by Prof. Eyal Zisser
The important thing is that after the American attack it is now clear to everyone, including Assad, that his fate and the fate of Syria are no longer in his hands. More importantly, they are also no longer in the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The American
airstrike in Syria has sent U.S. President Donald Trump's stock soaring
in the Arab world. No American president in years has been thanked, let
alone praised or encouraged, by the Arabs the way that Trump has been
these past few days. Messages of support are flooding in from Arab
states and even social media users, who are imploring him to keep it up
and not stop until order and balance -- not to mention stability -- are
restored in Syria and the region.
But in truth, the
American attack was limited in terms of scope and targets, which is why
it managed to achieve its main goal of punishing the Syrian tyrant for
using chemical weapons against his own people. But if this attack
remains an isolated, pinpoint event, it will not be enough to change the
direction of the Syrian war. Syrian President Bashar Assad can easily
take the American punch. He has lost many airfields to the rebels over
the course of the six-year war, and every day dozens of his soldiers die
in battle. So for him, the American attack is yet another glancing blow
he can survive and even live with. If he is smart and refrains from
responding, just like he has every time he's been attacked by Israel, he
can go on and, with the help of his Russian and Iranian friends,
continue killing his people -- as long as he sticks to conventional
weapons.
But the important
thing is that after the American attack it is now clear to everyone,
including Assad, that his fate and the fate of Syria are no longer in
his hands. More importantly, they are also no longer in the hands of
Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump is holding the keys. If he
wants, he can keep attacking Syria, and maybe even change the course of
the war. Alternately, if he wants to, he can let Assad remain in power.
One of the main
victims of Trump's attack in Syria is Nobel Peace Prize laureate Barack
Obama, who explained back in the day that American action in Syria would
require hundreds of thousands of American soldiers and trillions of
dollars. Trump used a mere 59 Tomahawk missiles to carry out an
important action that will stop the regime from using chemical weapons.
Another victim of the
attack is Putin, whom Trump exposed as a paper tiger. After all, Russia
is a big, strong country, but it certainly doesn't measure up to a
superpower like the U.S. in terms of strength or capabilities.
Every Arab in the
Middle East now understands that. When it looked like Obama was pulling
out of the region and it was doubtful whether he would come to the aid
of his allies, everyone wanted to cozy up to Putin, who was smart enough
to fill the vacuum left by Obama's America. But now Trump has a chance
to restore the U.S.'s status as the leading superpower in the region.
Trump still has the war against the Islamic State group ahead of him,
but if he demonstrates the same kind of determination he showed with
last week's attack, he can make significant inroads on that front, too,
without any help from the Russians, who aren't fighting Islamic State
anyway.
There is a new
sheriff in town and the residents, or at least Arab leaders and major
sectors of the Arab public, aren't hiding their satisfaction and their
hope that the new sheriff will punish Assad for his murderousness, as
well as deter Iran.
Prof. Eyal Zisser
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=18795
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