the conflict, consistent with U.N. Security Council Resolution 2254. Secretary Blinken also extended his congratulations to Foreign Minister Fidan on the selection of Ambassador Feridun Sinirlioglu as the OSCE [Organization for Security and Co-operation] Secretary General and looks forward to continued cooperation in the region.’
The United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 2254 in 2015, which called for a cease-fire, UN-run elections and a new constitution. Assad rejected the resolution’s implementation.
The State Department has classified Assad’s regime as a state-sponsor of terrorism. Phillip Smyth, an expert on Iranian regime proxy groups and Syria, who is with the Atlantic Council, told Fox News Digital regarding Trump’s comment, ‘I do not see a huge deviation from his previous policy points. He is staying the course. Realism with what is going on.’
Trump’s message to [the] Assad regime and the HTS coalition is ‘I wish them both luck. It is essentially that,’ said Smyth. He termed Trump’s post a ‘statement of the reality’ about the Syrian civil war.
When asked whether he thought Assad would use chemical weapons on the Islamist rebels, Smyth said, ‘It would not surprise me if he did. There is risk of it.’ Smyth expects a bit more anarchy in the battle of Damascus. ‘You will have different factions wrestling for control.’
Given the lightening seizure of major Syrian cities such as Aleppo and Hama over the last week, Smyth said, ‘I think the writing is on the wall. His mobilization attempts have not been successful. There is this lackadaisical haze over the Assad regime. You can see internal corruption on full display in how they are mobilizing and acting. The rapid collapse says everything. There is a lot of paper tiger posture. There was no expectation that there would be an advance like this.’
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