Former US Ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, tells Imran Garda that his country had a fundamentally flawed analysis regarding Syria and was wrong to dismiss a military solution to the country’s crisis. But how was a military solution even possible without repeating the type of catastrophe we saw in Iraq?
Ford served under Barack Obama, and was famous for being the American Ambassador who attended an anti-Assad protest in Hama, as the revolution unfolded and the crackdown began.
As Ambassador he met Assad and says he was a brazen liar. Now that Bashar al Assad’s Ba’athist regime has been toppled, what does Ford think will happen next?
On this episode of The InnerView, diplomat and Middle East expert Robert Ford discusses the lessons of war, the missteps of US policy, and the hopes and hurdles ahead for a post-Assad Syria. Can the new Syria have peace with justice?
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00:00 – Meeting Robert Ford
02:10 – The Syrian War
02:54 – What pro-Assad forces fought for?
04:10 – Could Assad loyalists return to power?
05:11 – The biggest mistake in US’ Syrian policy
05:48 – The Obama administration’s Syria strategy
07:27 – A new Syrian government
08:00 – Jeffrey Sachs, Timber Sycamore, and overthrowing Assad
10:28 – “I refused to identify people for the transition Syrian government”
12:15 – Meeting Bashar al Assad: impressions and reflections
13:56 – The Assad family
14:36 – Ford’s advice to Syria’s new leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa
15:54 – The fate of minorities in post-Assad Syria
18:00 – Peace vs. Justice
20:16 – Will the Trump administration remove Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham from the terrorist list?
21:50 – Syrian Democratic Forces
22:39 – The Syrian-Israel conflict
24:18 – Israel’s plans in the region
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