Much of what can be taken away from the fall of the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad can be traced back to the outset of the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas. This tragic failure of Israeli border security intensified the conflict between Israel and Iran, which finances both Hamas and Hezbollah as proxies.
Syria had routinely been used as a front line in Iran’s regional war on Israel. Its surface-to-air missile batteries and fighter squadrons threaten Northern Israel while Syrian radar provides valuable intelligence to Iran.
It is worth recalling how Assad was able to remain in power through the role played by Barack Obama, who famously refused to support opposition to Assad’s dictatorial rule as well as enforcement of his “red line” against Assad’s use of sarin and chlorine gas to kill his people in 2013.
Incredibly, Assad was allowed to partner with Russia and join with Iran to prop up his regime and establish an air and naval base outside of U.S. control. This reversed more than fifty years of U.S. policy to minimize Soviet influence in the Middle East. It’s another underreported legacy of Obama’s failure in the foreign policy sphere. You rarely see Washington D.C. think tanks mention it.
Obama’s Middle East priority was always to appease Iran, which was intended to make Iran the dominant regional force while working to marginalize Israel. It was this appeasement that allowed Iran to place weapons, artillery, and radar systems on the Syrian border with Israel, placing Israeli civilians in extreme danger of being annihilated. […]
— Read More: amgreatness.com
