The last U.S. ambassador to Syria has criticized the White House's “ridiculous” policy on the war-torn state.
Robert Ford, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2010, a year before the conflict broke out, said contradictions in Washington's approach exposed the government's “hypocrisy”.
The war in Syria has been one of Obama's most contentious foreign policy issues, with the U.S. torn over how to address the atrocities committed by the regime of Bashar al-Assad while at the same time effectively combating Daesh.
This has led to it supporting elements such as the PYD in northern Syria, alienating its NATO ally Turkey.
“The American government finds itself in the ridiculous situation of saying that because of some Nusra elements in Aleppo city it's OK for the Syrian government to attack Aleppo,” he told Anadolu Agency, referring to al-Qaeda's Syrian offshoot. “This has made a completely ridiculous position.”
One key feature of Obama's Syria policy has been its efforts to provide training and supplies to “moderate” opposition groups.
Ford said the administration avoided supporting groups fighting Assad that were seen as “Islamist” by the West because of their potential ties to groups such as Nusra Front.
However, by supporting the PYD's military wing, the YPG, the U.S. is backing a group listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey because of its ties to the PKK, which has been at war with the Turkish state since 1984.
“I think the American policy is not consistent - it is inconsistent and hypocritical,” Ford, who previously served as ambassador to Algeria, said. “I cannot understand how it is possible for Americans to give weapons and material supplies to the YPG militia. This has ties to the PKK. I do not know how the American lawyers justify that.”
As well as providing arms and other supplies to the YPG, the U.S. has heavily backed the group with U.S. air power - carrying out airstrikes in support of operations against Daesh for the last two years.
This approach has led to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeatedly calling on Washington to choose between Turkey and the YPG.
However, the U.S. has refused to recognize the YPG as a terrorist group, although it does acknowledge the PKK as such. This is despite Defense Secretary Ash Carter admitted the link between the YPG and the PKK during a Senate hearing last week.
Ford played a central role in challenging the crackdown by the Assad regime in the early months of the conflict before the U.S. embassy in Damascus was closed in February 2012. He later served as the U.S. envoy to the Syrian opposition and was heavily involved in the early rounds of the Geneva peace talks.
He retired in February 2014 after a career that saw him serve in Turkey, Iraq, Bahrain, Egypt and Cameroon. At the time he told broadcaster CNN he left the State Department as he could no longer defend U.S. policy.
The veteran diplomat said the U.S. decision to side with the YPG had left it “sort of stuck”.
He derided claims that the YPG would be able to take Daesh's Syrian stronghold of Raqqah or the province of Deir ez-Zour in eastern Syria, even with U.S. air support.
The U.S. has come to recognize this shortfall, Ford said, and it was now focusing on training Arab forces.
“This is going to take a long time to train Arab soldiers,” Ford said, adding that the Americans “don't have an easy alternative” to the YPG and is unable to control the group “which is another problem.”
However, due to its control of parts of northern Syria, Ford said the YPG would have to be included in Syria's transition process following agreement between Washington and Ankara on how to do this.
Describing the U.S.'s wider policy in Syria as a “big failure”, Ford highlighted the refusal to send ground troops early in the conflict, the failure to find a political solution and the inability to recruit reliable local allies to defeat Daesh as the biggest shortcomings.
These failures have damaged American credibility and leadership, Ford said.
The U.S. focus on the Pacific region, in particular, has been to the detriment of policy in the Middle East, he added.
“Obama prefers to increase American attention and American leadership in Asia, even if the cost is diminished American leadership in the Middle East,” he said. “He is willing to make that trade.”
While he believes Daesh will eventually be defeated, the former envoy is alarmed at the lack of planning for a post-Daesh Syria, a lack of foresight that threatens to ignore the lessons of Iraq, where the absence of a post-war plan ultimately led to the rise of Daesh.
“In that, I have seen absolutely zero American planning,” he said, referring to the future governance of Daesh-controlled territory.
Turning to the UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva, Ford said the lack of international pressure on Assad, who is backed by permanent UN Security Council member Russia, made securing concessions from the regime difficult.
“Our mistake, in my opinion, was not providing more help to the Syrian opposition in 2012 and 2013,” he said, pointing out that earlier involvement could have cut short the conflict by preventing the intervention of Assad's chief foreign backers Russia and Iran.
“It might take two or three years to put the necessary pressure on Assad,” he added. “If we had started in 2012-13, probably the progress would be [seen] by now.”
