President Biden on Sunday celebrated the overthrow of the government of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by al-Qaeda-linked militants, calling it a “fundamental act of justice.”
Biden said Assad’s allies Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah couldn’t defend Syria thanks to US support for Israel and Ukraine.
“The upshot of all of this is, for the first time ever, neither Russia nor Iran nor Hezbollah could defend this abhorrent regime in Syria. And this is a direct result of the blows that Ukraine [and] Israel have delivered upon their own self-defense with unflagging support of the United States,” he said.
Biden also listed ways the US has pressured the Assad government over the years, including through crippling economic sanctions and the US occupation of eastern Syria. “Over the past four years, my administration had pursued a clear and principled policy toward Syria. First, we made clear from the start sanctions on Assad would remain in place unless he engaged seriously in a political process to end the civil war,” he said.
“Second, we maintained a military presence in Syria. Our counter ISIS, to counter the support of local partners as well on the ground, their partners. Never ceding an inch of territory,” he said.
The third form of support that Biden listed was supporting Israel’s “freedom of action against Iranian networks in Syria and against actors aligned with Iran.” For years, Israel has launched airstrikes in Syria, which significantly increased in the months leading up to the offensive that led to Assad’s ouster.
Biden said the US would maintain its military presence in eastern Syria and that the US had launched airstrikes against ISIS targets in the country on Sunday. US Central Command later announced it had launched “dozens” of strikes against 75 ISIS targets in Syria using multiple aircraft, including B-52 heavy bombers.
Gen. Michael Kurilla, the head of CENTCOM, said in a press release on the strikes that “all organizations in Syria should know that we will hold them accountable if they partner with or support ISIS in any way.”
Biden said the overthrow of Assad presented an opportunity for a new Syrian government, which he vowed to support. The president acknowledged that “some of the rebel groups that took down Assad have their own grim record of terrorism and human rights abuses.”
The group that led the offensive, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was formed in 2017 by merging al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, al-Nusra Front, with other Islamist groups. HTS is a US-designated terrorist organization, and the US has put a $10 million bounty on its leader, Abu Mohammad al-Julani.
Julani was also the leader of al-Nusra and has tried to rebrand himself as a more moderate figure to gain support from the West. He recently sat down for an interview with CNN.
“We’ve taken notes of statements by leaders of this revolution in recent days, and they’re saying the right things now, but as they take on greater responsibility, we will assess not just their words but their actions,” Biden said.
Julani also delivered a speech on Sunday, declaring at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus that the “mujahideen” were victorious against Assad.
