President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States should avoid engaging militarily in Syria amid an rebel offensive that has reached the suburbs of the capital, declaring in a social media post, “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 the Notre Dame cathedral. He argued that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad did not deserve US support to stay in power.
Assad is allied with Russia and Iran and the Biden administration has suggested that the fast-moving rebel advances toward Damascus demonstrate just how distracted those countries are by the war in Ukraine and other conflicts.
The Biden administration also has said it is not backing the offensive and has not suggested the US military will intervene. The US has about 900 troops in the opposition-held northeast of Syria, working with Syrian Kurdish allies to prevent any resurgence of the Islamic State extremist group.
Syrian opposition activists and regional officials have nonetheless been watching closely for any indication from both the Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration on how the US would handle the sudden rebel advances against Assad.
Also Saturday, the United Nations’ special envoy for Syria called for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition” in Syria.
In his post, Trump said Russia “is so tied up in Ukraine” that it “seems incapable of stopping this literal march through Syria, a country they have protected for years.” He said rebels could possibly force Assad from power.
The president-elect also condemned the overall US handling of what is a 13-year war in Syria, but spoke favorably of the routing of Assad and Russian forces.
“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 wrote in Saturday’s post.
An influential Syrian opposition activist in Washington, Mouaz Moustafa, interrupted a briefing to reporters to read Trump’s post and appeared to choke up. He said Trump’s declaration that the US should stay out of the fight was the best outcome that the Syrians aligned against Assad could hope for.
Rebels have been freeing political detainees of the Assad government from prisons as they advance across Syria, taking cities such as Aleppo, Hama, Daraa and Suweida. Moustafa pledged to reporters Saturday that opposition forces would be alert for any US detainees among them and do their utmost to protect them.
Moustafa said that includes Austin Tice, an American journalist missing for more than a decade and suspected to be held by Assad.