Former CIA officer Phil Giraldi said that the White House statement that the United States should no longer focus on trying to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad is a significant change in policy that will allow the United States to focus on fighting Takfiri terrorism.
On Friday, White House spokesperson Sean Spicer said in a briefing that the United States should accept the political reality with respect to Assad and focus on eliminating ISIL Takfiri group.
“Well, it’s hardly a ringing endorsement but it is a shift in policy,” Giraldi, a former CIA case officer and US Army intelligence officer, told Sputnik said on Friday.
Giraldi observed that Spicer’s statement marked a clear repudiation of former President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry’s determination to drive Assad from office and insist on a regime change in Damascus.
“The Obama administration never let go of its desire to replace Assad as the cornerstone of bringing peace to Syria,” Giraldi said.
However, the new policy Spicer had expressed on behalf of President Donald Trump would allow the United States to focus more effectively on its primary goal of utterly destroying the ISIL, Giraldi explained.
“Now it is being conceded that defeating the ISIL is the only real issue, which is correct from a US national interest point of view,” he said.
Despite the massive political pressure on Trump to block his expressed goal of improving relations with Russia, the new policy would make it far easier for the US government to cooperate constructively with the Kremlin on bringing peace and stability to Syria, Giraldi predicted.
“It is a good thing as it will lead to greater cooperation with Russia and the Syrian army,” he noted.
Source: Sputnik
