{"id":66089,"date":"2018-09-30T17:46:10","date_gmt":"2018-09-30T17:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/09\/30\/syria-foreign-minister-victory-over-terrorism-is-near-us-must-leave\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:18:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:18:27","slug":"syria-foreign-minister-victory-over-terrorism-is-near-us-must-leave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/09\/30\/syria-foreign-minister-victory-over-terrorism-is-near-us-must-leave\/","title":{"rendered":"Syria foreign minister: Victory over \u2018terrorism\u2019 is near, US must leave"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">UNITED NATIONS \u2014 Declaring that victory over \u201cterrorism\u201d is almost at hand after more than seven years of civil war, Syria\u2019s foreign minister took to the world stage Saturday and demanded that \u201coccupation\u201d forces from the U.S., France and Turkey <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/05\/31\/assad-wants-american-troops-out-of-syria-and-threatens-to-attack-region-under-us-backed-kurds\/\" target=_blank>leave the country immediately<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Walid al-Moallem told the General Assembly\u2019s high-level meeting that the situation on the ground \u201cis more stable and secure thanks to combating terrorism\u201d and \u201call conditions are now present for the voluntary return of refugees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Syrian government forces, backed by Russia and Iran, have retaken most of the territory rebels seized during the war that has killed over 400,000 people and driven millions from their homes. President Bashar Assad\u2019s government refers to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/08\/14\/kurds-meet-with-syrian-government-to-discuss-self-rule-as-assad-demands-us-troops-withdraw\/\" target=_blank>all armed opposition and rebel groups<\/a> fighting Syrian forces as \u201cterrorists,\u201d not just Islamic State or al-Qaida militants.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2018\/09\/25\/the-white-house-just-revealed-massive-mission-creep-in-syria-heres-why\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3978211.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">The White House has revealed massive mission creep in Syria. Here\u2019s why.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The White House signaled a fundamental shift in the military mission for troops in Syria that would focus on Iran rather than ISIS.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last week, Russia and Turkey agreed to a deal which stopped an imminent Syrian government offensive to retake the last major rebel stronghold in the northern province of Idlib. It calls for setting up<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/09\/17\/russia-turkey-to-create-demilitarized-zone-for-syrias-idlib\/\" target=_blank> a demilitarized zone around Idlib<\/a> to separate government forces from rebels, including those from the al-Qaida-linked group formerly known as the Nusra Front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We hope that when the agreement is implemented, the Nusra Front and other terrorists will be eradicated, thus eliminating the last remnants of terrorism in Syria,&#8221; al-Moallem said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He offered no hard evidence to back up his assertions that victory was near. There was no response to emails seeking comment from the U.S., France and Turkey.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2018\/07\/24\/defeat-of-isis-in-syria-just-2-3-months-away-commander-says\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4571553.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Defeat of ISIS in Syria just 2 to 3 months away, commander says<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">ISIS is down to its last few hundred fighters in Syria, coalition says.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Al-Moallem&#8217;s upbeat speech praised the army and the Syrian people for remaining &#8220;defiant&#8221; during the war, &#8220;fully convinced that this was a battle for their existence.&#8221; He bashed Western and other countries supporting the opposition, alluding to their failed effort to install a transition government and get rid of Assad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;To the disappointment of some, here we are today more than seven years into this dirty war against my country, announcing to the world that the situation on the ground has become more secure and stable, and that our battle against terrorism is almost over,&#8221; al-Moallem said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;It is high time for all those detached from reality to wake up, let go of their fantasies, and come to their senses, see matters realistically,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They must realize they will not achieve politically what they failed to achieve by force.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/09\/24\/bolton-us-troops-staying-in-syria-until-iran-leaves\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_18253634741884.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Bolton: US troops staying in Syria until Iran leaves<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">U.S. will keep a military presence in Syria until Iran withdraws its forces, says Trump national security advisor.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While Turkey confronts the difficult task of trying to separate the forces in Idlib, the U.N. envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, is trying to bring the warring parties together to move forward on long-stalled political talks aimed at ending the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">De Mistura is hoping to convene the first meeting of a committee to reform the country&#8217;s constitution, a key step in a 2012 roadmap adopted by world powers that is to culminate with elections and the formation of a new government. He told The Associated Press this week that October will be crucial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Al-Moallem signaled difficulties ahead in negotiations, indicating in his speech that Syria doesn&#8217;t want a new constitution. &#8220;We stress that the mandate of the committee is limited to reviewing the articles of the current constitution,&#8221; the Syrian minister said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He added that Syria &#8220;will not accept any proposal that constitutes an interference in internal affairs of Syria, or leads to such interference.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-941052418.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-61451\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-941052418.jpg.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-941052418.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-941052418.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A US military base in the al-Asaliyah village, between the city of Aleppo and the northern town of Manbij, is seen April 2, 2018. (Delil Souleiman\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The United States, aided by Syrian Kurdish-led fighters, helped rout the Islamic State extremist group from all urban areas in Syria but remains in the country because pockets of ISIS militants remain. Turkey says it is fighting ISIS but is also seeking to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/09\/30\/turkey-accuses-us-of-failing-to-abide-by-deal-on-syrian-town\/\" target=\"_blank\">curb the spread of the Syrian Kurdish militia<\/a> that it considers \u201cterrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Al-Moallem said &#8220;any foreign presence on Syrian territory without the consent of the Syrian government is illegal, and constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and the U.N. Charter.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We therefore consider any forces operating on Syrian territory without an explicit request from the Syrian government, including U.S., French and Turkish forces, occupying forces and will be dealt with accordingly,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They must withdraw immediately and without any conditions.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/09\/07\/us-plays-down-talk-of-imminent-pullout-of-forces-from-syria\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-967637202.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US plays down talk of imminent pullout of forces from Syria<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Trump administration is now pledging the U.S. will remain in Syria until the &quot;enduring defeat&quot; of the Islamic State group, a move that could signal open-ended American involvement in the war-torn country.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Assad&#8217;s forces have battled all armed opposition, both Syrian rebels and militant groups such as IS and al-Qaida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Al-Moallem said the Damascus government also remains committed regaining control over the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed, a move never recognized internationally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Associated Press writer Katarina Kratovac contributed to this report from Cairo.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Declaring that victory over \u201cterrorism\u201d is almost at hand after more than seven years of civil war, Syria\u2019s foreign minister took to the world stage Saturday and demanded that \u201coccupation\u201d forces from the U.S., France and Turkey leave the country immediately.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":105833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,8,23,93,12,25,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[233],"class_list":["post-66089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"KJ2CSQPBRBC35JS3B5CT4BULPI","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2018\/09\/30\/syria-foreign-minister-victory-over-terrorism-is-near-us-must-leave\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Syria foreign minister: Victory over \u2018terrorism\u2019 is near, US must leave - Marine Corps Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Declaring that victory over \u201cterrorism\u201d is almost at hand after more than seven years of civil war, Syria\u2019s foreign minister took to the world stage Saturday and demanded that \u201coccupation\u201d forces from the U.S., France and Turkey leave the country immediately.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/09\/30\/syria-foreign-minister-victory-over-terrorism-is-near-us-must-leave\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Syria foreign minister: Victory over \u2018terrorism\u2019 is near, US must leave\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Declaring that victory over \u201cterrorism\u201d is almost at hand after more than seven years of civil war, Syria\u2019s foreign minister took to the world stage Saturday and demanded that \u201coccupation\u201d forces from the U.S., France and Turkey leave the country immediately.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/09\/30\/syria-foreign-minister-victory-over-terrorism-is-near-us-must-leave\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Marine Corps Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-09-30T17:46:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T14:18:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Edith M. Lederer, The Associated Press\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Edith M. 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