Donald Trump, on the conflict in Syria: 'This is not our fight'
The Republican blamed Barack Obama for his policies during a critical point of the internecine war in 2013.
Rebel jihadists in Aleppo province, Syria.
President-elect Donald Trump stated his position on the armed conflict between the Syrian government and rebel militias, led by the jihadist Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS): "Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT."
The president's message on Truth Social comes ten days after an alliance of armed groups launched a surprise assault against the executive of Bashar al-Assad. The rebels have been gaining ground, seizing cities such as Aleppo and Hama in their advance toward the capital Damascus.
Although the latter assured on Saturday that they were surrounding the capital, official sources assured that this was false. Trump affirmed that the jihadist troops were "on the outskirts of Damascus, obviously preparing to make a very big move toward taking out Assad."
He also pointed out that the help of Russia, a traditional ally of the Syrian president, would be insufficient, as the latter was "so tied up in Ukraine."
"There was never much of a benefit in Syria for Russia, other than to make Obama look really stupid," he argued after referring to "the red line in the sand" the then Democratic president had set on the use of chemical weapons. Although the United States revealed in 2013 that the Syrian ruler had used chemical weaponry on its own territory, killing 14,000 people, Barack Obama did not take punitive action and instead sealed a deal with Vladimir Putin to dismantle the Syrian chemical arsenal.
That pact allowed the survival of the Moscow-friendly regime. For Trump, however, getting out of the foreign conflict may now mean relief in the eyes of the Kremlin.
"THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!" Trump insisted.
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