President Joe Biden "has not made a single right move in the foreign affairs arena," including getting involved in the Syria conflict, said Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., Monday on Newsmax.
"We have to understand the history here," Van Orden told "National Report."
"This did not work in Afghanistan. It didn't work in Iraq. It didn't work in Libya. It's worked nowhere. So, we have to be very, very certain that we do two things: protect Israel's equities and also the Kurds, who have been another steadfast ally in the region for decades."
Syrian rebels seized the capital Damascus unopposed on Sunday after a lightning advance that sent President Bashar Assad fleeing to Russia after a 13-year civil war and six decades of his family's autocratic rule.
In one of the biggest turning points for the Middle East in generations, the fall of Assad's government wiped out a bastion from which Iran and Russia exercised influence across the Arab world. Moscow gave asylum to Assad and his family, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, said on his Telegram channel.
Biden during a televised address Sunday said Assad’s backers — Iran, Hezbollah, and Russia — "are far weaker today than they were when I took office," a comment Van Orden scoffed at.
"Let's remember what happened in Afghanistan," he said. "We armed the Taliban and that created al-Qaida, who wound up attacking the United States of America. We, meaning Hillary Clinton backed getting rid of Moammar Gadhafi in Libya. And that led to ISIS. So, no, the reason that Russia and Iran are weaker, right now has to do with many more geopolitical aspects than Joe Biden sitting there behind a podium trying to read off a teleprompter."
On Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the militant leader and former al-Qaida member whose stunning insurgency toppled Assad, Van Orden said: "Listen, you don't you don't turn in your al-Qaida card and all of a sudden become this moderate person that wants to make sure that women and LGBTQ folks inside of your society have equal rights. It just doesn't happen.
"And let's remember, Lloyd Austin said he took the Taliban at their word when women would be treated equal in Afghanistan. So absolutely not. Once you're a member of al-Qaida, it's like being in the mob. You don't just say, you know, I'm resigning my position today. So, we have to understand and go into this with eyes wide open.
"On one hand, we can celebrate the fact that the Syrian people, groups of Syrian people who have been persecuted for decades by the Assad regime, about 50 years, him and his dad, that they have a potential for freedom.
"But we also have to understand that the people are taking over for that government and absolutely cannot be trusted in any way shape or form," he added.
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Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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