What Follows Syria’s Civil War Looks Combustible
President Bashar Al-Assad is moving to reassert his control of Syria, but Turkey and Israel may have other thoughts.
(Bloomberg) --
President Bashar Al-Assad is moving to reassert his control of Syria, but Turkey and Israel may have other thoughts about what the country should look like after its devastating civil war.
Israel, in a rare acknowledgement of its operations in the country, said it attacked Iranian and Syrian targets overnight after a missile strike on the Israeli-held section of the Golan Heights. Israel blamed Iran and said Tehran can’t be allowed to entrench itself in Syria. Damascus will pay the price for letting the Iranians use Syria as a forward base to attack Israel, it warned.
Whether the assault was meant to show Iran it won’t be cowed should U.S. troops leave, or was aimed at a domestic audience in an election season, Israel's message was clear: Don’t mess with us.
In Syria’s northwest, an uneasy truce in Idlib is likely to give way to a Syrian-Russian operation to retake the last major rebel enclave.
Turkey failed to carve out a pocket of influence for insurgents it supports. Now it’ll have to negotiate with Russia to try and avoid the type of humanitarian crisis that would send more refugees flooding across the Turkish border.
From the U.S. conflicting voices continue to emerge regarding President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw American troops altogether. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara over the weekend, told Bloomberg that the exit is more of a “desire” than a plan. It would be an “absolute disaster” to just walk away, he said.
After eight years, the civil war may be ending, but Syria is looking increasing combustible.
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--With assistance from Stuart Biggs, Amy Teibel, Sotiris Nikas, Karen Leigh and Kathleen Hunter.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Karl Maier at kmaier2@bloomberg.net, Caroline Alexander
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