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The Syrian Rebels' Lessons for Washington

(Wall Street Journal) Walter Russell Mead - The embers of the long-smoldering rebellion against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's murderous regime have burst into flames. With Assad's Hizbullah allies decimated, his Russian backers stretched in Ukraine, and his Iranian paymasters reeling under Israel's hammer blows, the rebel forces smelled weakness, and they came down from the hills. While nobody knows how this ends, there are important lessons here. Assad's defeats aren't all good news for Jerusalem. The strongest of the rebel groups around Aleppo are forces formerly linked to al-Qaeda and separate factions supported by Turkey's Islamist-leaning President Erdogan. An Islamist Syria under Turkish protection could be an even more dangerous neighbor for Israel than Assad's Syria has been. Another lesson is that Israel is an excellent ally, and the U.S. benefits when we support it. Overall, the Biden administration has given Israel the weapons it needed to prevail in Gaza and Lebanon. As a result, a weakened Iran is ready to offer more concessions to both Israel and the U.S. than it was a year ago. The superiority of American weaponry over Russian gear has been convincingly demonstrated. All this was accomplished without the loss of American lives and without American boots on the ground. Even greater support would likely have brought more good results, as a genuinely coordinated Israeli-American diplomatic strategy for the region could have done more to solidify the Middle East security structure both Washington and Jerusalem want. The writer, a fellow at the Hudson Institute, is Professor of Foreign Affairs and Humanities at Bard College.
2024-12-05 00:00:00
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