So far, two very important laws have been enacted by the American legislators concerning Syria: the Caesar Act in 2019 and the Captagon Act in December 2022, in addition to the introduction of an anti-normalization act recently. At surface value, all these endeavors serve the interests of the Syrian people. But, when one gives them a second thought, he/she could draw other conclusions, the most shocking of which is that all these moves aim at purposely wasting time.
Most Syrians do believe that the US Administration can easily bring to an end the Syrian crisis in a very short period of time, i.e., ending the Assad rule. What goes without saying is that both the Republican and Democrat administrations, do not intend to do that. As for why, this is another story.
“Can Arab leaders take such a step without a green light from the US, taken into consideration at least the past 50 years of American unconditional control over most of them?”
Although efforts of the US Congress are highly appreciated, still Syrians need a different approach: dealing with the roots of the problem. Why do Congress members stop at working on such measures? Isn’t it more effective to talk to the people in the White House and demand the removal of the Assad regime?
Can Arab leaders take such a step without a green light from the US, taken into consideration at least the past 50 years of American unconditional control over most of them? Why haven’t the aforementioned two acts deterred the Arab leaders from normalizing with Assad? How can US laws be interpreted as being in the interest of the Syrian people? We can expect that these laws will slightly affect Arab countries, Turkey and other states that deal with the Assad regime.
“Can Arab leaders take such a step without a green light from the US, taken into consideration at least the past 50 years of American unconditional control over most of them […]?”
Add to all of this, the US sanctions do affect the Syrian regime to some extent but they are not a game-changer.
How do these laws affect Iran in the Syrian issue? Iran is the greatest threat to the existence of Syria as a state and a people.
Syrians have the right to ask as well the following question: Isn’t the White House administration behind the current Arab normalization campaign with the Assad regime? Can Arab leaders take such a step without a green light from the US, taken into consideration at least the past 50 years of American unconditional control over most of them, especially in the Gulf countries?
Isn’t there another side for the US sanctions and laws? Would they bring the Assad regime closer to Iran and Russia? Is there a more effective way to keep Syria away from these two regional powers? Isn’t removing Assad and a bunch of his family members a more tangible way out?
“The US needs to thoroughly and seriously revisit its Syria policy as the collapse, partition and demographic change in Syria are not in the interest of anyone”
Don’t these laws and sanctions leave only one option for Assad: To resort more and more to his old tactics that proved to be useful as he managed to stay thanks to them?
I think Assad will be completely obedient to the orders of the “traditional enemies” of the United States, being Iran and Russia. The United States, which in my opinion has kept the regime of Bashar Assad in power so far, as it was happy with that of his father, can only build a strategic alliance with the Syrian people, not its dictator. The US needs to thoroughly and seriously revisit its Syria policy as the collapse, partition and demographic change in the country are not in the interest of anyone, especially the United States.
