A senior delegation of U.S. diplomats arrived in Syria to meet with the new de facto rulers, looking to understand more about how they intend to govern.
The delegation included Barbara Leaf, the top State Department official for the Middle East, Daniel Rubinstein, a veteran diplomat in the Middle East who is being put in charge of engagement on Syria, and Roger Carstens, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs. It marks the first time the United States has sent a delegation to Syria in several years.
Multiple opposition groups, but mainly the U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization Hayat Tahrir al Sham, were able to overthrow the Assad regime, which was in power for more than 50 years, earlier this month.
HTS leader Ahmed al Sharaa, previously known as Abu Mohammed al Golani, has shared moderate views on how they hope to govern, including calling for Syrian unity, protecting minorities, and disbanding rebel factions. However, the U.S. has expressed doubts that the group that has since severed its ties with al Qaeda has completely changed its ideology.
“There are no guarantees at all. We’ve seen too many times one dictator can be replaced by another,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told The Foreign Affairs Interview Podcast on Wednesday. “So this is fraught, but we know almost certainly that absent our engagement, absent our leadership, that’s the way it will go. We have a chance, and the Syrian people have a chance, if concerned countries, including the United States, work to move this in a good direction.”
U.S. officials are contemplating whether to delist the HTS as a foreign terrorist organization but are waiting to see whether it is actually a reformed organization no longer committed to terrorism or simply bidding time until it’s able to implement its ideology.
The secretary of state has the authority to revoke an FTO designation, though it usually comes after extensive deliberations and is fraught with possible political implications if the group is still committed to the acts that prompted the initial designation.
Carstens leads the government’s efforts to secure the release of Americans legally determined to be considered “wrongfully detained” abroad. His office has secured the release of dozens of Americans during his time in the position from Russia, China, Iran, Afghanistan, and Venezuela.
American journalist Austin Tice went missing in Syria a dozen years ago. It’s unclear where he is, but his family believes he is still alive and the fall of the Assad regime is an opportunity to be reunited with him.
Simultaneously, the U.S. is also concerned about the possibility that ISIS could use the instability and power vacuum to reconstitute. U.S. forces have carried out multiple rounds of airstrikes in Syria since the fall of Assad earlier this month.
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U.S. Central Command forces carried out an airstrike in the Dayr al Zawr Province on Thursday, targeting and killing ISIS leader Abu Yusif. A second unnamed ISIS operative was also killed in the strike, according to U.S. Central Command.
The Pentagon acknowledged on Thursday that there are currently about 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria for the defeat ISIS mission, much higher than the 900 tally it has shared publicly for months.