Biden Says He Made Syrian Dictator Fall

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President Joe Biden addressed the nation from the White House on Sunday, taking credit for the collapse of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime, which fell to rebel forces after ruling for several decades through oppressive means.

In his remarks, Biden attributed the regime’s downfall to a combination of American policies, including isolating Assad diplomatically, engaging Russia in Ukraine, and permitting Israel to conduct operations against Iran and its Hezbollah allies.

President Biden: "After 13 years of civil war in Syria, more than half a century of brutal authoritarian rule by Bashar al-Assad and his father before him, rebel forces have forced Assad to resign his office, flee the country…At long last the Assad regime has fallen." pic.twitter.com/0laXTCNYbd

— CSPAN (@cspan) December 8, 2024

“Over the past four years, my administration pursued a clear, principled policy towards Syria. First, we made clear from the start that sanctions on Assad would remain in place unless he engaged seriously in a political process to end the civil war, as outlined in the U.N. security council resolution that passed in 2015. But Assad refused. So we carried out a comprehensive sanctions program against him and all those responsible for atrocities against the Syrian people. Second, we maintained our 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, taking out leaders of ISIS, ensuring that ISIS can never establish a safe haven there again. Third, we supported Israel’s freedom of action against Iranian networks in Syria and against actors aligned with Iran, transporting lethal aid to Lebanon — and, when necessary, ordered the use of military force against Iranian networks to protect U.S. forces. Our approach has shifted the balance of power in the Middle East. Through this combination of support from our partners sanctions, diplomacy, and targeted military force when necessary, we now see new opportunities opening up for the people of Syria and for the entire region.”

Here is Jeffrey Sachs on Morning Joe explaining how Obama deployed the Brennan CIA in a regime change op to begin the Syrian Civil War to take out Assad that armed jihadists and created ISIS pic.twitter.com/ClQoSPZVYx

— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) December 8, 2024

Biden’s address notably omitted several key historical points, including the Obama administration’s previous attempts to establish diplomatic ties with Assad’s regime and their failure to act on chemical weapons use despite Obama’s 2012 “red line” declaration. The current administration’s claims also contradict their earlier policies favoring Iran’s regional influence and their attempts to restrict Israeli military actions.

The President concluded his remarks with optimistic projections about Syria’s future, discussing potential plans for constitutional development with input from various Syrian factions and international assistance for rebuilding efforts.