As a Syrian “foreign fighter” in his early 20s, Jolani crossed into Iraq to fight the Americans when they invaded the country in the spring of 2003. For its part, the Biden administration is taking no chances over whether Jolani has the capability to manage the threat from ISIS. What to do about those US forces in Syria is a decision that Trump will likely face as he assumes office. Jolani was fighting against the Americans in Iraq then, so he is presumably aware of this instructive history. In Libya in 2011, a US-led NATO bombing campaign contributed to the fall of another brutal secular dictator, Moammar Gadhafi.

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Persons: Abu Mohammad al, Bashar al, Assad, Jolani, Camp Bucca, Baathist Assad, Abu Bakr al, al, Tahrir, Aaron Zalin, CNN’s Jomana, “, ” Jolani, ”, Austin Tice, Joe Biden, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, won’t, Biden, Donald Trump, Trump, Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, Moammar Gadhafi Organizations: CNN, US State Department, ISIS, US Center for Naval, Central Command, Baath, NATO, United Arab Locations: Syria, Syrian, Iraq, al Qaeda, Idlib, American, Afghanistan, Libya, US, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Russia, Turkey