Urooj Nazir
Armed Islamist militants in Syria were in jeeps headed route to Damascus, completing the overthrow of the Assad regime, when Donald Trump sat with world leaders in Paris last weekend to see the rebuilt Notre Dame cathedral.
Seated between the French first couple, the US president-elect continued to monitor the startling development in the Middle East in this split-screen moment of world news.
He wrote, “Syria is a mess, but is not our friend,” on his Truth Social network that same day.
“THE UNITED STATES SHOULD NOTHING DO WITH IT,”
he continued. WE DO NOT FIGHT THIS. LET IT GO. AVOID GETTING INVOLVED.
The president-elect’s strong mandate to refrain from meddling in foreign affairs was brought home by this post and another the following day.
It also brought up important issues regarding the future. Can Trump truly have “nothing to do” with Syria now that President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has been overthrown, considering how the war has impacted and drew in regional and international powers?
Will Trump withdraw American forces?
If his policies are so different from those of President Biden, why should the White House take any action in the five weeks leading up to Trump’s inauguration?
Inside Aleppo, the first Syrian rebel city to fall
Syria’s current situation and its rulers are depicted on maps: With Assad gone, who is in charge of the nation?
In reaction to the overthrow of Assad and the ascent to power of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a Syrian Islamist armed group that the United States has designated as a terrorist organization, the present administration is engaged in a desperate round of diplomacy.
As I write this, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is flying back and forth between Jordan and Turkey in an attempt to persuade the region’s major Arab and Muslim nations to support a series of requirements Washington is imposing on the recognition of a future Syrian government.
According to the United States, it must be open and inclusive, not serve as a “base for terrorism,” not pose a threat to Syria’s neighbors, and eliminate any stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons.
There is only one tenet that guides Trump’s foreign policy, according to Mike Waltz, his unconfirmed choice for national security advisor.
“President Trump was elected with an overwhelming mandate to not get the United States dug into any more Middle Eastern wars,” he stated this week on Fox News.
He continued by listing Israel, “our Gulf Arab allies,” and the Islamic State (IS) organization as America’s “core interests” in the region.
Waltz’s remarks succinctly summed up Trump’s perspective on Syria as a minor component of his larger international policy issue.
His objectives are to keep IS remnants under control and to make sure that a future Damascus government cannot endanger Israel, Washington’s most significant regional partner.
Trump is also concentrating on what he considers to be the greatest prize: a historic trade and diplomatic agreement to normalize ties with Saudi Arabia and Israel, which he feels will further degrade and humiliate Iran.
Trump said the rest is Syria’s “mess” to sort out.
