Trump says US should stay out of fighting in Syria as opposition forces gain

WASHINGTON (AP) – United States (US) President-elect Donald Trump said that the US military should stay out of the fast-escalating conflict in Syria, where a dramatic rebel offensive reached the capital. “THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT,” Trump declared on social media.

As world leaders watched the stunning rebel advance, with its potential to alter the balance of power in the Middle East, US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser separately stressed that the Biden administration had no intention of intervening.

“The US is not going to … militarily dive into the middle of a Syrian civil war,” Jake Sullivan told an audience in California. Insurgents’ stunning march across Syria appeared to reach its goal hours after both men spoke, with rebels entering Damascus after claiming many of the country’s other major cities within roughly 10 days. The head of a Syrian opposition war monitor said early yesterday that Assad left the country for an undisclosed location.

Trump’s comments on the dramatic rebel push were his first since Syrian rebels launched their advance late last month. They came while he was in Paris for the reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral.

In his post, Trump said Assad did not deserve US support to stay in power.

The insurgents are led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which the US has designated as a terrorist group and says has links to al-Qaeda, although the group has since broken ties with al-Qaeda. “None of them are prepared to provide the kind of support to Assad that they provided in the past,” he later added.

The US has about 900 troops in Syria.

Head of US Special Operations Command General Bryan Fenton said he would not want to speculate on how the upheaval in Syria would affect the US military’s footprint in the country. “It’s still too early to tell,” he said.

Syrian opposition activists and regional officials have been watching closely for any indication from the incoming Trump administration on how the US would respond to the rebel advances against Assad.