Americas...:Spicer: US Must Accept That Syria’s Decision is ...

Home
- Middle East
  - Lebanon
  - Syria
  - Bahrain
  - Palestine
  - Zionist Entity
  - Yemen
  - Saudi Arabia
  - Iraq
  - More from Middle East
- Americas
- Asia-Pacific
  - Iran
  - Pakistan
  - Afghanistan
  - Koreas
  - India
  - China
  - More from Asian States
- Africa
  - Sudan
  - Egypt
  - Libya
  - Tunisia
  - Algeria
  - More from Africa
- Europe
  - United Kingdom
  - Russia
  - Turkey
  - France
  - Germany
  - Spain
  - Greece
  - Italy
  - More from Europe
ISLAMIC RESISTANCE
SECRETARY-GENERAL
Voices
Ten Day Dawn
The Biggest Crime
Martyr Leaders

Spicer: US Must Accept That Syria’s Decision is Up to Its People

Local Editor

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer dealt with foreign policy blowback Friday, over the Trump administration's decision not to call for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down.

"There is a political reality that we have to accept in terms of where we are right now," Spicer said at his briefing Friday.

"We lost a lot of opportunity in the last administration, with respect to Assad."
Spicer then reiterated comments made Thursday by UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that suggested that their comments "reflect the reality that it's now up to the Syrian people."

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill were furious that Tillerson and Haley both said regime change is not US policy, and that Syrians would decide Assad's fate. Their phrasing was strikingly similar to the lines used by the Russians and the Iranians.

"I think the status and the longer-term status of President Assad will be decided by the Syrian people," Tillerson said during a trip to Turkey Thursday.

Tillerson was not supposed to walk out and announce what appeared to be a Syria policy -- because the White House is still forming one. In short, he accidentally made news. UN Ambassador Nikki Haley echoed the sentiment Thursday.

"You pick and choose your battles and when we're looking at this, it's about changing up priorities and our priority is no longer to sit there and focus on getting Assad out," Haley told a small group of reporters, Reuters reported.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team