What happens when you make assumptions about Syria
The stunning resurgence of the Syrian opposition's battle against President Bashar Al Assad, and lightning victories in key cities like Aleppo, have brought the country's often-overlooked file back to the fore in Washington.
The Biden administration and Congress have approached the developments with caution. Washington has maintained an anti-regime posture but Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, the burgeoning leader of the re-energised anti-Assad coalition, is a designated terrorist group.
State Department officials are assuring that US policy hasn't changed in Syria - but events have called into question a key assumption the Biden administration has been operating on, that the lines were frozen.
Congressman Brendan Boyle, a member of President Biden's Democratic party and co-chair of the Syria Caucus on Capitol Hill, told me that recent events were "a tragic reminder that this conflict is far from resolved”.
But Republicans like Mr Boyle's counterpart on the Caucus, Representative French Hill, believe the outgoing administration has not been a neutral actor. “The Biden-Harris administration’s public policies have supported the creeping normalisation that let Syria back into the Arab League with zero conditions," he told me.
Meanwhile, a US official told bureau chief Thomas Watkins and senior correspondent Willy Lowry that "we don't really have a dog in that fight" amid the crisscross of proxy interests reshaping the landscape of the war.
Washington is preparing for its own regime change of sorts, which could change that position: President-elect Donald Trump has signalled he is prepared to withdraw Washington's 900 or so troops from the country.
Ellie Sennett
US Correspondent
EYE ON THE WHITE HOUSE
Trump warns of 'all hell to pay' if hostages not released by January 20
US president-elect Donald Trump warned on Monday there would be "all hell to pay" if the remaining hostages held in the Middle East are not freed before he takes office on January 20.
Writing after the Israeli military confirmed the death of Omer Neutra, an Israeli-American who was thought to have been kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023, Mr Trump said those responsible for taking hostages would be "hit harder" than anyone in US history.
Mr Trump, who also said hostage-release negotiations so far have been "all talk and no action", has indicated that he will lift even the minor constraints the US has imposed on Israel as it has flattened the Gaza Strip. Last month, senior Republicans said "reinforcements are on the way" for Israel in terms of US backing.
What's Washington talking about?
Lebanon Our senior correspondent Willy Lowry pressed the State Department's Vedant Patel on whether Lebanon had the right to defend itself after Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said his country would attack the Lebanese state "with no exceptions" if last week's landmark ceasefire fails. Mr Patel refused to answer Willy's questions.
Syria's Christians I sat in on a virtual briefing from Aleppo's bishop, Bishop Hanna Jallouf, who talked to a small group of reporters huddled into a downtown Washington home on Tuesday about the status of minorities in Aleppo after opposition rebels took over the major city. He told us Christian celebrations "whether it is St Barbara, New Year's and Christmas, are going as normal" in Aleppo amid fears of minority status with the takeover of Islamist rebel fighters.
South Korea A White House spokesperson said Washington is "relieved" that South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol reversed the sudden and controversial decision to declare martial law. The decision has put a test on the Biden administration's close relationship with one of its most important allies in the Indo-Pacific, and President Yoon is facing calls to resign amid mass protests.
领英推荐
Interview: The Grateful Dead - by the photographer who immortalised them
Almost 30 years after guitarist and songwriter Jerry Garcia's death, the Grateful Dead are bigger than ever. Their offshoot, Dead & Company, recently finished a summer residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas after an eight-year tour where they packed stadiums and arenas around the US.
Dead & Company's touring years were captured by legendary rock and roll photographer Jay Blakesberg, whose book on the band, Dead & Company: Rainbow Full of Sound, was released last week and available on Blakesberg's website.
“I just wanted to kind of celebrate and document those eight years that were a lot of fun for a lot of people who reconnected with this music,” Blakesberg told The National.
Asked why he chose Rainbow Full of Sound as the book's title, Blakesberg said he drew inspiration from the song The Music Never Stopped, the lyrics of which refer to “fireworks, calliopes and clowns” as throngs of people dance to the music.
“That's the Grateful Dead experience, right? You know, we're all just clowns and it really is just dancing, right?” he said.
ONLY IN AMERICA
Congressional staffer arrested at US Capitol with ammunition, police say
A staffer for a US House of Representatives Democrat was arrested at the Capitol on Monday when a regular security check turned up ammunition in his bag, the Capitol Police said.
The police identified the staffer as Michael Hopkins, who worked for Representative Joe Morelle, who represents an upstate New York district. Hopkins was found with four ammunition magazines and 11 rounds, police said. No gun was recovered.
The Congressman's office said Hopkins was "no longer employed" by the office.
- Reuters
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