After nearly 50 years of Assad family rule and 13 years of brutal civil war, Syrians are free from the Assad regime. The Syrian people — who have endured the nightmare of chemical weapons attacks, prisons, and barrel bombs — deserve a new start with a voice in their government and a reality in which they can live and prosper without fear. The end of former President Bashar Assad’s rule is indeed good news, but there is no way to know what happens next; it could go either way, good or bad.
The end of the Assad regime did not happen by accident. U.S. sanctions, championed by many of us in Congress, hollowed out Assad’s military machine. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s preoccupation with Ukraine combined with Israel’s relentless actions against Iranian proxies meant Assad’s allies could no longer support him. If Israel had followed President Joe Biden’s demand to come to a unilateral ceasefire with Hamas and Hezbollah months ago, Iran would never have been weakened enough to set the stage for the Syrian regime’s disintegration and ultimate failure. Despite significant Russian and Iranian investments, both of their interventions in Syria ended in spectacular catastrophe in the span of a few days. These developments foreshadow massive change in the region.
