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Charles Lister Profile picture
@Charles_Lister
Jun 8, 2022 • 9 tweets • 15 min read • Read on X
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"I've been asking a simple, but important question.. What is the administration's strategy on #Syria?" -- @SenatorMenendez

"I remain concerned this administration has accepted #Assad's rule as a foregone conclusion." -- @SenatorRisch

SFRC hearing, now.
@SenatorMenendez @SenatorRisch "I was shocked to see Bashar al-#Assad welcomed as any other Head of State by the #UAE."

- @SafiraLeaf, Assistant Secretary of State for #MiddleEast.
@SenatorMenendez @SenatorRisch @SafiraLeaf "I will make the #Syria crisis & applying pressure on the #Assad regime, a priority in the administration."

- @SafiraLeaf, Assistant Secretary of State for #MiddleEast.
@SenatorMenendez @SenatorRisch @SafiraLeaf "The #Captagon trade is something associated with the #Assad family.. the Saudis, Jordanians are deeply concerned about this toxic trade."

- @SafiraLeaf, Ass. SecState for #MiddleEast.

Several "U.S. agencies" are already engaged in combating the trade, financing, smuggling etc.
@SenatorMenendez @SenatorRisch @SafiraLeaf "We have not seen any change to #Russia's deployment in #Syria, or to its posture in defending #Assad's regime."

- @dstroul, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense #MiddleEast.
@SenatorMenendez @SenatorRisch @SafiraLeaf @dstroul "How many more times does a witness to war crimes need to sit in front of you and describe the horrors of the #Assad regime?"

- The #GraveDigger speaks before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
@SenatorMenendez @SenatorRisch @SafiraLeaf @dstroul "Twice a week, 3 or 4 pickup trucks with 30-40 civilian bodies who'd been executed in Sednaya Prison, arrived for disposal in the most inhumane way.”

- The #GraveDigger speaks before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
@SenatorMenendez @SenatorRisch @SafiraLeaf @dstroul In his SFRC testimony, the #GraveDigger says mass graves are still being dug by #Assad's regime today -- some of those involved "recently escaped" #Syria.

Americans were among those murdered, and Europeans, journalists & aid workers.
@SenatorMenendez @SenatorRisch @SafiraLeaf @dstroul "I buried so many children tortured to death & I remember them all."

“I buried a mother still holding her infant to her breast as their lifeless bodies were thrown in the trench.”

The #GraveDigger testifies to SFRC on #Assad's mass murder of civilian detainees.

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More from @Charles_Lister

Charles Lister Profile picture
Dec 30, 2024
The amount of disinformation doing the rounds on #Syria these days is stunning -- some is organized & by design, but much more is the result of simple ignorance.

To make matters worse, *very* few appear capable of distinguishing fact from fiction. A 🧵:
Multiple videos have went near-viral in recent days purporting to show #HTS abuses directed against #Syria's minorities -- but they've been a combination of old footage &/or incidents by #Assad's regime, often in entirely different locations than labeled too.
Social media is full of accounts that specialize in viral content -- and they've flooded the online space with misleading & often wholly inaccurate content on #Syria.

Many on the right in #Europe & the US have jumped on this, sowing yet more misinformation.
Read 7 tweets
Charles Lister Profile picture
Dec 16, 2024
2 weeks before #Assad fell, I wrote that the US mustn't leave #Syria, as the D-#ISIS mission is far from over & the practical cost of staying is wholly affordable.

It's still *vital* we stay, but conditions have changed -- a 🧵:

mei.edu/blog/dont-leav…
In 2024, #ISIS has *tripled* its operational tempo in #Syria compared to 2023, while expanding its geographic reach, increasing recruitment & attack scale & sophistication.

Every alarm bell has been ringing for months.

syriaweekly.com/p/nov-2024-isi…
The fall of #Assad has made the U.S operating environment *much* more complicated -- with our #SDF partners facing a potentially existential challenge from #Turkey, the #SNA & the surge in revolutionary sentiment across #Syria.

nytimes.com/2024/12/15/opi…
Read 12 tweets
Charles Lister Profile picture
Dec 10, 2024
Seeing #Assad's former cabinet meeting with #HTS's Salvation Government in #Damascus is truly a staggering thing.

For many years, Syrians aligned with the state risked being disappeared merely for exchanging messages with opposition-aligned people. A 🧵: Image
In years past, I was involved in a large-scale effort to bring Syrians together from across the crisis spectrum -- for days-long meetings abroad, in neutral venues. Getting people from #Assad-held areas was an enormous logistical & security challenge (for them).
To extend an invite would normally mean first meeting in a neighboring country -- exchanging phone messages or emails whilst in #Syria was a potentially life-threatening thing. Travel would need a cover: a vacation, business meeting, or a family visit.
Read 6 tweets
Charles Lister Profile picture
Dec 9, 2024
Over the past week, almost all attention on #Syria has been directed at the #HTS/opposition vs. #Assad dynamic -- and the change of power in #Damascus.

Meanwhile, the #SDF in northeast #Syria has been dealt a tough hand of cards -- a 🧵:
As the anti-#Assad advance gained steam in western #Syria, the Arab tribal component of the #SDF sought to take the fight to #Assad in the east. That happened in Deir ez Zour, but it was hard at times, and complex. It frayed some Arab-YPG ties.
The #SDF also found itself assuming control of resource-intensive areas in #Hasakeh & #Raqqa abandoned by #Assad -- good in theory, but it stretched resources while the #Turkey-backed #SNA launched offensive moves into Tel Rifat & then #Manbij.
Read 5 tweets
Charles Lister Profile picture
Dec 8, 2024
#HTS's tip-of-the-spear advance across #Syria has presented international actors with a huge legal/policy dilemma -- a 🧵

After 2 days of #Syria diplomatic talks, it's clear most are considering the likelihood that designations may need re-considering. Image
For several years, the U.S. & Europeans have been aware of #HTS's ideological & behavioral change in #Idlib, and the Salvation Govt too -- but the lack of investment in serious #Syria policy meant there was little need to do more than acknowledge & monitor.
On a simple level: #Jolani has a $10 million reward on his head, but he's spent years operating in the open, with no concern for his safety. US drones continued to operate, meanwhile.

If his designation (& #HTS's) were still rock-solid, he'd be dead by now.
Read 8 tweets
Charles Lister Profile picture
Dec 6, 2024
NEW -- since the fall of #Hama yesterday, #Syria is witnessing extraordinary developments.

#Assad's future now looks VERY much in question. A 🧵:
Opposition forces are now at the gates of #Homs, preparing to launch a major push into the city. Elite frontline fighters (incl. from #HTS's Asaib al-Hamra) are prepped on four axes, while #Assad's regime has evacuated its #Homs leadership to #Damascus.
Insurgent factions & former opposition groups in #Daraa have declared their intent to liberate the province from #Assad's regime.

The primary crossing with #Jordan, Nassib, has been captured -- expelling the 4th Division north towards #Damascus.
Read 9 tweets

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