عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Biden Administration to Correct Obama’s Mistakes in Syria

A Syrian in northern Hasakah watches an American military convoy in 2019. AFP file photo
A Syrian in northern Hasakah watches an American military convoy in 2019. AFP file photo
TT
TT

Biden Administration to Correct Obama’s Mistakes in Syria

A Syrian in northern Hasakah watches an American military convoy in 2019. AFP file photo
A Syrian in northern Hasakah watches an American military convoy in 2019. AFP file photo

A former senior official in Donald Trump’s administration has participated in a briefing call with President-elect Joe Biden’s team about the state-of-play in the battle against ISIS and America’s presence in Syria and Iraq.

Trump’s former special envoy for Syria and the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS James Jeffrey offered his assessment of the political and security situation in Syria, some of the competing national interests gripping the country, as well as a broad overview of the role of US troops in the country, estimated to be at least 600 US soldiers.

The call is one of several in-person and virtual national security briefings to get Biden’s team up to speed on some of the ongoing conflicts where US troops have been deployed.

Biden and his Secretary of State Antony Blinken are expected to correct some of what Barack Obama’s administration failed to achieve in Syria.

During a campaign speech in the US state of Iowa in October, Biden described Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from Syria as a “complete failure,” noting that it would leave the Syrians open to attacks and stressing the importance of supporting Syrian Kurds.

Earlier this year, Blinken, who served as Obama’s deputy national security adviser, admitted that the Obama administration “failed” in Syria, slamming the Trump administration for “pulling out” of the country entirely.

“We failed to prevent a horrific loss of life. We failed to prevent massive displacement of people internally in Syria and, of course, externally as refugees,” he told CBS News in May.

Obama had said that the use of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would be a “red line,” but when Assad used sarin gas, he never retaliated.

Blinken stressed that the situation in Syria has become worse, adding that Trump’s administration lost any remaining leverage in Syria to try to effectuate some more positive outcome.
When asked about the possibility of normalizations with the Assad regime Blinken said “it is virtually impossible for me to imagine that.”

Biden’s close ally Senator Chris Coons has said he supports the continued presence of US troops on ground in Syria and Afghanistan to retain the capacity and prevent terrorist organizations, such as ISIS and al-Qaeda, from reemerging and launching attacks.

Biden has made similar statements saying these forever wars shall end. He expressed support for the US troop withdrawal, but voiced concern over ISIS.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Lebanon Begins Removing Palestinian Arms Outside of Refugee Camps

The army enters a position of a Palestinian group. (Lebanese Army)
The army enters a position of a Palestinian group. (Lebanese Army)
TT
TT

Lebanon Begins Removing Palestinian Arms Outside of Refugee Camps

The army enters a position of a Palestinian group. (Lebanese Army)
The army enters a position of a Palestinian group. (Lebanese Army)

Lebanon kicked off on Saturday the process of removing weapons in possession of Palestinian factions outside of their refugee camps.

The arms are mainly held by groups allied with the ousted Syrian regime that were based in several areas in the Bekaa, South, Beirut and the border with Syria.

The Lebanese army announced on Saturday that it had taken over three military positions that were affiliated with two Palestinian factions that were close to Bashar al-Assad's former regime.

Two of the positions are in the eastern and western Bekaa and belonged to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command. The third, in Rashaya, belonged to the Fatah al-Intifada group.

A security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the army intelligence has been working on this issue for some time now and was close to completely resolving it.

The army said it had seized a large number of weapons and ammunition, as well as military gear.

The removal of the weapons outside state control is part of the ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hezbollah and which calls for dismantling all non-licensed military facilities that manufacture weapons in Lebanon.

The agreement also calls for removing all unlicensed weapons starting from regions south of the Litani River.

A similar agreement for the removal of Palestinian weapons was reached in March 2006, but it was never implemented.

A Lebanese security source, however, said that the latest progress in removing the Palestinian weapons has nothing to do with the ceasefire. Rather, it is related to the collapse of Assad's regime.

These factions were loyal to the regime, and they received funding and equipment from it, the source told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Hisham Debsi, the Director of the Tatweer Center for Studies, said the positions the army has taken over are tied to factions that are affiliated with Syrian security agencies.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the army should have been able to take over these locations as soon as United Nations Security Council resolution 1559 was issued in 2004.

The Palestinian Authority at the time agreed to the handover of weapons outside and inside refugee camps, but Hezbollah objected to the move and said it needed to be discussed at a dialogue among Lebanese political powers, Debsi went on to say.

At the dialogue, Hezbollah agreed to the removal of weapons inside and outside the camps, but it later thwarted the plan, he added.

The current removal of arms is tied to the implementation of resolution 1701 and others, notably 1559. It is also directly connected to the sudden and dramatic toppling of the Assad regime, he explained.

The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Syria’s interim rulers, had issued orders for Palestinian groups affiliated with the regime to lay down their arms. “These factions, which had raised the Palestinian flag and done nothing but harm the Palestinian and Lebanese people, no longer have their regional and Lebanese backers,” so they had no choice but to yield to the orders, Debsi said.

The conditions are ripe for the Lebanese state to impose its sovereignty, through the army, across all its territories and end the presence of any Palestinian armed groups outside the refugee camps, he stressed.

Moreover, the state has the right to impose its authority over the camps and remove the weapons there, he remarked.

At the moment, the removal of Palestinian weapons does not appear to be a precursor to Hezbollah laying down its weapons in areas north of the Litani.

Such a move demands a “major political decision that is off the table at the moment,” said the sources.