WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden stated Sunday that the surprising cave in of the Syrian govt below Bashar Assad is a “elementary act of justice” after a long time of repression, nevertheless it was once “a second of possibility and uncertainty” for the Mideast.Biden spoke on the White Space hours after after rebellion teams finished a takeover of the rustic following greater than a dozen years of violent civil warfare and a long time of management by means of Assad and his circle of relatives. Biden stated the USA was once undecided of Assad’s whereabouts, however was once tracking stories he was once in search of safe haven in Moscow.The outgoing Biden management and President-elect Donald Trump had been operating to make sense of latest threats and alternatives around the Center East.Biden credited motion by means of the U.S. and its allies for weakening Syria’s backers — Russia, Iran and Hezbollah. He stated “for the primary time” that they might not protect Assad’s grip on energy.
“Our means has shifted the steadiness of energy within the Center East,” Biden stated, after a gathering along with his nationwide safety group.Trump stated Sunday that Assad had fled his nation as a result of shut best friend Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, “was once no longer serious about protective him to any extent further.”
The ones feedback on Trump’s social media platform got here an afternoon after he used some other put up to decry the potential for the U.S. intervening militarily in Syria to assist the rebels, pointing out, “THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT.” The Biden management stated it had no goal of intervening.
The ushas about 900 troops in Syria, together with forces operating with Kurdish allies within the opposition-held northeast to forestall any resurgence of the Islamic State staff. Biden stated he supposed for the ones troops to stay, including that U.S. forces on Sunday carried out “dozens” of what he referred to as “precision air moves” on Islamic State camps and operations in Syria.“We’re clear-eyed about the truth that ISIS will try to profit from any vacuum to reestablish its credibility, and create a secure haven,” Biden stated, the usage of a unique acronym for the crowd. “We will be able to no longer let that occur.”
The Syrian opposition that introduced down Assad is led by means of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which the U.S. says is a 15 May Organization with hyperlinks to al-Qaida, even though the crowd says it has since damaged ties with al-Qaida. “We will be able to stay vigilant,” Biden stated. “Make no mistake, one of the crucial rebellion teams that took down Assad have their very own grim file of terrorism and human rights abuses.” He added that the teams are “announcing the correct issues now.”“However as they tackle better duty, we will be able to assess no longer simply their phrases, however their movements,” Biden stated.Assad’s fall provides to an already nerve-racking scenario all the way through a lot of area on many fronts, together with Israel’s warfare with Hamas in Gaza and its fragile cease-fire with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Trump, who takes place of business Jan. 20, 2025, made a connection between the upheaval in Syria and Russia’s warfare in Ukraine, noting that Assad’s allies in Moscow, in addition to in Iran, the principle sponsor of Hamas and Hezbollah, “are in a weakened state presently.”
Vice President-elect JD Vance, a veteran of the U.S.-led warfare in Iraq, wrote on personal social media Sunday to specific skepticism concerning the insurgents.“Lots of ‘the rebels’ are a literal offshoot of ISIS. One can hope they’ve moderated. Time will inform,” he stated, the usage of some other acronym for the crowd.Trump has urged that Assad’s ouster can advance the possibilities for an finish to combating in Ukraine, which was once invaded by means of Russia in February 2022.The president-elect wrote that Putin’s govt “misplaced all pastime in Syria as a result of Ukraine” and the Republican referred to as for a direct cease-fire, an afternoon after assembly in Paris with the French and Ukrainian leaders. Daniel B. Shapiro, a deputy assistant secretary of protection for the Center East, stated the American army presence will proceed in japanese Syria however was once “only to verify the iconic defeat of ISIS and has not anything to do with different facets of this war.”“We name on all events in Syria to give protection to civilians, specifically the ones from Syria’s minority communities to admire global army norms and to paintings to succeed in a solution to incorporate the political agreement,” Shapiro stated.
“A couple of actors on this war have a horrible monitor file to incorporate Assad’s horrific crimes, Russia’s indiscriminate aerial bomb bombardment, Iranian-back military involvement and the atrocities of ISIS,” he added. Shapiro, on the other hand, was once cautious to not at once say Assad have been deposed by means of the insurgents.“If showed, nobody must shed any tears over the Assad regime,” he stated.As they driven towards the Syrian capital of Damascus, the opposition freed political detainees from govt prisons. The circle of relatives of lacking U.S. journalist Austin Tice renewed calls to seek out him. “To everybody in Syria that hears this, please remind people who we’re looking ahead to Austin,” Tice’s mom, Debra, stated in feedback that hostage advocacy teams unfold on social media. “We all know that once he comes out, he’s going to be relatively dazed & he’s going to wish numerous care & path. Direct him to his circle of relatives please!”
Tice disappeared in 2012 outdoor Damascus, amid intensification of what changed into a civil warfare stretching greater than a decade. “We’ve remained dedicated to returning him to his circle of relatives,” Biden stated on the White Space. “We consider he’s alive, we predict we will get him again however we haven’t any direct proof to that but. And Assad must be held responsible.”The president added: “We need to determine the place he’s.”The U.S. has no new proof that Tice is alive however continues to perform below the belief that he’s, in step with a U.S. reliable. The reliable, who was once no longer approved to remark publicly, added that the U.S. will proceed to paintings to spot Tice’s whereabouts and to check out to carry him house . ___Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Manama, Bahrain, and Aamer Madhani and AP White Space Correspondent Zeke Miller contributed to this document.
