Follow us on social

2018-07-18t204022z_427155594_rc194e7a7120_rtrmadp_3_mideast-crisis-syria-evacuation-scaled

Former envoy: Al-Qaida linked leader an 'asset' to US Syria strategy

Ambassador James Jeffrey is just reminding us how complicated and counterproductive our policy is there — if there is one.

Middle East

The former U.S. special envoy to Syria said in an interview excerpt published Friday that Al Qaida’s Syrian offshoot is an “asset” to U.S. strategy in Syria. 

Ambassador James Jeffrey had told PBS News in March 2021 that the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham was “least bad option of the various options on Idlib, and Idlib is one of the most important places in Syria, which is one of the most important places right now in the Middle East.”

Jeffrey oversaw the Trump administration’s Syria policy until November 2020, when he left the State Department in the wake of the election of President Joe Biden.”

The interview excerpt was taken from an upcoming PBS documentary about Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, a former senior official in Al Qaida who now leads HTS.

Jolani, who is designated as a terrorist by the U.S. government, told PBS that his relationship with Al Qaida “has ended” and the terrorism designation against him is “unfair.”

He claimed that his new group “does not represent a threat to the security of Europe and America” and was always “against carrying out operations outside of Syria.”

HTS now controls the breakaway province of Idlib, home to an estimated 3 million people, many of whom are refugees fleeing Syrian government repression. Jolani argued that HTS and the United States have a common interest in protecting them, according to PBS. HTS has also been accused of human rights violations against civilians, including torture and pillage.

The comments by Jeffrey and Jolani came a year after major fighting in the region that left nearly 1 million civilians displaced.

The Syrian government, backed by Russia, had launched an offensive to retake Idlib in late 2019. After pro-government forces surrounded several Turkish peacekeeping outposts in the province, Turkey launched a counter-offensive in February 2020.

Russia and Turkey agreed to a ceasefire on March 5, although sporadic fighting has continued.

Jeffrey, a career diplomat in Turkey, is no stranger to controversial statements.

Soon after leaving government, he admitted to playing “shell games” to keep the number of U.S. troops in Syria hidden from the President.

Furthermore, in a 2013 article, he praised the 1980 military coup d’etat in Turkey, which led to the arrest and torture of thousands of dissidents.

“The Turkish coup stands out as perhaps the most successful of the region's many military interventions over the past two generations,” he wrote. “Despite its long-term [Kurdistan Workers Party] insurgency, current political woes, and other concerns, Turkey has been an overall democratic success since the 1980 coup, as well as a stable, strong, and helpful U.S. ally.”

Islamist rebels from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham are seen outside the villages of al-Foua and Kefraya, Syria July 18, 2018. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Middle East
US groups to Biden: End aid if Israel won't stop brutalizing civilians
REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
photo : U.S. President Joe Biden attends a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as he visits Israel amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 18, 2023.

US groups to Biden: End aid if Israel won't stop brutalizing civilians

QiOSK

A group of 60 national, state, and local organizations sent a letter to President Biden on Monday urging him to “hold Israel accountable to U.S. law [by] ending arms sales to Israel to protect U.S. interests, achieve a ceasefire, protect civilians, increase aid access in Gaza, and work towards a stable future for the region.”

The policy, humanitarian, and faith-based organizations — which include Amnesty International, the Friends Committee on National Legislation, and the Quincy Institute, publisher of Responsible Statecraft — expressed disappointment with Biden’s policy of “unconditional support of Israel paired with empty threats,” saying the policy has not yielded any meaningful results and serves to harm America’s global reputation.

keep readingShow less
Stefanik UN pick: Win for hardliners aiming to frontload Trump WH
File:President Trump Signs Stefanik Initiatives into Law at Fort ...

Stefanik UN pick: Win for hardliners aiming to frontload Trump WH

Washington Politics

President-elect Trump has named New York GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik as his choice for ambassador to the United Nations.

The nomination is one of the first major appointments Trump has made since winning the election last week. Stefanik has been a staunch Trump loyalist going back to his first term in office, and she has been one of the most vocal supporters of the war in Gaza over the last year.

keep readingShow less
By the numbers: US missile capacity depleting fast
Top photo credit: Sailors lift ammunition during an on-load aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS William P. Lawrence (DDG 110). William P. Lawrence is underway on its first operational deployment to the western Pacific region as part of the Nimitz Strike Group Surface Action Group. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Carla Ocampo) File# 130126-N-ZQ631-628

By the numbers: US missile capacity depleting fast

Military Industrial Complex

Regardless of the merits or demerits of the Biden administration’s policies on the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and the wider Middle East, it has become clear that the United States has been using and giving away its missiles faster than it can produce them.

It is also clear that from the perspective of missile inventories and production, the United States is far from prepared to engage confidently in a sustained direct conflict with a peer competitor like China.

keep readingShow less

Election 2024

Latest

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.