|
Trending Topics
|
Source: https://jcfa.org/is-tom-barrack-kicking-the-can-down-the-road/
Is U.S. Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack Kicking the Can Down the Road?
(Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs) Rawan Osman - Rebranding a jihadist does not neutralize jihadism; it normalizes it. Did Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa deliver order where chaos reigned? Order implies predictability, protection of civilians, restraint of armed actors, and a monopoly over violence. What has unfolded instead is selective coercion, sectarian intimidation, and the empowerment of militias operating under a thin veneer of statehood. Recent clashes with Kurdish forces and earlier massacres against Alawite and Druze communities all demonstrate the same reality: violence has not been curtailed. It has merely been relabeled as "internal security operations." Tom Barrack, the U.S. Special Envoy for Syria, made clear that Washington now views Kurdish forces as obsolete and an Islamist-led central authority as inevitable. The overthrow of Bashar al-Assad was necessary. One tyrant was removed while an Islamist was emboldened. The fact that this Islamist opposes ISIS does not mitigate the dangers of his ideology. Yet rather than containing, restraining, and pressuring Islamist forces at the moment of transition, the West legitimized them. Al-Sharaa's men were not disarmed or disciplined; they were unleashed. Tom Barrack is not solving Syria. He is kicking the can down the road. The writer is a JCFA researcher and Syrian-born activist.