Biden Loses His Biggest Syria Battle Yet

President Joe Biden's Syria policy has been dealt its biggest blow yet as the Arab League has welcomed back President Bashar al-Assad despite U.S. opposition to his rule.

With Assad expected to attend Friday's annual summit in Saudi Arabia for the first time since Syria's civil war erupted in 2011, his diplomats in New York say the return bears with it a message for the U.S. to end its ongoing military presence and sanctions targeting the country.

"As for the repercussions of these developments on the two issues of the illegal military presence of U.S. forces on parts of the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic and the imposition by the United States of America of unilateral coercive measures on the Syrian people," the Syrian Mission to the United Nations told Newsweek, "Syria's position on these two issues is a principled and firm position based on the provisions of international law and the principles and purposes of the UN Charter."

The Mission cited the U.N. foundational document in arguing that "on the one hand, affirms respect for the sovereignty of states and the non-use or threat of force in international relations, and rejects the crimes of aggression and occupation as the most serious and grave violation of international law, and, on the other hand, restricts the possibility of imposing sanctions to the Security Council."

"We recall here that the United Nations periodically adopts several resolutions affirming the illegality of unilateral coercive measures," the Mission stated, "highlighting their negative effects on the enjoyment of human rights and achieving development for the peoples of the targeted countries, and calling for their lifting."

Twelve Years of U.S. Engagement

The U.S. role in Syria's war began shortly after a government crackdown on widespread protests in the midst of the 2011 Arab Spring movement devolved into an all-out conflict between the government and rebel groups. The crisis prompted Syria's suspension from the Arab League and, after an attempt to greenlight intervention through the U.N. Security Council was thwarted by China and Russia, the U.S. and a number of its allies and partners, including Saudi Arabia, began to back opposition forces.

But as jihadis rose through the ranks of insurgents, the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) gradually emerged as a primary threat in both Syria and neighboring Iraq. The U.S. formed a multinational coalition to take on ISIS in 2014, teaming with a Kurdish-led group known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) the following year, as Russia conducted an intervention of its own in Syria, joining Iran in supporting Assad.

The Syrian government has since reemerged as the leading faction in the conflict, with the SDF and partnered U.S. troops maintaining control of swathes of the northeast, while rebels, some of whom are still backed by Turkey, continue to hold territory along the northern border. Public fissures in the regional boycott of Assad began to emerge as early as December 2018, when Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates declared they would reopen their embassies in Damascus.

The list of Syria's official interactions with regional powers continues to grow. Of particular note was Assad's visit last year to the UAE, which marked his first travel to another Arab state since the beginning of the war. Russia-brokered talks held between Saudi and Syrian officials in March, weeks after Riyadh and Tehran forged a China-brokered deal to reestablish their own ties, appeared to overcome some final hurdles.

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud met with Assad on April 18 and the Arab League announced Assad's comeback on May 7. Three days later, Saudi King Salman invited the Syrian leader to attend the upcoming regional gathering in the Kingdom's Jeddah.

Newsweek has reached out to the Arab League for comment.

Demands for Biden

Damascus has counted the diplomatic rehabilitation as a win for Syria and other nations in the region.

"The Syrian Arab Republic believes that the positive tendencies and interactions taking place in the region are in the interest of all its countries, and contribute to restoring security and stability to the region, and allow directing efforts and capabilities to achieve the well-being of its people," the Syrian Mission to the U.N. said. "Syria has interacted constructively with these efforts based on its belief in dialogue, diplomacy and joint action, and its keenness to build the best relations with other countries."

When it comes to U.S. policy, the Syrian government's demands for the Biden administration are twofold.

On the military front, the Syrian Mission stated that "the U.S. administration must abandon its hostile policies towards Syria, start withdrawing its forces from Syrian territory, and stop supporting illegal militias and terrorist entities.

"The economic crisis and the huge inflation that the Americans are suffering from requires that they stop wasting taxpayers' money on establishing illegal military bases in Syria under pretexts that have been proven false," the Syrian Mission added, "such as defending U.S. national security thousands of miles away from Washington."

As for Syria's own economic situation, the Syrian Mission asserted that "the U.S. administration should also initiate the immediate lifting of the coercive measures imposed on the Syrians, which constitute collective punishment for them and the biggest obstacle to improving the humanitarian and living conditions, and providing basic services such as electricity, water and health care."

Backlash in Washington

Washington, for its part, has expressed staunch opposition to any lifting of sanctions or normalization of relations with Assad, citing a lengthy record of alleged human rights abuses, including mass imprisonment, the targeting of civilians and the use of chemical weapons.

Reached for comment, a State Department spokesperson told Newsweek that "our sanctions remain in full effect, and they will not be loosened absent a resolution of the underlying conflict consistent with the principles in UNSCR 2254," the unanimous 2015 resolution calling for a ceasefire and political solution to the conflict.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken explicitly rejected the recent developments bringing Assad back into the Arab fold last week when he told a press conference that "we do not believe that Syria merits readmission to the Arab League."

"It's a point we've made to all of our regional partners, but they have to make their own decisions," Blinken said. "And our position is clear: We are not going to be in the business of normalizing relations with Assad and with that regime."

And yet, he said the Biden administration continues to "have shared goals when it comes to Syria with our partners," including the pursuit of a cessation of hostilities, expanding humanitarian assistance and supporting free and fair elections, as well as "the importance of continuing the work to degrade ISIS" and "reducing Iran's malign influence and presence in Syria, as well as more broadly in the region."

"So, I think the Arab perspective, as articulated through the Arab League, is they believe that they can pursue these objectives through more direct engagement," Blinken stated. "We may have a different perspective when it comes to that, but the objectives that we have I think are the same. So, that's where the focus is."

U.S. lawmakers have sought to pick up the pace in countering the growing trend of normalization with Damascus. On Thursday, a bipartisan group of legislators introduced the "Assad Anti-Normalization Act" that would ban any U.S. government agency from recognizing Assad's rule, require the U.S. to hold an annual review of efforts to oppose the Syrian leader's diplomatic comeback for the next five years and take other measures to strengthen U.S. sanctions against Syria.

Risks and Opportunities for Allies

The Pentagon-backed SDF and its political wing, the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), have fallen short of condemning these regional developments concerning Assad, but have said such efforts should take into account the interests of the SDC-led Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria (AANES) as well as those of the Syrian people as a whole.

"We as AANES and SDC would say we are not against ending the suffering of Syrian people, who suffered a lot during 13 years of conflict," SDC representative in Washington, D.C. Sinam Mohamad told Newsweek. "But any solution should take into consideration the account of the Syrian people and have a change towards democracy and recognizing the rights of the Kurds and the decentralized system."

With Assad's government now back in the Arab League, she issued an appeal to regional countries to play a role in fostering negotiations toward bringing an end to the long-running war.

"The AANES and SDC ask the Arab countries to help in the dialogue with the Syrian government to establish peace and stability," Mohamad said.

The SDC and the Syrian government have had a complex relationship, at times fighting against one another and at others alongside each other, especially against Turkey-backed rebel groups. However, multiple rounds of talks, sometimes mediated by Russia, have so far failed to produce a lasting reconciliation between the two sides.

Moscow has more recently hosted discussions toward establishing a rapprochement between Damascus and Ankara. Both incumbent Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his electoral rival, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, have signaled a willingness to potentially normalize ties with Syria as the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland marks a top issue in a tight race that is set to enter a second round on May 28.

Ankara, Moscow and Tehran also continue to host trilateral talks surrounding the conflict, and the resumption of direct Syria-Turkey security cooperation could mark a serious threat to the SDF as well as to the lasting presence of U.S. soldiers supporting them.

Still, Mohamad expressed confidence in the U.S. commitment to northeastern Syria, where, in addition to conducting anti-ISIS operations, the SDF also guards crowded prison camps containing captured ISIS militants and their families.

"The presence of the U.S. in NES continues as long as the threat of ISIS continues and the detainee centers for ISIS fighters as well as Al-Hol camp with thousands of ISIS families are still a big issue has to be solved," Mohamad said. "So, it is not easy to reach to a solution without addressing these essential issues."

The Strongman's Leverage

However, Assad's hand in seeking the withdrawal of U.S. forces appears to have only grown stronger. Earlier this month, just over a week before Syria's Arab League membership was restored, the top diplomats of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Syria held their first meeting since the conflict began in Amman, during which they called for an end to foreign interference and the return of government control across Syria.

Moscow and Tehran, both of whom have repeatedly called for an immediate U.S. withdrawal, have also doubled down on their partnerships with Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin received Assad in Moscow in March, days after the China-brokered Iran-Saudi agreement, and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi made the first trip of its kind to Damascus since the war began earlier this month, shortly after the Arab foreign ministers' meeting in Amman.

Hours after Raisi's trip, the Iranian Mission to the U.N. told Newsweek that "Syria has entered a new era of stability and authority, according to our assessment."

"During the past 12 years, Iran has consistently proven its relationship with Syria as having no ups and downs, and it has been effective at defeating the destructive policy of the West and ISIS," the Iranian Mission said at the time. "In addition, recent developments in Arab countries have indicated the correctness of Iran's policy, which has finally caused these countries to reconsider their previous policies and return to the right track."

And, last week, a joint statement by Mikhail Mizintsev and Hussein Makhlouf, the respective heads of the joint Russia-Syria coordination headquarters, declared that "only the withdrawal of the U.S. military contingent and the transfer of the refugee camps to the control of the Syrian government can ensure respect for human rights and the full return of the population of the territories they are currently occupying to a peaceful life."

An Open Door Policy with Conditions

The humanitarian situation in Syria has grown dire as a result of conflict and economic crisis over the past 12 years. Conditions for many in the country only further deteriorated after a devastating earthquake struck both Turkey and Syria in February, killing nearly 60,000 people in the two nations and wreaking havoc on infrastructure.

In the comments shared with Newsweek, the Syrian Mission to the U.N dismissed U.S. arguments regarding humanitarian exemptions made for U.S. sanctions, arguing they "did not lead to any positive repercussions" even after the seismic catastrophe.

While the destruction brought on by the disaster continues to be felt today, the earthquake also drew a multinational response that saw even rival nations in the region come together to provide emergency aid and assistance, helping to pave the way for regional powers to once again embrace Assad.

Now, the Syrian Mission said the government is willing to work with any country that opposes unauthorized military and economic intervention.

"The doors of Syria will remain open to those who believe in dialogue, international law and the UN Charter," the Syrian Mission said, "far from intervention policies and attempts to impose dictates and starve people to undermine their national choices."