Trump says US should ‘NOT GET INVOLVED’ in conflict in Syria

WASHINGTON: President-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday the US should not be involved in the conflict in Syria, where rebel forces are threatening the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

“Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

Trump said because Russia, an Assad ally, is tied up fighting a war with Ukraine it “seems incapable of stopping this literal march through Syria, a country they have protected for years.”

If Russia were forced out of Syria, it “may actually be the best thing that can happen to them” because “there was never much of a benefit in Syria for Russia,” Trump said.

Trump’s comments appeared to reflect his opposition to the presence of some 900 US troops in Syria, mostly of them in the northeast, where they have backed a Syrian Kurd-led alliance in preventing a resurgence of Islamic State militants.

Trump announced in 2018 during his first term that he wanted to withdraw the US troops because he said Islamic State was near defeat.

But he held off as advisers warned that a pullout would leave a void that would be filled by Iran and Russia.

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Syrian rebels entered suburbs of the key city of Homs on Saturday, pressing a lightning week-long advance as front lines collapse across the country and government forces battle to save President Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year rule.

A Homs resident, and army and rebel sources said the insurgents had breached government defences from the north and east of the city. The Syrian military did not immediately comment on the reports.

Fighting has raged around the north of strategically vital Homs since late on Friday with government forces reinforcing and using intense airstrikes to hammer the rebels.

Insurgents also seized almost the entire southwest within 24 hours and advanced to within 30 km (20 miles) of Damascus as government forces fell back, rebels said.

Underscoring the possibility of an uprising in the capital, protesters in a Damascus suburb tore down a statue of Assad’s father and ripped it to pieces. In other suburbs soldiers changed into civilian clothes and deserted their posts, residents said.

Assad remains in Damascus, Syria’s state news agency said.