Syria's future remains uncertain after Islamic rebels overthrew the Assad regime, seized control of Damascus and forced Syria's dictator out of the country.
Foreign policy experts and officials alike reacted to the news on Sunday, speculating what might be in store for the Middle Eastern country and the U.S. military stationed there.
“Who knows what's going to happen next?” asked KT McFarland, the former vice presidential national security adviser.
McFarland appeared on “Fox & Friends Weekend” to discuss the uproar. Like others, she suggested the changes paint an uncertain picture.
Prime Minister Netanyahu praises 'historic' fall of Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, acknowledges Israel's attack on Iran, Hezbollah
Syrian opposition fighters remove the Syrian government flag from a government building in Salamiya, east of Hama, Syria, Saturday, December 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ghaith Al-Sayed)
”[Bashar Assad] Weak and incompetent, he was supported in ruling Syria by Iran and Russia, the Russian military, Russian military equipment, in a sense Iranian money, and now he is obsessed with them…Iran because… I'm obsessed with it. What Israel did to Iran and Hezbollah and Russia is preoccupied with Ukraine and the failing economy, so not those two guys supporting Assad, they were supporting him too. ” she said.
“but, [multiple] Rebel forces rallied and saw an opportunity to advance into Syria…and President Trump's words of “let things take their course” are very true. This is not our fight. ” Unfortunately, there are 900 US troops stationed in that country. Are they sitting on a target? Are they potential hostages? What will their role be? we don't know. ”
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad exiles as Islamic rebels conquer country
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) also weighed in Sunday with a message of caution and concern.
“We have to realize There are no good people here. These rebels are linked to al-Qaeda. We know that Iran will lose supply lines to Hezbollah. “We know that Russia is losing access to warm-climate ports, and we need to make sure we support Israel,” she said.
Former CIA director Dan Hoffman warned that the development raises “far-reaching and complex challenges” to U.S. national security that await the Trump administration, which takes office next month.
“The concern we will have going forward is the possibility of a power vacuum here. We have seen this in Iraq, we have seen it in Libya, we have seen terrorists take advantage of it. “What we have is that potentially terrorists could swarm us,” he explained. “Syria is now trying to take advantage of that.”
“Also, state actors like Russia and Iran were previously allied with Syria, so we have a big challenge there. Remember, Russia has a naval base in Tartus. They are not going to be the ones to solve this problem with us. We have been allied with Syria, so we have a big challenge for them as well, so there is some kind of international agreement on how to proceed. Obtaining consensus is also a big challenge.”
Syria's Islamic rebels catch Assad, Putin and the Iranian regime off guard, creating new Middle East headache
President-elect Donald Trump also voiced his opinion in a post on Truth Social shortly after the news broke.
“Assad is gone,” he wrote. “He fled the country. His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was no longer interested in protecting him. There was no reason for Russia to be there in the first place. They “I completely lost interest in Ukraine,” as nearly 600,000 Russian soldiers had been wounded or killed in a war that should never have started and could last forever. ”
“Russia and Iran are currently in a weakened state, one because of Ukraine and the recession, and the other because of Israel and its fighting successes,” he continued. “Similarly, Zelensky and Ukraine also want to make an agreement and stop the madness. They have lost 400,000 soldiers and many more civilians, tremendously. Immediate ceasefire and start negotiations. You should.”
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