Can Syria’s President Control His Troops?

Excerpt

The Trump administration has placed significant trust in Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and he appeared strong when he seized Damascus swiftly in December. But recent massacres of civilians by government forces have exposed the limits of Mr. Sharaa’s control. The U.S. must pressure him to reform the Syrian military.

After toppling the Bashar al-Assad regime in under two weeks, Mr. Sharaa emerged from his Idlib enclave as Syria’s de facto ruler. He managed to unify multiple armed factions, and his allies formally declared him interim president in January. Bringing stability to Syria after a 14-year civil war was always going to be a daunting challenge. Now it’s become clear that Mr. Sharaa underestimated the complexity of building a state, forming a unified security structure, and ensuring representation for all segments of the population. “There is a big difference between managing one province in Syria, Idlib in the north, and managing an entire country with all its diverse ethnic and sectarian groups,” said Ryan Crocker, a former U.S. ambassador to Damascus.

Mr. Sharawi is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.