Blinken makes unexpected Iraq visit amid push to stabilize post-Assad Syria

IN TRYING TO BRING AMERICANS HOME. FOR MANY SYRIANS, YEARS OF LIVING IN FEAR MAY FINALLY BE COMING TO AN END. AND FOR AMERICANS WHO HAVE BEEN HELD HOSTAGE THERE, THIS MAY BE THEIR TICKET TO BE REUNITED WITH THEIR FAMILIES, EVEN IF THEY’VE ALREADY BEEN KILLED. IT DOES PRESENT A NUMBER OF OPPORTUNITIES, WE THINK, TO HELP RESOLVE SOME LONG STANDING HOSTAGE CASES. JOURNALIST AUSTIN TICE IS ONE OF THOSE AMERICANS, AND THE STATE DEPARTMENT IS NOW PLEDGING TO DO EVERYTHING IT CAN TO GET HIM BACK ON U.S. SOIL. THERE ARE INTENSIVE EFFORTS UNDERWAY BY THE UNITED STATES TO FIND AUSTIN TICE AND BRING HIM HOME TO HIS FAMILY. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN SAYING THEY DO BELIEVE HE’S STILL OUT THERE. WE BELIEVE HE’S ALIVE. WE THINK WE CAN GET HIM BACK, BUT WE HAVE NO DIRECT EVIDENCE TO THAT YET. AND ASSAD SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE. HIS PARENTS SAYING AFTER MORE THAN A DECADE, THIS WILL BE THE ANSWER TO THEIR PRAYERS. WE’RE ASKING ANYONE WHO HAS THE ABILITY OR COMES IN CONTACT WITH AUSTIN TO HELP BRING HIM BACK HOME TO US SAFELY. BUT IT’S NOT JUST TICE WHO THE GOVERNMENT IS TRYING TO BRING HOME. THE JAMES W FOLEY FOUNDATION WAS FOUNDED IN HONOR OF THE AMERICAN JOURNALIST JAMES FOLEY, WHO GREW UP IN ROCHESTER AND WAS KILLED BY ISLAMIST MILITANTS IN SYRIA. THEIR TEAM IS NOW ALSO WORKING TO BRING HOME HOSTAGES LIKE JAMES, WHOSE BODIES WERE NEVER RETURNED TO THEIR FAMILIES, EVEN THOUGH THEY PERISHED. CERTAINLY THERE’S THERE ARE ONGOING RECOVERY EFFORTS. AND SO THIS MAY PRESENT AN OPPORTUNITY WITH GREATER ACCESS OVER TIME. NOW, THE FOLEY FOUNDATION ALSO SAID THAT THEY HOPE THESE EFFORTS TO BRING AMERICAN HOSTAGES BACK HOME WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE NEXT ADMINISTRATION.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced stop in Iraq on Friday on his latest visit to the Middle East aimed at stabilizing the situation in Syria to prevent further regional turmoil.Blinken met in Baghdad with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani as part of the hastily arranged trip, his 12th to the region since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year but his first since the weekend ouster of Syrian strongman Bashar Assad.Blinken has already been to Jordan and Turkey on his current tour and will return to Jordan for urgent meetings on Saturday with Arab foreign ministers to try to unify support for an inclusive post-Assad transition that does not allow the Islamic State group to take advantage of the political vacuum in Syria and secures suspected chemical weapons stocks.In Baghdad, Blinken “will underscore U.S. commitment to the U.S.-Iraq strategic partnership and to Iraq’s security, stability, and sovereignty,” the State Department said.“He will also discuss regional security opportunities and challenges, as well as enduring U.S. support for engagement with all communities in Syria to establish an inclusive transition,” it said in a statement.His trip comes as the Biden administration winds down with just over a month left before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Trump has been highly critical of Biden’s approach to the Middle East and skeptical of the U.S. military presence in both Iraq and Syria.The U.S. and Iraq agreed in September to wrap up U.S.-led military operations against the Islamic State in Iraq next year, although Assad’s ouster and the potential for the group taking advantage of a political vacuum in Syria could complicate the timing of the withdrawal, according to American officials.

BAGHDAD —

Blinken met in Baghdad with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani as part of the hastily arranged trip, his 12th to the region since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year but his first since the weekend ouster of Syrian strongman Bashar Assad.

Blinken has already been to Jordan and Turkey on his current tour and will return to Jordan for urgent meetings on Saturday with Arab foreign ministers to try to unify support for an inclusive post-Assad transition that does not allow the Islamic State group to take advantage of the political vacuum in Syria and secures suspected chemical weapons stocks.

In Baghdad, Blinken “will underscore U.S. commitment to the U.S.-Iraq strategic partnership and to Iraq’s security, stability, and sovereignty,” the State Department said.

“He will also discuss regional security opportunities and challenges, as well as enduring U.S. support for engagement with all communities in Syria to establish an inclusive transition,” it said in a statement.

His trip comes as the Biden administration winds down with just over a month left before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Trump has been highly critical of Biden’s approach to the Middle East and skeptical of the U.S. military presence in both Iraq and Syria.

The U.S. and Iraq agreed in September to wrap up U.S.-led military operations against the Islamic State in Iraq next year, although Assad’s ouster and the potential for the group taking advantage of a political vacuum in Syria could complicate the timing of the withdrawal, according to American officials.

Blinken makes unexpected Iraq visit amid push to stabilize post-Assad Syria

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