First Visit of Three U.S. Congress Members to Areas of Syria: Biden Administration Should Support Opponents

Three members of the United States Congress, during a brief visit to a region in northwestern Syria, called for continued pressure on the government of Bashar al-Assad. According to the Associated Press, French Hill, a representative from Arkansas, Scott Fitzgerald from Wisconsin, and Ben Klein from Virginia entered the northern Aleppo province through the Bab al-Salam border crossing in a trip that marks the first visit of American lawmakers to Syria in six years. All three are members of the Republican Party, the opposition party to President Joe Biden's administration. This area is under the control of Assad's opponents. French Hill stated to the Associated Press that his goal is to campaign for the U.S. government and its allies in the Middle East to continue applying pressure on Assad's government and support opposition groups. On August 23, Voice of America reported that General Michael Eric Kurilla, the commander of CENTCOM, recently visited Syria and toured two refugee camps, including the al-Hol camp, in the northeastern part of the country. CENTCOM announced that these visits included discussions with camp managers and residents to closely assess the current humanitarian conditions, ongoing improvements in camp security, and efforts to repatriate, rehabilitate, and reintegrate residents back to their countries. The visit of these three Congress members comes at a time when Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, have been normalizing relations with Syria in recent months. After 12 years, he traveled to Saudi Arabia and participated warmly in the Arab League summit. Over the past decade, Syria has been embroiled in a civil war. Russia and Iran have supported Bashar al-Assad, while Western countries and the U.S. have supported his opponents. In this decade, more than 300,000 civilians have lost their lives in Syria, and millions have been forced to migrate.