After A Decade of Incoherent Strategy in Syria, a Way Forward
Federico Manfredi Firmian | 02.07.22
The US raid that resulted in the death of Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Qurayshi came hard on the heels of the Hasakah prison break—the largest US combat involvement with the Islamic State since the downfall of the group’s self-proclaimed caliphate three years ago. With US support, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces managed to regain control of the prison after more than a week of fighting, although a significant number of militants managed to escape—a stark reminder that the chaos in Syria continues to reverberate, no matter how much the United States might like to move on.
Over the past decade, the lack of a coherent US policy toward Syria has had disastrous consequences, in the immediate region and beyond. Today, however, the United States can redress some of its past errors and help the people of Syria secure a sustainable peace. In doing so, the United States has the opportunity to improve the security outlook of the Middle East and the world at large—if it chooses to take it.
The single greatest blunder the United States made in Syria was to support armed Islamist opposition groups, in partnership with Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. This policy effectively began in 2012, became increasingly reckless over the course of 2013, and was finally axed in 2017.The CIA’s vetting of rebel groups was supposed to prevent weapons from falling into the hands of radicals. Instead, most of the arms Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia smuggled into Syria went to armed groups with links to the Muslim Brotherhood or Salafi-jihadist networks. Rather than pave the way for a political transition, such policies only fueled a destructive civil war that accelerated the emergence of jihadist armed groups.
https://mwi.usma.edu/after-a-decade-of-incoherent-strategy-in-syria-a-way-forward/
