Biden’s Christmas Gift to Trump: A Partridge in the Syrian Pear Tree

President Joe Biden may not always be aware of his surroundings or activities, but he surely knows that Christmas is approaching. He is playing the role of Santa Claus, preparing his sleigh with holiday treats for his White House successor, Donald Trump.

Has Trump been naughty or nice? Will he receive a shiny Christmas present or just a coal lump in his Christmas stocking? Or perhaps a nuclear war? Or a mess in the Middle East? Or a drone attack on America?

Biden has been busy Christmas shopping for nearly four years. He is gifting Trump with an open border and tens of millions of illegal migrants, many of whom are criminals, unhealthy, unskilled, illiterate, or otherwise unqualified or productive.

He is also leaving Trump with a $36 trillion national deficit, with interest payments on the debt exceeding $1 trillion per year — more than we spend on defense — and rising rapidly to surpass all other expenses in the federal budget soon.

Trump is also receiving gifts of multiple endless wars, one in Ukraine and the other in the Middle East. Biden has been showering presents in the forms of weaponry, personnel, and intelligence to Ukraine, who in turn is showering Russia with American-made missiles, inviting retaliation, and steering us closer to a nuclear war.

Now, drones or other UFO-like objects are hovering over America. The Pentagon claims not to know what they are but, in the same breath, assures us that they pose no threat. How’s that for logic?

The latest Trump gift is not a pony under the Christmas tree, a new sled, or a BB gun, but instead another regime change disaster in the Middle East. The CIA and State Department, instead of learning from past mistakes in Iran, Iraq, Libya, Egypt, and Afghanistan, are doubling down on failure, convinced that this time things will turn out differently and better.

The Bashar al-Assad regime fell without resistance, indicating that regime change was likely negotiated beforehand and allowed to unfold with minimal bloodshed.

Who else was involved? I suspect Israel played a role in it, or at least had prior knowledge, as they swiftly took control of the Golan Heights. This disputed territory offers significant strategic and defense advantages to Israel. They are also pummeling Syrian military and weapons depots to prevent their future use against Israel.

Turkey also wants a piece of Syria, setting the stage for many countries fighting like a pack of hyenas over the Syrian carcass.

The emergence of new flags representing the new regime, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), on embassies outside of Syria immediately after the fall of Damascus suggests that this coup.was well choreographed. Russia declined to intervene to save its proxy state, Syria, which also indicates that the overthrow was likely pre-planned and we were all merely spectators of a show.

What now? The new HTS regime, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, “is a Sunni Islamist group” that promises it won’t institute sharia law. Let’s see how that plays out. Perhaps it will unfold like the assurances of a former world leader who once stated, “If you like your insurance, you can keep your insurance.”

Will Syria maintain religious freedom, or will it take the path of the Taliban in Afghanistan? My son and I traveled to Syria earlier this year and visited the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, where it is believed that John the Baptist’s head is buried and where Jesus will descend at the Second Coming.

Clearly, there was a significant degree of religious freedom under Assad. For Christians, who make up 2% of the Syrian population, and for Alawites, the Muslim sect associated with Assad, representing 10% of Syrians, this freedom was notable. However, under Sharia law, such religious freedom and diversity will disappear as it has in Afghanistan.

The Umayyad Mosque is now a hub for rebels and jihadis celebrating the overthrow of Assad and Syria. We enjoyed visiting Damascus, Homs, Hama, and Aleppo, where we met wonderful people and tasted delicious foods. Are those days over for foreign visitors? Of for Syrian Christians?

What do Americans think? Rasmussen Reports inquired and discovered that most American voters believe that the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship in Syria could lead to rule by Islamic radicals. Their survey of likely U.S. voters found that “57% of likely U.S. voters believe it is likely that the new Syrian government will be controlled by Islamic radicals, including 25% who see such an outcome as very likely.”

Will this become another long series of failed U.S. efforts in nation-building, regime change, or whatever else they may call it? Americans believe so. Only “34% of likely U.S. voters think the end of Assad’s dictatorship in Syria is good for the interests of the United States.”

Despite this being a Biden Christmas present for the incoming Trump administration, Trump may return or exchange the gift after January 20. “Let it play out," Trump states, asserting that the U.S. should not interfere in the Syrian conflict.

Sage advice, and hopefully Ric Grenell, Trump’s new “special missions envoy,” will convey that message clearly to stakeholders in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, who would wish for nothing more this Christmas than to see America floundering in the quicksand of another ill-fated regime change effort.

Brian C. Joondeph, M.D., is a physician and writer.

Please visit my Instagram page for some of my short videos from my trip to Syria last February and commentary on recent events.

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