SecTillerson: For nearly 50 years, the Syrian ppl have suffered under the dictatorship of Hafez al-Assad & his son Bashar al-Assad. The nature of the Assad regime, like that of its sponsor Iran, is malignant. #Syria 1/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
Tillerson: Bashar al-Assad’s strategy includes hosting some of the most radical terrorist elements in the region & using them to destabilize his neighbors. Assad’s regime is corrupt, and his methods of governance have increasingly excluded certain ethnic & religious groups. 2/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: Within the days of what began as peaceful demonstrations that swept Syria in 2011, Assad & his regime responded to his own people with bullets and jail sentences. Since that time, the story of #Syria has been one of a humanitarian catastrophe. 3/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: The civil war in #Syria was horrific in and of itself. But Syria was thrown into an even greater state of turmoil with the emergence of ISIS. 4/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: ISIS originally emerged from the ashes of al-Qaida in #Iraq, a group Assad had covertly backed. Evidence suggests Assad also abetted ISIS by releasing known terrorists from Syrian prisons and turning a blind eye to ISIS’s growth. #Syria 5/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: In spite of the threat ISIS posed in #Syria, Assad focused instead on fighting the Syrian opposition, even with Iranian and Russian military support at his back. 6/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: When President Trump took office, he took decisive action to accelerate the gains that were being made in #Syria & #Iraq. He directed a pace of ops that would achieve decisive results quickly, delegating greater authority to American commanders in the field. 7/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: Today, nearly 98% of the territory in #Iraq & #Syria once controlled by ISIS has been liberated. ISIS’s physical “caliphate” of #Raqqa is destroyed. Approximately 3.2 million Syrians & 4.5 million Iraqis have been freed from the tyranny of ISIS. 8/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: #Syria today:
-ISIS is substantially, but not completely defeated.
-The regime controls half of Syria’s territory & its population.
-Continued strategic threats to the U.S. from not just ISIS & al-Qaida, but from others persist.This threat is principally #Iran. 9/38— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
Tillerson: As part of its strategy to create a northern arch, stretching from Iran to Lebanon & the Mediterranean, #Iran has strengthened its presence in #Syria by deploying IRGC; supporting Hizballah; & importing proxy forces from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, & elsewhere. 10/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: Through its position in #Syria, #Iran is positioning to continue attacking U.S. interests, our allies, and personnel in the region. It is spending billions of dollars a year to prop up Assad and wage proxy wars at the expense of supporting its own people. 11/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: Assad has gassed his own ppl, barrel bombed entire villages & urban neighborhoods, and repeatedly undermined any chance for a peaceful resolution of political differences. Those abuses continue to this day. #Syria 12/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: The United States desires five key end states for #Syria:
13/38 pic.twitter.com/aqS0OYeWpX— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: The U.S. will maintain a military presence in #Syria focused on ensuring ISIS cannot re-emerge. We cannot make the same mistakes that were made in 2011 when a premature departure from #Iraq allowed al-Qaida in Iraq to survive & eventually morph into ISIS. 14/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: Ungoverned spaces, especially in conflict zones, are breeding grounds for ISIS and other terrorist organizations. The fight against ISIS is not over. #Syria 15/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: Similarly, We must persist in #Syria to thwart al-Qaida, which still has a substantial presence and base of operations in northwest Syria. 16/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: Additionally, a total withdrawal of American personnel at this time would restore Assad and continue his brutal treatment against his own people. #Syria 17/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: Continued U.S. presence to ensure the lasting defeat of ISIS will also help pave the way for legitimate local civil authorities to exercise responsible governance of their liberated areas. #Syria 18/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: The departure of Assad through the UN-led Geneva process will create the conditions for a durable peace within #Syria and security along the borders for Syria’s neighbors. 19/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: U.S. disengagement from #Syria would provide #Iran the opportunity to further strengthen its position in Syria. As a destabilized nation and one bordering Israel, Syria presents an opportunity that Iran is all too eager to exploit. 20/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: We must give Syrians a chance to return home and rebuild their lives. The safe and voluntary return of Syrian refugees serves the security interests of the United States, our allies, and our partners. #Syria 21/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
Tillerson: Stabilization initiatives are essential to making sure that life can return to normal &ISIS does not re-emerge.Our military presence is backed by @StateDept &USAID teams who are already working w/ local authorities 2help liberated ppl stabilize their communities. 22/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: Simultaneous with stabilization efforts, de-escalating the overall conflict is also a critical step to creating the conditions for a post-Assad political settlement. #Syria 23/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: We will continue to work with allies & partners, such as #Turkey, to address the terror threat in #Idlib & address Turkey’s concern with PKK terrorists elsewhere. #Syria 24/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: The U.S. is vigorously supporting UN efforts to achieve the political solution under #UNSCR2254. This is the political framework for peace and stability in a unified #Syria which has already been agreed upon by members of the UN Security Council. 25/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: The Assad regime clearly looks to Russia as a guarantor of its security. Russia therefore has a meaningful role to play in persuading the Assad regime to engage constructively in the Geneva process. #Syria 26/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: Beyond #Russia’s own vote to support #UNSCR2254, President Putin reaffirmed Russia’s commitment to Geneva in his joint statement with President Trump issued from Da Nang, Vietnam last November. #Syria 27/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: #Russia must put new levels of pressure on the regime to not just show up in Geneva but to credibly engage with the UN’s efforts and implement agreed outcomes. #Syria 28/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
Tillerson: US, EU, and regional partners will not provide reconstruction assistance to any area under control of the Assad regime. We ask all stakeholders in #Syria’s future to do the same. We'll discourage economic relationships btwn the Assad regime & any other country. 29/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: Once Assad is gone from power, the United States will gladly encourage the normalization of economic relationships between #Syria and other nations. 30/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: The United States calls on all nations to exercise discipline in economically pressuring Assad and rebuilding #Syria after a political transition. 31/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: The U.S. believes that free & transparent elections, to include the participation of the Syrian diaspora who have been displaced – all those who were forced to flee the conflict – will result in the permanent departure of Assad & his family from power. #Syria 32/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson on #Syria: Responsible change may not come as immediate as some hope for, but rather through an incremental process of constitutional reform, UN-supervised elections – but that change will come. 33/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: The U.S. recognizes & honors the great sacrifices the Syrian Democratic Forces have made in liberating Syrians from ISIS, but its victories on the battlefield do not solve the challenge of local governance & representation for ppl of eastern & northern #Syria. 34/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: Interim local political arrangements that give voice to all groups & ethnicities supportive of #Syria’s broader pol transition must emerge w/ int'l support. Any interim arrangements must be truly representative & not threaten any of Syria’s neighboring states. 35/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: The United States hears & takes seriously the concerns of our NATO ally #Turkey. We must have Turkey’s close cooperation in achieving a new future for #Syria that ensures security for Syria’s neighbors. 36/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson: For many years, #Syria under Bashar al-Assad has been a client state of #Iran. A Syrian central government that is not under the control of Assad will have new legitimacy to assert its authority over the country. 37/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
SecTillerson on #Syria: Our proposed solutions will not be easy to achieve. But it is necessary to proceed in these ways for the sake of our security & that of our allies. We will not repeat mistakes of the past in #Iraq, nor will we repeat the mistakes made in #Libya. 38/38
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) January 19, 2018
TimInHonolulu 