Director of national intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard shed further light on her 2017 meeting with then-Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, a trip that has come under the microscope since President Donald Trump nominated the former congresswoman. 

"There is not a great deal in the public record about what you and Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad discussed for so long in January of 2017. And I think there's a great deal of interest from the American people about what was discussed in that meeting. So what did you talk about? And did you press Assad on things like his use of chemical weapons, systematic torture and the killing of so many Syrians?" Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., asked Gabbard on Thursday. 

Gabbard, when she served in the U.S. House, traveled to Syria in 2017, when she met with the dictator, whose government was overthrown years later in 2024. The visit has become a focal point of Democrats' criticism of the DNI nominee, arguing the visit casts doubt on her worldview and judgment. 

'LIES AND SMEARS': TULSI GABBARD RAILS AGAINST DEM NARRATIVE SHE'S TRUMP'S AND PUTIN'S 'PUPPET'

"Yes, senator, I, upon returning from this trip, I met with people like then-Leader Nancy Pelosi, and Steny Hoyer, talked to them and answered their questions about the trip," Gabbard, who served in the U.S. House representing Hawaii from 2013 to 2021, responded. 

TENSION BUILDS AROUND TULSI GABBARD’S CONFIRMATION WITH KEY GOP SENATORS UNDECIDED

"And quite frankly, I was surprised that there was no one from the intelligence community or the State Department who reached out or showed any interest whatsoever in my takeaways from that trip. I would have been very happy to have a conversation and give them a back brief. I went with former Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who had been there many times before and who had met with Assad before. A number of topics were covered and discussed. And to directly answer your question, yes. I asked him tough questions about his own regime's actions. The use of chemical weapons and the brutal tactics that were being used against his own people."

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi also met with Assad in 2007, despite then-President George W. Bush's criticism of the visit at the time. 

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ SPARKS BACKLASH FOR CLAIMING TULSI GABBARD IS A RUSSIAN ASSET

"Were you able to extract any concessions from President Assad?" Heinrich asked Gabbard. 

"No, and I didn't expect to, but I felt these issues were important to address," she continued. 

"Just in complete hindsight, would you, would you view this trip as, good judgment?" the Senate lawmaker continued. 

"Yes, senator. And I believe that leaders, whether you be in Congress or the president of the United States, can benefit greatly by going and engaging boots on the ground, learning and listening and meeting directly with people, whether they be adversaries or friends," Gabbard said. 

Gabbard is appearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday as part of her nomination process to serve as director of national intelligence under the second Trump administration.

Hamas began a third round of freeing hostages in Gaza Thursday as part of an ongoing ceasefire agreement with Israel. 

Hamas handed female Israeli soldier Agam Berger, 20, to the Red Cross at a ceremony in the heavily destroyed urban refugee camp of Jabaliya in northern Gaza. She was later transferred to the Israel Defense Forces. 

"The Government of Israel embraces IDF soldier Agam Berger," read a post on the official X account of the Israeli Prime Minister's Office. "Her family has been updated by the responsible authorities that she is with our forces. The Government, together with all of the security officials, will accompany her and her family." 

FORMER HAMAS HOSTAGE DETAILS HORRORS OF CAPTIVITY, CREDITS KIDNAPPED IDF SOLDIER WITH SAVING HER LIFE

"Thank God we have reached this moment, and our hero Agam has returned to us after 482 days in enemy hands. Our daughter is strong, faithful, and brave," Berger's family said in a statement. "We want to thank the security forces and all the people of Israel for their support and prayers. "Now Agam and our family can begin the healing process, but the recovery will not be complete until all the hostages return home." 

Another ceremony was planned in the southern city of Khan Younis, in front of the destroyed home of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Both were attended by hundreds of people, including masked militants and onlookers.

YARDEN GONEN: THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP, FOR RESCUING MY SISTER FROM HAMAS

Hamas has agreed to handover three Israelis and five Thai captives on Thursday. In exchange, Israel was expected to release 110 Palestinian prisoners. 

The truce is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas, whose Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel sparked the fighting. It has held despite a dispute earlier this week over the sequence in which the hostages were released.

In Israel, people cheered, clapped and whistled at a square in Tel Aviv where supporters of the hostages watched Berger's handover on big screens next to a large clock that's counted the days the hostages have been in captivity. Some held signs saying: "Agam we're waiting for you at home."

Berger was among five young, female soldiers abducted in the Oct. 7 attack. The other four were released on Saturday. The other two Israelis set to be released Thursday are Arbel Yehoud, 29, and Gadi Moses, an 80-year-old man.

FORMER HAMAS HOSTAGE NAAMA LEVY BREAKS SILENCE IN FIRST MESSAGE SINCE HER RELEASE

There was no official confirmation of the identities of the Thai nationals who will be released.

A number of foreign workers were taken captive along with dozens of Israeli civilians and soldiers during Hamas' attack. Twenty-three Thais were among more than 100 hostages released during a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023. Israel says eight Thais remain in captivity, two of whom are believed to be dead.

STATE DEPT PULLS MILLIONS IN FUNDING FOR ‘CONDOMS IN GAZA,’ AS TRUMP ADMIN LOOKS TO TRIM SPENDING

Of the people set to be released from prisons in Israel, 30 are serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis. Zakaria Zubeidi, a prominent former militant leader and theater director who took part in a dramatic jailbreak in 2021 before being rearrested days later, is also among those set to be released.

Israel said Yehoud was supposed to have been freed Saturday and delayed the opening of crossings to northern Gaza when she was not.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar, which brokered the ceasefire after a year of tough negotiations, resolved the dispute with an agreement that Yehoud would be released Thursday. Another three hostages, all men, are set to be freed Saturday along with dozens more Palestinian prisoners.

On Monday, Israel began allowing Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, the most heavily destroyed part of the territory, and hundreds of thousands streamed back. Many found only mounds of rubble where their homes had been.

WASHINGTON POST CITES PRO-PALESTINIAN GROUP US GOVERNMENT DECLARED A ‘SHAM CHARITY’ FOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION

In the first phase of the ceasefire, Hamas is set to release a total of 33 Israeli hostages, including women, children, older adults and sick or wounded men, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israel says Hamas has confirmed that eight of the hostages to be released in this phase are dead.

Palestinians have cheered the release of the prisoners, who they widely see as heroes who have sacrificed for the cause of ending Israel's decades-long occupation of lands they want for a future state.

Israeli forces have meanwhile pulled back from most of Gaza, allowing hundreds of thousands of people to return to what remains of their homes and humanitarian groups to surge assistance.

The deal calls for Israel and Hamas to negotiate a second phase in which Hamas would release the remaining hostages and the ceasefire would continue indefinitely. The war could resume in early March if an agreement is not reached.

Israel says it is still committed to destroying Hamas, even after the militant group reasserted its rule over Gaza within hours of the truce. Hamas says it won't release the remaining hostages without an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Israel's ensuing air and ground war after Oct. 7, 2023 has been among the deadliest and most destructive in decades. More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed, over half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were militants.

The Israeli military says it killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence, and that it went to great lengths to try to spare civilians. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because its fighters operate in dense residential neighborhoods and put military infrastructure near homes, schools and mosques.

The Israeli offensive has transformed entire neighborhoods into mounds of gray rubble, and it's unclear how or when anything will be rebuilt. Around 90% of Gaza's population has been displaced, often multiple times, with hundreds of thousands of people living in squalid tent camps or shuttered schools.

As a fellow New Yorker, I had paid attention to Donald Trump for years, long before he got involved in politics.  

When he ventured a comment about foreign policy, people scoffed at him. What did Trump know! National security was the exclusive domain of the experts, not real estate developers or reality TV stars. 

But looking back, Trump was right about all the major foreign policy issues. It was the credentialed elites who got things wrong! 

Here are Trump’s top six:

OUR LONG NATIONAL BIDEN NIGHTMARE IS ALMOST OVER. TRUMP INVICTUS IS NOW LIBERATED

For decades, the consensus opinion was if the U.S. assisted China’s economic growth, it would become a friendly trading partner, and play by the rules – just like Japan, South Korea and the European nations. Trump disagreed. Experts laughed when he claimed China had ripped us off for decades. "China raided our factories, offshored our jobs, gutted our industries, stole our intellectual property, and violated their commitments under the World Trade Agreement." 

As recently as 2019, Joe Biden scoffed at the idea that China could overtake the U.S. as a world leader, telling a crowd in Iowa City, "China is going to eat our lunch? Come on, man." The experts were wrong, Trump was right.

Well before he ran for president in 2015, Trump realized recent advances in oil and gas production would be a strategic game changer for the U.S. and the world. When President Barack Obama left office, oil was at $120/barrel and experts warned the world was running out of oil.  

TRUMP CAN POWER THE US INTO THE FUTURE WITH A MUSCULAR NUCLEAR ENERGY POLICY

Trump’s embrace of the U.S. energy industry increased American production and pushed oil down to $40/barrel. Not only did it spur extraordinary American economic growth, it also devastated the economies of Russia and Iran, because they needed oil prices above $90/barrel to fund their governments. When their energy export revenues fell by nearly two-thirds in the Trump years, Russia and Iran were forced to tighten their belts; they couldn’t afford costly wars. 

Biden reversed Trump’s energy policies, and oil prices predictably rose back up to $100 per barrel. Iran used these windfall profits to fund its nuclear program and arm its proxies to attack Israel. Russia used its new-found wealth to attack Ukraine. There is a reason Russia invaded Ukraine during the Obama and Biden presidencies, but not during Trump’s. In the Trump years, they didn’t have the money to pay for expensive wars. 

Democrats and Republicans supported the Afghan and Iraq wars for 20 years. Trump disagreed. As early as 2003, he called the Iraq war "a mess." Turns out he was right. We shed American blood and spent trillions on two unwinnable, forever wars. 

THE THREAT FROM RADICAL ISLAM IS NOW INSIDE OUR GATES. BIDEN IGNORED IT. TRUMP MUST ACT

Trump pulled out of Obama’s flawed Iran nuclear deal, because it made Iran rich and didn’t stop its nuclear weapons program. He ordered the assassination of Gen. Qassam Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Quds Forces. Instead of fruitless endless negotiations, Trump set out to bankrupt Iran with his energy policy and oil sanctions. 

By the time Trump left office Iran was nearly bankrupt, and its proxy armies weakened.  But President Biden threw Iran a lifeline. He reversed course on American energy production, paid Iran billions and refused to enforce sanctions. Iran used this $100 billion windfall to fund Hamas and Hezbollah in renewed proxy wars against Israel. 

For decades, American leaders said we had to settle the Palestinian problem as the first step to a wider Arab-Israel peace. But time and again, the Palestinians refused to negotiate seriously, so peace proved elusive. 

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Trump took the opposite approach, and focused on Arab-Israeli peace as the first step. His energy policies lowered global oil prices. Arab leaders realized they could no longer count on oil export revenues alone to fund their government. They needed to diversify their economies, which required peace with Israel. 

Trump also recognized that the younger generation of Arab leaders, schooled in the West and comfortable with more open societies, would be amenable to dramatic social change and to developing economic ties with Israel. The Abraham Accords were the first peace agreements between Israel and the Sunni Gulf states – ever. Trump succeeded where all the experts had failed for decades. 

American presidents going back to John F. Kennedy complained that our NATO allies were not paying their fair share for our common defense. Obama called them "freeloaders." Our allies always made excuses, claiming they couldn’t afford to pay the 2% of GNP they had promised, and relied on America to foot the bill for their defense.

Trump hectored, scolded and threatened them until our NATO allies finally increased their defense spending. Turns out they DID have the money after all.  

For years, Washington bureaucrats, politicians and experts have been wrong about the major foreign policy problems confronting the nation. It took an outsider who saw things from a different perspective. Instead of endless rounds of fruitless diplomacy and an open checkbook, Trump used a combination of trade, economics and common sense to reestablish American security. And his second term will be even better.

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One of Former President Jimmy Carter's defining moments was being the president who managed to broker the first peace agreement in the Middle East, successfully ushering in peace between Israel and Egypt after 30 years of war.

With the Camp David Accords of 1978, Carter was able to stand out from his predecessors by notching a success in an area where they had failed. 

The feat became particularly notable amid a presidency known for various economic and foreign affairs shortcomings. 

According to Martin Indyk, the Lowy distinguished fellow in U.S.-Middle East diplomacy at the Council on Foreign Relations, "Arab-Israeli peace has always been the kind of Holy Grail for American diplomacy."

PRESIDENT CARTER LAUDED FOR POST WHITE HOUSE SERVICE

"There have been other agreements, but none of them so important, as the peace treaty that Jimmy Carter brokered between Israel and Egypt. It was the first, and it was the most important," Indyk, who was once special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations under former President Obama, continued. 

The Camp David Accords were signed by then-President Carter, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978, and signaled peace between the two countries. Egypt was considered the largest and most powerful Arab nation at the time. 

Negotiations had begun years earlier, in 1973, and were led by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. The start of discussions was prompted by the Yom Kippur War, which had proven an expensive conflict for both Israel and Egypt, as well as the Arab countries it led. 

Kissinger had managed to negotiate a ceasefire and disengagement pact, leading to Isreal withdrawing a third of its military forces from the Sinai Peninsula. 

Carter first sought to finalize a deal in November 1977, when Sadat historically traveled to Jerusalem and gave remarks on his desire for peace between the countries.

SECRET SERVICE SPOKESMAN ON JIMMY CARTER'S HEALTH: 'FOREVER BY YOUR SIDE'

Indyk described those inital talks very difficult and noted they were ultimately unsuccessful.

"So you had this… moment of great hope created by Sadat's initiative, to go into the enemy's den as it were, into Jerusalem and to speak of peace. But that proved very difficult to achieve agreement," he said. "And that's when Carter took the risky decision to bring both leaders to Camp David to try to broker a peace agreement between them."

The high-risk meeting with both leaders at Camp David was confidential and lasted 12 days.

"They had no certainty at all that they would be able to bridge the gaps," Indyk said of the meeting's sensitive nature. 

Carter faced an important question during the meeting: What would happen to the Palestinian people?

"The Palestinian cause was a national cause for the Arabs and so Sadat felt he could not simply abandon them. That he had to have some understanding about what would happen for the Palestinians once he made peace with Israel," Indyk explained.

Indyk attributed Carter's decision to focus solely on Israel and Egypt to the former president's "genius." 

JIMMY CARTER HAD ONE OF THE 'GREATEST SECOND ACTS' IN AMERICAN HISTORY, CONSERVATIVE HISTORIAN SAYS

"They had a kind of loose framework for what would happen on the Palestinian front, but essentially, the deal that he did, that he persuaded president Sadat of Egypt to do, was a standalone peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. That's what he succeeded in negotiating that Camp David," he said.

But this result was contrary to what aides for Carter and Sadat both had advised, per Indyk. 

"This was Carter’s decision. Against the advice of his advisers and against the advice of Sadat's advisers, it was his decision to go for the separate peace between Israel and Egypt." 

The agreement with Sadat went on to become a foreign policy hallmark of Carter's presidency and also earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

"He was an embattled president," Indyk said. "Nothing else was really going well for him. There were other things he achieved, but this was the most important one."

An Israeli official said on Sunday that the return of normal civilian life in northern Israel along the border with Lebanon is the way "to truly defeat Hezbollah." 

"In order to truly defeat Hezbollah—because militarily, we have already won, and our victory is very clear—to truly win, to achieve long-term victory, is to have many residents living here (northern Israel), vast tourism, to reopen the restaurants and cafes that used to be here, to have people coming to cycle, agriculture flourishing—everything thriving," Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of the General Staff, LTG Herzi Halevi, said while visiting southern Lebanon. 

"This is a long-term victory. And the state must step in and strongly reinforce this responsibility," he added. 

Fox News confirmed that Halevi had conducted a situational assessment on Sunday in southern Lebanon with the Commanding Officer of the Northern Command, MG Ori Gordin; the Commanding Officer of the 146th Division, BG Yiftach Norkin; the Commanding Officer of the 300th Brigade, COL Omri Rosenkrantz; and other senior officers. 

IDF FINDS HEZBOLLAH WEAPONS CACHE IN UNDERGROUND TUNNEL: VIDEO

A cease-fire deal between Israel and the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon has held for a month as of Friday.

Since the 60-day agreement went into effect on Nov. 27, Israeli forces have been conducting operations in southern Lebanon that they say are meant to dismantle terror tunnels and Hezbollah's command center.

According to the New York Times, Israeli forces have continued strikes as the cease-fire deal has held, mostly in southern Lebanon but now, as of days ago, also in the eastern Bekaa region. 

IDF SOLDIERS ACCUSE UN PEACEKEEPERS OF ENABLING HEZBOLLAH TERRORISTS AMID INCREASING CEASE-FIRE VIOLATIONS

Israeli officials say Hezbollah is trying to test Israel by smuggling weapons across the Lebanese-Syrian border crossings. 

Thousands of Israelis have evacuated villages along the Lebanon border after Hezbollah, in allegiance with Hamas terrorists in Gaza, began launching rockets at Israel following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. 

Israeli forces in response have pummeled Lebanon, severely weakening Hezbollah, forcing the group to make concessions. 

In an exclusive interview with Fox News, Gen. Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the main U.S. ally whose fighters are currently guarding 45,000 ISIS militants and their families at camps and prisons in Eastern Syria, said the Turkish military and its allied forces continue to attack his Kurdish forces, despite a U.S. brokered ceasefire deal Wednesday. 

"We are still under constant attack from the Turkish military and the Turkish-supported opposition which is called SNA," Gen. Mazloum told Fox. "Eighty drone attacks a day we have from the Turkish military. There is intensive artillery shells. This situation has paralyzed our counterterror operation." 

The attacks by the Turkish military on the SDF have increased since Bashar Al Assad’s fall on December 8. Gen. Mazloum warned that if his Kurdish fighters have to flee, ISIS would return.

SYRIA'S LIBERATED POLITICAL PRISONS REVEAL GRIM REALITY OF BASHAR ASSAD'S REGIME OF TORTURE

Gen. Mazloum said half of his fighters guarding the ISIS camps had to withdraw in recent days.

"All of the prisons still are under our control. However, the prisons and camps are in a critical situation because who is guarding them? They are leaving and having to protect their families," said Gen. Mazloum in an interview from his base in Eastern Syria. "I can give you one example like the Raqqa ISIS prison, which contains about 1,000 ISIS ex-fighters. The number of guards there have diminished by half which is putting them in a fragile position." 

A chilling warning from one of America’s staunchest allies. The U.S. has 900 troops in Eastern Syria, and they would likely have to withdraw if the allied Kurdish fighters retreat under attack from Turkey’s military, which views the Kurds as a terrorist threat.

"We don't want to see that happen. So we're in very close touch with our SDF partners to try to maintain that focus on counter-ISIS missions. And we are just as importantly in touch with our Turkish counterparts," said National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby during a White House press briefing Thursday.

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is in Turkey today meeting with President Recep Erdogan to discuss how to bring stability to Syria.

Secretary Blinken "reiterated the importance of all actors in Syria respecting human rights, upholding international humanitarian law, and taking all feasible steps to protect civilians, including members of minority groups," State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement following the meeting with President Erdogan. "He emphasized the need to ensure the coalition can continue to execute its critical mission to defeat ISIS." 

CENTCOM Commander General Erik Kurilla met with Gen. Mazloum and the SDF in Syria on Tuesday, two days after the U.S. military carried out extensive airstrikes targeting dozens of ISIS positions in Eastern Syria. The operation struck over 75 targets – camps and operatives – using U.S. Air Force B-52s, F-15s, and A-10s, according to a statement released by U.S. Central Command.

"There should be no doubt – we will not allow ISIS to reconstitute and take advantage of the current situation in Syria," said Kurilla. "All organizations in Syria should know that we will hold them accountable if they partner with or support ISIS in any way."

On Wednesday, the SDF announced a truce with Syria’s Turkey-backed rebels in northern Manbij following U.S. mediation "to ensure the safety and security of civilians," Gen. Mazloum said early on Wednesday.

US GROUP LOOKS FOR KIDNAPPED AMERICANS IN SYRIA AFTER FALL OF ASSAD REGIME

"The fighters of the Manbij Military Council, who have been resisting the attacks since November 27, will withdraw from the area as soon as possible," Gen. Mazloum added. 

And new indications suggest a ceasefire late Thursday has tentatively been agreed to in Aleppo and Deir Ezzor south of Raqqa along the Euphrates River.

Gen. Mazloum worries about what would happen if the U.S. pulled its forces out of Syria right now.

"We saw that the Russians – they have no further leverage in the country – same for the Iranians. So if now U.S. troops withdraw from Syria that will bring a vacuum."

ISRAEL'S UN AMBASSADOR INSISTS NATION IS 'NOT GETTING INVOLVED' IN SYRIAN REGIME CHANGE

He added the following warning: "We expect those Islamists, different factions to unite, to fight with ISIS and that will bring back tougher extremists, terrorist organizations back to the country."

The SDF Commander fears another bloody civil war could start if the new Syrian government in Damascus does not include different minority groups, like the Syrian Kurds.

"So any new government in Syria needs to be representative, needs to be inclusive and contain and include all different parties of Syria. So if not that takes us to a bloody civil war in the country and that will put us in huge stage of escalatory path that no one can predict the fate of that," Gen. Mazloum told Fox.

Facing the Turkish fighter jets, the SDF mistakenly shot down a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone in Syria on Monday, the result of "friendly fire," a U.S. defense official told Fox News. "The U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters who are under attack from the Turkish military misidentified the drone as a threat," the official said.

Syria's future remains unclear after Islamist rebels toppled the Assad regime, seizing control of Damascus and driving the Syrian dictator out of the country. 

Foreign policy experts and officials alike reacted to the news on Sunday, speculating about what might be in store for the Middle East nation and the American forces residing there.

"Who knows what's next?" former Deputy National Security Adviser K.T. McFarland asked. 

McFarland joined "Fox & Friends Weekend" to discuss the unrest. Like others, she suggested the change paints an uncertain picture.

NETANYAHU HAILS ‘HISTORIC’ FALL OF BASHAR ASSAD IN SYRIA, CREDITS ISRAELI ATTACKS ON HEZBOLLAH, IRAN

"[Bashar Assad] was weak and incompetent, and he was propped up in governance in Syria by Iran and by Russia, by Russian forces, by Russian military equipment, by, in some sense, Iran's money, but they're preoccupied now… Iran is preoccupied because of what Israel did to Iran and Hezbollah and Russia is preoccupied because of Ukraine and a faltering economy, so those two guys propping up Assad, they're not, they were propping him up as well," she said.

"But the [multiple] rebel groups got together, and they saw a moment of opportunity, and they moved into Syria… and President Trump is so right to say, ‘let it play out. This is not our fight.’ I'm just sorry we have 900 American forces in that country because who knows? Are they sitting targets? Are they potential hostages? What's their role going to be? We don't know."

SYRIAN DICTATOR BASHAR ASSAD FLEES INTO EXILE AS ISLAMIST REBELS CONQUER COUNTRY

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., also weighed in on Sunday, offering a message of caution and concern.

"We have to realize there are no good guys in this. These rebels are connected to al-Qaeda. We know that Iran is going to lose supply lines to Hezbollah. We know that Russia is losing access to a warm weather port, and we need to make certain that we support Israel," she said.

Dan Hoffman, former CIA station chief, warned that the development poses a "widely complex challenge" to U.S. national security that awaits the Trump administration when the president-elect assumes office next month.

"The concern I think that we would have going forward is the potential for a power vacuum here. We saw this in Iraq and in Libya and terrorists take advantage of that, and the concern I think we have is that potentially terrorists may be flocking to Syria right now, seeking to take advantage of just that," he explained. 

"We also have a real challenge there because state actors like Russia and Iran, formerly allied with Syria. Remember, Russia has a naval base in Tartus. They are not going to be on the side of solving this problem with us. We've got real challenges with them as well, so gaining some kind of international consensus on the way forward is also a major challenge."

ISLAMIST REBELS IN SYRIA CATCH ASSAD, PUTIN, IRAN REGIMES OFF GUARD GIVING US NEW MIDEAST HEADACHE

President-elect Donald Trump also weighed in shortly after the news broke, posting on Truth Social.

"Assad is gone," he wrote. "He has fled his country. His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer. There was no reason for Russia to be there in the first place. They lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine, where close to 600,000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or dead, in a war that should never have started, and could go on forever."

"Russia and Iran are in a weakened state right now, one because of Ukraine and a bad economy, the other because of Israel and its fighting success," h econtinued. "Likewise, Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness. They have ridiculously lost 400,000 soldiers, and many more civilians. There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin."

The fall of Syria’s President Bahsar al-Assad is a blow to Russia, terror-monger Iran, and their Hezbollah cronies in Lebanon. But Syria’s next chapter is starting with uncertainty. President-elect Trump’s goal is restoring peace to the Middle East – and the road now runs through Damascus. 

"Not our fight," Trump stated. Quite canny of him, for in 2019, he wisely left outposts of about 900 U.S. forces both at An Tanf, a junction near Iraq’s border, and along the oil fields at Deir Al Zour, blocking a return of the defeated ISIS caliphate.

ASSAD ARRIVES IN MOSCOW, IS GRANTED ASYLUM BY RUSSIA

Fingers crossed that the end of Assad won’t be the beginning of ISIS 2.0.

Assad was terrible. Remember his use of chemical weapons against his own people? In 2013, the Assad regime launched rockets carrying the deadly nerve agent sarin into the Ghouta district of Damascus, killing more than 1,400 people, according to the U.S. Department of State, and used them again in 2017. Trump ordered airstrikes on Syrian chemical weapons sites with U.S. B-1 bombers, along with France and Britain, in 2018.

"There is not a single household in Syria that the war has not touched. Praise be to God, today Syria is recovering," said Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani in his speech at the Umyyad mosque yesterday.

TRUMP URGES US TO STAY OUT OF SYRIAN CIVIL WAR, BLAMING OBAMA FOR FAILURE AS ISLAMISTS CLOSE IN ON CAPITAL

What remains to be seen is if these rebels – who took just 11 days to depose Assad – want to launch a recovery in Syria, or return to their al Qaeda roots. Syria’s economy is weak, unemployment is high and Syria is still coping with the 2023 earthquake that killed 5500 and affected many more. This could go either way.

Uncertain as the situation is, for now, the geopolitics are quite satisfying. Russia’s Vladimir Putin takes a big loss. He couldn’t keep his client Assad in power, and with Aleppo, Damascus and Homs in rebel hands, Russia’s air base at the international airport near Latakia and naval base on the Mediterranean coast at Tartus are more or less on lockdown. Syria was a major investment for Putin and, in a way, his training ground for Ukraine.  With Assad gone, it’s all blown up.

As for the Iranians, they’ve lost a member of their so-called axis of resistance. Their supply corridor into Hezbollah in Lebanon is now choked off. Syria was "a playground for Iran’s ambitions," Golani said, but no more. A senior Iranian running terror militias was killed by HTS forces in Aleppo on Nov. 28. Decimated by Israel and pinned down by U.S. deterrent forces, there was not much Iran could do for Assad. 

The bad news? Syria is now in the hands of a UN-designated terrorist group. Golani, age 42, has been a slick operative for years, admiring the 9/11 attacks but carving out his own base in northern Syria after opting not to ally with various al Qaeda leaders. You get the feeling that Golani calculated he’d do better on his own in Syria, instead of paying allegiance to some big-name al Qaeda outsider. It’s a little worrying that he calls himself "Golani" in reference to Israel’s takeover of the Golan Heights in 1967, when his grandfather fled before Israel’s armies. 

For now, much depends on how Golani handles his victorious forces. If prudent, he will keep them behaving as liberators. And he will stay away from the Golan Heights, newly reoccupied by Israel Defense Force troops.

Of course, the big concern is keeping a lid on ISIS. In the west, the Syrian Defense Forces, allied with the U.S., are "sitting on top of a prison system with approximately 10,000 ISIS fighters incarcerated in it," retired Gen. Frank McKenzie told ABC News on Mar. 31. U.S. commanders have warned for years that the camps seethe with resentment. If released, the ISIS detainees and their kin could filter out to strengthen other ISIS groups, potentially increasing the risks of terror attacks in the U.S. and Europe – a "whole new chapter of ISIS violence," in McKenzie’s words.

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My mind is on the U.S. forces in Syria. Although small, they are very capable forces, and closely monitored by U.S. Central Command airpower as part of the enduring "defeat ISIS" mission. U.S. Air Force A-10 Warthogs carried out a low "show of force" flight in Syria on Dec. 3, to shoo enemies away, while others – probably Special Forces – were destroying mortars and armored personnel carriers after a rocket and mortar attack near Military Support Site Euphrates. All year, U.S. air forces have consistently launched airstrikes against both Iran-backed militia teams and at ISIS clusters in Syria. 

Hopefully, the departure of Assad is a new beginning. But Syria has a long way to go, and Trump’s team just got yet another crisis to resolve.

The passion of U.S. presidents across party lines is peace in the Middle East. There hasn’t been a single one since Nixon who didn’t strive to his utmost, from Carter’s Camp David Accords through Biden’s frantic attempts at a ceasefire in Gaza. Trump wants peace in the Middle East, too, but the difference is that, given his first term success with the Abraham Accords, he can get it. But that road now runs through Damascus.

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