Jeffrey: The American presence in Syria prevented Assad regime from advancing on the ground

The former US envoy to Syria, James Jeffrey, said in an interview published Sunday by the “Times of Israel” newspaper, that the American military presence in Syria was not only limited to fighting ISIS, but also prevented the Assad regime from advancing on the ground and bringing the situation to a state of military stalemate in Syria.

James Jeffrey, who left office last month, acknowledged the Trump administration’s inability to achieve the desired goals of its campaign in Syria, which is to ensure the withdrawal of all Iranian militias from Syria, defeat ISIS completely, and find a political solution to the conflict, which is entering its tenth year.

Jeffrey added, “But what we have succeeded in is stopping the progress of Assad in the field, and bringing the situation to a state of military stalemate there.”

Jeffrey stressed that the US forces and the international coalition in Syria are preventing the Assad regime forces from gaining more territory. He added, “The Turkish forces are doing the same thing in northern Syria,” while “the Israeli air force dominates the sky.”

The former US envoy pointed out that Russia and Israel “inherited a failed state in the gutter, and they will be forced to negotiate and make concessions to get out of this quagmire.”

He added that if the United States fails to reach a compromise that includes the withdrawal of Iranian militias from Syria, then there must be an interim strategy that is to prevent them from winning.

Jeffrey defended the Israeli raids on Syria, saying that the only way to stop these operations is the withdrawal of Iranian militias from Syria, considering this a request not for discussion.

Jeffrey said, “Israel played a huge role, but most of the information about it is classified.”
Jeffrey commented about his team concealing the true level of the US military presence in Syria from the White House, stressing that Trump had never been misled in this regard.

It is worth noting that the US special envoy to Syria, Joel Rayburn, stated during his visit to Egypt that the United States has three main goals in Syria, the first of which is achieving a permanent defeat for ISIS and other terrorist groups, and the second goal is to curtail Iran’s role in Syria, and to work towards Removing the Iranian militias from the Syrian lands so that they cannot play a destabilizing role in the country, and trying to threaten the region through it. As for the third goal, it is an attempt to achieve a political solution to the crisis in Syria according to the Security Council resolution, noting that these goals are agreed upon by the two parties the democratic and republican.