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Assad’s Fall Has Humiliated Washington
Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the leader of Syria’s Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group that headed a lightning rebel offensive, snatching Damascus from government control, on December 8, 2024. (Abdulaziz Ketaz via Getty Images)
Syrians are free from Assad in spite of the Biden administration, not because of it.
By Eli Lake
12.10.24 — International
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According to President Joe Biden, the end of Bashar al-Assad’s tyranny in Syria was made possible by his administration’s foreign policy. Speaking from the White House on Sunday in a televised address, he said, “For years the main backers of Assad have been Iran, Hezbollah, and Russia, but over the last week their support collapsed, all three of them, because all three of them are far weaker today than they were when I took office.”

Try not to laugh.

Biden attributes the woes that have befallen this alleged “Axis of Resistance” to “the blows Ukraine [and] Israel have delivered upon their own self-defense with unflagging support of the United States.”

This isn’t just a deceptive telling of recent history. Biden has it backward. While it’s true that Iran, Hezbollah, and Russia are weaker today than they were when Biden was inaugurated as president, it’s not because Biden had the foresight to unleash the Jewish state against America’s enemies in the Middle East. It’s because Israel defied Biden’s efforts to restrain it. Syria has toppled its tyrant in spite of the Biden administration, not because of it.

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Eli Lake
Eli Lake is the host of Breaking History, a new history podcast from The Free Press. A veteran journalist with expertise in foreign affairs and national security, Eli has reported for Bloomberg, The Daily Beast, and Newsweek. With Breaking History, he brings his sharp analysis and storytelling skills to uncover the connections between today’s events and pivotal moments in the past.
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