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Senate Foreign Relations Hearing Presents Window to Engage Post‑Assad Syria, Urges Benchmarks
Summary
Senators and two expert witnesses at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing said the fall of the Assad regime creates an opportunity to shape Syria’s future but emphasized that U.S. engagement should be phased, conditional and centered on counterterrorism, sanctions benchmarks and accountability for rights abuses.
At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Chairman Jim Risch, Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen and two outside witnesses urged a calibrated U.S. response to the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, saying the moment presents both strategic opportunity and serious risk.
The committee leaders and witnesses recommended a phased approach to engagement including clear, measurable benchmarks on counterterrorism, the removal of foreign military footholds, dismantling narcotics networks tied to the former regime and accounting for U.S. citizens detained in Syria.
"The fall of the Assad regime presents policymakers with a dilemma. How should the United States engage with Syria?" Chairman Risch said as he opened the hearing. He listed four priorities he said must be addressed before broader engagement: preventing Syria from becoming a launching pad for…
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