By Jonathan Spicer
A speedy insurgent advance in northwest Syria poses dangers for the USA, which was “caught unaware”, and different nations together with Turkey, Russia and Iran, former U.S. ambassador James Jeffrey advised Reuters.
Jeffrey, former U.S. Ambassador to the Coalition to Defeat Islamic State below the earlier Trump Administration, stated President-elect Donald Trump was more likely to ramp up stress on Syria’s ally Iran each there and throughout the area.
The rebels’ seize of Aleppo and Hama dealt a blow to President Bashar al-Assad, almost 14 years after protests towards him erupted throughout Syria.
“Such a dramatic change within the steadiness of energy in Syria makes everyone nervous as a result of everyone has a piece of Syria,” stated Jeffrey, a former envoy to each Turkey and Iraq who chairs the Washington-based Wilson Heart’s Center East Program.
“We had been caught unaware. You solely have a lot by way of intelligence property… and we mainly prioritise,” he stated of the U.S. in a phone interview late on Thursday.
Some 900 U.S. troops are stationed primarily in Syria’s northeast in assist of their Kurdish allies, the Syrian Democratic Forces, following a U.S. intervention in 2014.
Requested about coverage adjustments when Trump returns to the White Home subsequent month, Jeffrey stated Trump’s statements and file steered he would “aggressively contest Iran all through the area.”
U.S. Nationwide Safety Advisor Jake Sullivan stated this week it was no shock that rebels would attempt to benefit from the scenario by which Assad’s predominant backers – Iran and Russia – had been distracted and weakened by conflicts elsewhere.
NATO member Turkey, Russia and Iran have troops in Syria. The rebels embrace some Turkey-backed teams and are spearheaded by Hayat al-Tahrir al-Sham, which Ankara and Washington deem terrorists.
HTS has primarily pushed south in the direction of town of Homs. U.S.-backed Kurdish forces deserted positions in Aleppo and Tel Refaat within the face of the preliminary offensive within the north.
This text was produced by Reuters information company. It has not been edited by World South World.
