JD Vance issues warning about Syrian rebels after Assad overthrow: ‘nervous’

Vice President-elect JD Vance on Sunday raised concerns about Syrian rebels who toppled authoritarian Syrian leader Bashar Al-Assad, saying some of them are an “offshoot of ISIS.”

Assad’s regime collapsed this weekend after a stunning turnaround after nearly 14 years of conflict. The deposed Syrian leader is believed to have fled the country as rebels took control of the main Syrian city of Homs as well as the capital Damascus.

Various rebel groups continue to operate in Syria, with different regional and international allies. The main rebel group leading the charge to overthrow Assad in recent days is Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (HTS), which emerged from al-Qaeda and has been designated by the United States as a terrorist organization. HTS was formerly known as Al-Nusra Front.

“As President Trump said, this is not our fight and we should stay out of it,” Vance wrote in an article on Sunday X, formerly Twitter, commenting on the situation in Syria.

“Aside from that, opinions like the ones below make me nervous. The last time this guy was celebrating events in Syria, we saw the massive massacre of Christians and a refugee crisis that destabilized Europe” , said Vance, currently a Republican senator for Ohio, wrote.

The vice president-elect’s message shared comments from Josh Rogin, a Washington Post columnist who covers foreign policy and national security.

“Syria is free. The rebels have won. The people have freed themselves from tyranny. Freedom has won. Russia, Iran, Hezbollah and Assad have lost. History. The road ahead for Syria is not will not be easy. But it will be better than the past. The world should celebrate the liberation of Syria and help it succeed,” Rogin wrote on X on Saturday.

As President Trump said, this is not our fight and we should stay out of it.

Aside from that, opinions like the ones below make me nervous. The last time this guy celebrated events in Syria, we saw the mass slaughter of Christians and a refugee crisis that destabilized Europe. https://t.co/rUsbudKtZP

– JD Vance (@JDVance) December 8, 2024

In a follow-up article, Vance added: “Many of the ‘rebels’ are a literal offshoot of ISIS. One can hope that they have moderated. Time will tell.”

News week contacted the US State Department for comment on Sunday morning.

Many “rebels” are literal offshoots of ISIS. We can hope that they have moderated. Time will tell.

– JD Vance (@JDVance) December 8, 2024

What the rebels say about their plans for Syria

Like HTS, ISIS did indeed originate from Al-Qaeda, but the groups are at odds in Syria. Critics of HTS have said the militant group will rule Syria like an extremist Islamist state. But Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the leader of HTS, said his organization aims for all Syrians to coexist in unity.

“No one has the right to erase another group. These sects have coexisted in this region for hundreds of years, and no one has the right to eliminate them,” Jolani told CNN in an interview this week.

Jolani was once a member of the Islamic State of Iraq, which eventually morphed into ISIS. He founded the Al-Nusra Front in 2012, but it became HTS in 2017 as the group attempted to moderate its image.

“People who fear Islamic governance have seen incorrect implementations of it or don’t understand it correctly,” he told CNN.

Although the majority of Syrians are Muslim, the country has vibrant and significant communities of Christians, Alawites, and Druze, among others. Assad’s family is part of the Alawite minority.

How Syrians reacted

This weekend, rebels advanced towards Damascus after capturing Homs, Syria’s third largest city. In Homs, thousands of residents took to the streets after the army’s withdrawal, chanting “Assad is gone, Homs is free” and “Long live Syria and down with Bashar al-Assad.”

Young people tore down posters of the Syrian president as rebels fired shots in celebration. Security forces left in a hurry after burning their documents, Reuters reported. Videos have circulated widely on social media showing Syrians toppling statues of Assad across the country.

What Donald Trump said

As Vance mentioned, Trump commented on Assad’s removal from power in a Truth Social article.

“Assad is gone. He fled his country. His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was no longer interested in protecting him. There was no reason for Russia to be there “First of all, they have lost interest in Syria because of Ukraine, where almost 600,000 Russian soldiers are injured or dead, in a war that should never have started and could last forever.” writes the president-elect.

“Russia and Iran are currently in a weakened state, one because of Ukraine and a bad economy, the other because of Israel and its military successes. Likewise, Zelensky and “Ukraine would like to make a deal and end this madness. They have ridiculously lost 400,000 troops and many more civilians.”