Head of U.S. Central Command, Army Gen. Joseph Votel, strongly advocated Wednesday for GOP President-elect Donald Trump not to drop support for Syrian rebels locked in the fight against the Islamic State and Syrian President Bashar-al Assad.
Votel, who spoke at an event put on by the Foreign Policy Initiative in Washington, D.C., said the incoming Trump administration should continue Obama’s program of training and equipping Syrian rebels. Such a move, however, would represent a dramatic shift from Trump’s campaign rhetoric, The Washington Times reports.
Trump has signified intent to abandon the rebels, but just to be safe, Assad appears focused on fully seizing Aleppo before Trump takes office in late January.
“The Russians want to complete the operation before Trump takes power,” an official part of the pro-Assad military alliance told Reuters.
Taking back eastern Aleppo would constitute a monumental victory for Assad, who has pioneered a remarkably successful offensive after Russia and Iran stepped in to bolster his faltering regime. While Russia and Iran have stood firmly behind Assad, the United States has in the past wavered in its support for the rebels.
But Votel didn’t focus on Assad in his speech. Rather, he mentioned that the Syrian Democratic Forces, one group backed by the U.S., is making great strides against the Islamic State’s capital of Raqqa in Syria. The retaking of Raqqa will be a major point of focus for the incoming Trump administration.
And yet, Trump has distanced himself from the foreign policy establishment on training and supporting the rebels.
“I’ve had an opposite view of many people regarding Syria,” Trump told The Wall Street Journal in a November interview.
“My attitude was, you’re fighting Syria, Syria is fighting ISIS, and you have to get rid of ISIS. Russia is now totally aligned with Syria, and now you have Iran, which is becoming powerful, because of us, is aligned with Syria,” Trump added.
Moreover, for Trump, to attack Assad directly puts the U.S. into open conflict with Russia and Syria, which is exactly what he wants to avoid, although his position has prompted accusations that Trump is overly Kremlin-friendly.
Votel confirmed that regardless of his personal feelings on the matter, “We will do exactly what he tells us.”
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