Biden says fall of Syrian regime 'a fundamental act of justice'

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The fall of the Syrian regime represents "a fundamental act of justice,' US President Joe Biden said Sunday after opposition groups ended over five decades of Assad family rule.

The US president said blows dealt to Russia by Ukraine prevented the Kremlin from intervening to prop up ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and said Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah were unable to do so as well after being weakened following conflicts with Israel.

"At long last, the Assad regime has fallen. This regime brutalized, tortured, and killed literally hundreds of thousands of innocent Syrians. The fall of the regime is a fundamental act of justice," Biden said in nationally televised remarks delivered from the White House.

"It's a moment of historic opportunity for the long-suffering people of Syria to build a better future for their proud country. It's also a moment of risk and uncertainty, as we all turn to the question of what comes next. The United States will work with our partners and the stakeholders in Syria to help them seize an opportunity to manage the risks," he added.

Biden said the US does not currently know Assad's location but said he "should be held accountable" for crimes that took place while he was in power. Russia's state news agency TASS said Assad and his family arrived in Moscow, where they have been granted political asylum.

After a period of relative calm, clashes between Assad regime forces and anti-regime groups reignited on Nov. 27 in rural areas west of Aleppo, a major city in northern Syria.

Over 10 days, opposition forces launched a lightning offensive, capturing key cities and then, on Sunday, the capital, Damascus. The rapid advance, supported by defecting military units, led to the collapse of the Assad regime after 13 years of civil war.

Assad and his family had ruled Syria since 1971, and Biden said the US will now "engage with all Syrian groups, including within the process led by the United Nations, to establish a transition away from the Assad regime toward" an independent Syria "with a new constitution, a new government that serves all Syrians."

"This process will be determined by the Syrian people themselves. The United States will do whatever we can to support them, including through humanitarian relief, to help restore Syria after more than a decade of war and generations of brutality by the Assad family," he said.

"We will remain vigilant. Make no mistake: some of the rebel groups that took down Assad have their own grim record of terrorism and human rights abuses. We've taken note of statements by the leaders of these rebel groups in recent days, and they're saying the right things now, but as they take on greater responsibility, we will assess not just their words, but their actions," he added.

Biden said the US has carried out dozens of precision airstrikes in Syria targeting what he called "ISIS camps and ISIS operatives."