Former CIA official: The US is not delivering counter-terrorism weapons to Assad or Turkey

ISIS news are in the lead in Washington, especially after statements about the group’s return, which was issued by the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mazloum Abdi, former envoy of the Global Coalition to combat ISIS Brett McGurk, and the former US defense secretary James Mattis. 

On the sixth anniversary of the US historic decision to intervene in Syria for the first time by supporting fighting  local forces in Ain al-Arab/Kobani, former CIA official Norman Raul told North-Press that it is important to understand the US view of groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda, to realize that staying in Syria and going on supporting local forces (SDF) is a sustainable decision. 

He said that, the US sees al-Qaeda and ISIS as number one enemy, that exported ideas which led to terrorist operations against US citizens, pointing out that the developments, such as Bolton’s resignation, don’t affect the Syrian scene, especially regarding the battle with ISIS.  

Raul asserted that, US institutions recognize that the power of a group such as ISIS stems from the “spreading extremist ideas and taking advantage of any political and military vacuum to return to its terrorists actions ,” and in case of being active on ground, it has the ability to return and export extremism abroad, therefore, even if the decisions of the White House were isolated, there won’t be any toleration with ISIS as being a key enemy and its defeat must continue to be assured.  

Raul pointed out that concerned officials of the Syrian file, such as James Jeffrey and defense generals who are working on the ground in Syria agree with Bolton on the need to maintain a sustainable infrastructure (military and civilian) of the people of the region, supported by the US to ensure that extremist groups aren’t given the opportunity to return to their activities.  

He added that, “I understand the desire of any US administration to announce the withdrawal of troops from Syria and the lessening of the US presence in the Middle East, and with the desire to not to turn Syrian war into another Afghanistan (where US troops stayed for 15 years). We believe that extraordinary efforts are being made by these people to support the SDF to ensure that no more US troops are needed, so that there is no vacuum in the region which may be exploited by the extremist groups”. 

Raul pointed to the high level of unchanged US interest in fighting “terrorist groups since 9/11attacks”, which has extended to involving Arab allies such as Saudi Arabia in the fight against al-Qaeda and ISIS, adding that the experience of withdrawing some troops from Iraq under President Obama’s administration, assured for the US  institutions that this kind of terrorists comes back in at moment of complacency in the fight against them, which may reach US territories at a record speed in a way that differs from the danger of Iran’s “militias”.

Raul believed that US efforts to search for allies in Syria is a reason for Washington to hold on its gains and not to abandon them. He described the experience with the SDF as fruitful and commensurate with the Pentagon’s ability to persuade any administration to continue to support this experience, which doesn’t force us to send US troops to fight these terrorist groups. 

Raul noted that, “Other rivals in Syria such as the Syrian regime, Russia, Iran and Turkey are manipulative, they ignore the fundamental threats of ISIS and seek to shuffle the cards and fight their main enemies under the pretext of combating terrorism,  making it necessary to continue our experience in Syria and to strengthen the support because any collapse in the ranks of these allied forces means a vacuum which will be exploited by Assad and his allies”. 

Raul pointed out that, the US with its institutions, is convinced that the rifle of combating ISIS won’t be handed over to “Assad and his allies or to Turkey to wreak havoc, corruption and repression in the region, in order to achieve their goals and direct the rifle of terrorism toward fighting the US national security interests.”

The former CIA official, Norman Raul said that even the reconstruction funds “won’t be given by the US to Assad and his allies because this strengthens them against us. Instead, we will focus on rebuilding the SDF areas, which we guarantee that it will be an area which will always prevent extremist group of returning”.