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Financial Times: 'Race against time': US struggles to respond to Syria turmoil during presidential transition
Financial Times - (archived: https://archive.ph/GG7uN ) ‘Race against time’: US struggles to respond to Syria turmoil during presidential transition
Fast-moving events leave Washington fearful of Isis resurgence and divided over troop deployment
Felicia Schwartz and James Politi in Washington
6 hours ago
US officials and lawmakers fear a resurgence of Isis in Syria in the wake of the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, as they respond to the Middle East upheaval while grappling with their own political transition.
The sudden end of Syria’s brutal decades-old dictatorship has been cheered across the political spectrum in Washington, but it has caught Joe Biden’s administration on the back foot as it prepares to make way for Donald Trump’s inauguration.
From the White House to Capitol Hill and Trump’s resort in Mar-a-Lago there is anxiety that the security vacuum in Syria could be filled by Islamist terrorist groups that have been kept in check since coalition forces forced Isis out of the area five years ago.
“We don’t want to give Isis an opportunity to exploit what’s going on. They love nothing more than ungoverned space,” John Kirby, a spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council, told reporters on Tuesday.
With Syria relegated to the backburner of US foreign policy priorities for years, Washington is suddenly facing urgent questions over its relationship with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the one-time al-Qaeda affiliate whose rebels now rule the country, and whether to maintain the roughly 900 US troops stationed in the north-east.
/snip
Fast-moving events leave Washington fearful of Isis resurgence and divided over troop deployment
Felicia Schwartz and James Politi in Washington
6 hours ago
US officials and lawmakers fear a resurgence of Isis in Syria in the wake of the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, as they respond to the Middle East upheaval while grappling with their own political transition.
The sudden end of Syria’s brutal decades-old dictatorship has been cheered across the political spectrum in Washington, but it has caught Joe Biden’s administration on the back foot as it prepares to make way for Donald Trump’s inauguration.
From the White House to Capitol Hill and Trump’s resort in Mar-a-Lago there is anxiety that the security vacuum in Syria could be filled by Islamist terrorist groups that have been kept in check since coalition forces forced Isis out of the area five years ago.
“We don’t want to give Isis an opportunity to exploit what’s going on. They love nothing more than ungoverned space,” John Kirby, a spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council, told reporters on Tuesday.
With Syria relegated to the backburner of US foreign policy priorities for years, Washington is suddenly facing urgent questions over its relationship with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the one-time al-Qaeda affiliate whose rebels now rule the country, and whether to maintain the roughly 900 US troops stationed in the north-east.
/snip