Syrian minorities and the Israeli strikes describes a contradiction John Kiriakou identified in July 2026 between what American policy says it wants in Syria and what it is willing to stop.
The American position
American policy had been to force Bashar al-Assad from power. That happened; Assad fled to Moscow, where in Kiriakou’s account he lives privately with as much as he could steal.[1]
The new president was one of the co-founders of ISIS and an al-Qaeda commander, was probably a CIA source and was definitely a Turkish intelligence source. The United States recognised his government immediately and set about reopening its embassy.[1]
What Washington wanted in return, under the Biden and Trump administrations alike, was the protection of Syria’s minority communities — primarily the Christian ones. Kiriakou lists a large number of Syrian Orthodox Christians, a small remaining Jewish community, and a substantial Druze population in the south-west. The new president has promised to protect them and has had some trouble keeping the promise.[2]
The strikes
On top of uprisings across the country and continuing fights with ISIS and other insurgents, the government has to worry about Israeli bombing and Israeli ground troops crossing the border.[2]
Kiriakou is explicit that Donald Trump has repeatedly told the Israelis to stop attacking Syria, and that they will not stop — just as they will not stop attacking Lebanon.[3] He credits Trump with being surprisingly consistent on the point, and describes him as simply not understanding why the Israelis are doing it, at least not on the scale at which they are doing it.[3]