Why do syrians hate americans

And because the policy community did not expect the Syrian leader to last very long, it was caught flat-footed when Assad pursued his most obvious and crudely effective strategy: a militarization of the uprising. Lest anyone believe that this was a policy particular to U. While the bodies continued to pile up, all Washington could muster was expressions of concern over another problem from hell. Syria is, of course, different from Rwanda, Darfur, and Srebrenica—to suggest otherwise would be reasoning by analogy—but it is another case of killing on an industrial scale that paralyzed Washington.

It seems that even those well versed in history cannot avoid repeating it. Many of the analysts and policymakers who preferred that the United States stay out or minimize its role in Syria came to that position honestly. It seems lost on the same group that U. The waning of U. By every traditional measure of power, the United States, after all, has no peer.

But power is only useful in its application, and Washington has proved either unable or unwilling to shape events in the Middle East as it had in the past—which is to say, it has abdicated its own influence.

That may be a positive development. No one wants a repeat of Iraq. Contrast the way in which Russian President Vladimir Putin came to the rescue of an ally in crisis—Assad—with the way U. Israel, Turkey, and the Gulf States still look to Washington for leadership but have also begun seeking help securing their interests at the Kremlin. The era when the United States determined the rules of the game in the Middle East and maintained a regional order that made it relatively easier and less expensive to exercise U.

It is now over. And, of course, western-style democracy would break out, and secularism — which was in fact supposed to be the foundation of the Baath party — would become the basis of a new and liberal Arab state. We did not imagine that the Isis nightmare would emerge like a genie from the eastern deserts. Some Islamist groups not all, by any means, and it was not a simple transition were there from the start. They were in Homs as early as This does not mean that Syrian rebels were not brave, democratically minded figures.

But they were mightily exaggerated in the west. Syrian officers would say that they always preferred to fight the FSA because they ran away; Nusrah and Isis did not. This is nonsense. Very few reporters with the honourable exception of those reporting for Channel 4 News have explained this all-important fact of the war, even though some footage clearly showed the Turkish-paid militiamen brandishing the old Free Syrian Army green, white and black flag.

It was this same ex-FSA rabble who entered the Kurdish enclave of Afrin last year and helped their Nusrah colleagues loot Kurdish homes and businesses. There was a time when this would have provoked ribaldry and contempt.

He also issued an executive order putting sanctions on Turkey, including Turkish government officials and ministries. But in a week, the map in Syria has shifted dramatically. The Kurds still hold on to territory, but the future of their democratic experiment looks bleak.

This is the very territory the US and Kurds worked to liberate from ISIS and now it will be handed to Assad, giving him greater influence — if not yet total control — over the territory and the ISIS fighters being held there.

The new fighting is likely to displace tens of thousands of people , who are fleeing to the south to escape the bombing and shelling. Any peace or ceasefire will almost certainly be guided by the players there: the regime, Russia, Turkey. But the fallout says a lot about American influence and just how much it has diminished. The Trump administration just imposed sanctions on Turkey for invading northern Syria.

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Relatives of a fighter of the Syrian Democratic Forces, who was killed in an attack claimed by the Islamic State in Manbij, walk with his portrait during a funeral for the victims in the northern Syrian-Kurdish town of Kobane on March 27, Turkish-backed Syrian fighters take part in a battle in Ras al-Ayn, Syria, along the Turkish border as Turkey and its allies continue their assault on Kurdish-held border towns in northeastern Syria on October 14, Explainers 5 things to know about the big climate conference in Glasgow.

Explainers Why are rich countries still monopolizing Covid vaccines? Sign up for the newsletter Sign up for The Weeds Get our essential policy newsletter delivered Fridays. Thanks for signing up! Meanwhile, a Taliban negotiator predicted that the Afghan government will be the next American ally to be abandoned. During a visit to Afghanistan in the middle of the Syria drama, U. Defense Secretary Mark Esper appeared to recognize just how palpable these fears were. But the Afghans are fearful.

If the U. But if the U. One of the revelations of the Trump era is that allies appear to be willing to endure rougher and more transactional treatment than previous American presidents might have assumed they would.

With regard to Syria, the Trump Doctrine has succeeded in one way: Other countries are becoming more assertive in addressing the fallout, though not always effectively or in a manner consistent with U.

Exhibit A is the chaos in Syria, which Russia now bestrides like a colossus. Last month, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the German defense minister and likely next chancellor, called for an international security zone in northern Syria, the first proposal by modern Germany for a military mission in the Middle East.

Yara Bayoumy and Kathy Gilsinan contributed reporting. Skip to content Site Navigation The Atlantic. Popular Latest. The Atlantic Crossword. Sign In Subscribe. To hear more feature stories, see our full list or get the Audm iPhone app.