Syrian opposition fears being left behind again after US election
Many leaders of the Syrian opposition prefer Donald Trump, who used military force twice against the Syrian government, over Joe Biden, who served in an administration they believe turned a blind eye to the Iranian presence in Syria and allowed the regime to use chemical weapons.
The Syrian opposition is closely following the US elections to be held Nov. 3 that will determine if current President Donald Trump will remain in the White House or if Democratic candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden will replace him.
On Sept. 4, an opinion piece in the Washington Post laid out a policy that is more sympathetic to the Syrian opposition and more assertive in confronting Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. Many in the Syrian opposition felt that the administration of US President Barack Obama did not do enough to back the opposition.
The newspaper quoted Biden’s foreign policy adviser, Tony Blinken, as saying, “We failed in preventing a tragic loss of life as well as millions of people made into refugees or internally displaced. This is one of the things that we are looking hard at, and then, if we are given the responsibility, it’s something we will need to act on.”
Samir Nashr, a political leader in the Syrian opposition who currently resides in Turkey and a former member of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, told Al-Monitor, “The US elections are seen by the majority of the Syrian opposition as an important milestone and a potential breakthrough in determining the direction of US policy in the region, and in Syria specifically. The US has been the only superpower in the world whose stances determine other countries' positions on the Syrian revolution and the directions of the political solution in Syria, and thus whether [President] Bashar al-Assad will leave or stay in power.”
