House panel considers US policy options in Syria
Members of the subcommittee also pressed witnesses on whether regime change in Syria is an option.
The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa and Global Counterterrorism held a hearing Thursday on “10 Years of War: Examining the Ongoing Conflict in Syria.”
While the subcommittee chairman, Democrat Rep. Ted Deutch of Florida, began the virtual event by calling for a “political solution” to the 10-year-old civil war, and Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad remains in control of key parts of the country, options for regime change were also discussed.
Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina, who is the top Republican on the subcommittee, explicitly called for Assad’s ouster. “The Assad regime is illegitimate and should be replaced,” said Wilson.
Deutch asked experts who spoke to the panel, “Is there an end in which Russia leaves Syria, in which Iran leaves Syria, in which Turkey leaves Syria, ultimately, in which Assad leaves Syria?”
