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Marco Rubio with Ahmed al-Sharaa
An aged station from the United States Embassy successful Syria, which had labelled the incumbent Syrian President arsenic a wanted al-Qaeda violent successful 2017, went viral connected Tuesday aft caput of authorities Marco Rubio met Ahmed al-Sharaa to sermon "US priorities" successful Syria.In the meeting, Rubio discussed ongoing counterterrorism efforts successful Syria with Sharaa, a measurement that could awesome thing abbreviated of an ironic crook successful the US–Syria relations."They discussed ongoing counterterrorism efforts, efforts to find missing Americans, and the value of Israel-Syria relations successful achieving greater determination security," the US section of authorities wrote astir Rubio-Sharaa's meeting.
"This has not aged well," a idiosyncratic wrote connected X.In May, US president Donald Trump met Sharaa successful Saudi Arabia, marking the archetypal gathering betwixt the leaders of the 2 nations successful 25 years.The encounter, held connected the sidelines of Trump’s engagement with leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, was seen arsenic a melodramatic displacement for Syria arsenic it transitioned from implicit 5 decades of autocratic regularisation nether the Assad family.On being asked however the POTUS recovered the Syrian President, Trump told reporters that gathering with al-Sharaa was "great".
He further described him arsenic a "Young, charismatic guy, pugnacious guy."Trump besides said that al-Sharaa has a "Strong past, precise beardown past — fighter. He's got a existent changeable astatine holding it together."The gathering is simply a large improvement that comes aft Sharaa’s rebel radical overthrew Bashar al-Assad’s authorities successful December.The United States’ engagement successful Syria intensified aft the 2011 uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, which spiralled into a brutal civilian war.
Washington initially backed absorption groups with funding, weapons, and training, framing its argumentation astir authorities alteration and enactment for antiauthoritarian movements. However, the fragmented absorption and Assad’s resilience analyzable US goals.The emergence of ISIS successful 2014 shifted American priorities. The US launched airstrikes, partnered with Kurdish-led forces, and established a subject beingness successful northeastern Syria. While officially focused connected counterterrorism, Washington’s relation became entangled with broader geopolitical rivalries, leaving US–Syria relations profoundly hostile and unresolved.
