Experts warn Syrian rebel victory poses “wildly complex” national security threat: “Who knows what’s next?”

Syria’s future remains unclear after Islamist rebels toppled the Assad regime, took control of Damascus and drove the Syrian dictator out of the country.

Foreign policy experts and officials alike reacted to the news on Sunday, speculating about what could be in store for the Middle Eastern nation and the US forces stationed there.

“Who knows what’s next?” asked former deputy national security adviser KT McFarland.

McFarland joined “Fox & Friends Weekend” to discuss the unrest. Like others, she suggested the change paints an uncertain picture.

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“(Bashar Assad) was weak and incompetent, and in his rule in Syria he was supported by Iran and Russia, Russian forces, Russian military equipment, in a sense Iranian money, but they are now preoccupied … Iran is preoccupied with what Israel has done Iran and Hezbollah, and Russia is preoccupied with Ukraine and the failing economy, so those two guys who support Assad, they didn’t, they also supported him,” she said.

“But (multiple) rebel groups came together and saw a moment of opportunity and moved into Syria… and president trump it is so right to say, ‘let it play out. This is not our fight.’ I’m sorry we have 900 American soldiers in that country because who knows? Are they sitting targets? Are they potential hostages? What will be their role? We don’t know”.

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Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., also spoke out Sunday, offering a message of caution and concern.

“We have to figure it out.” there are no good guys in this. These rebels are linked to al-Qaeda. We know that Iran will lose supply lines to Hezbollah. “We know that Russia is losing access to the warm weather port and we need to make sure we support Israel,” she said.

Dan Hoffman, a former CIA station chief, warned that the developments present a “very complex challenge” to US national security that awaits the Trump administration when the president-elect takes office next month.

“The concern I think we would have going forward is the potential for a power vacuum here.” We’ve seen that in Iraq and Libya and that terrorists are taking advantage of that, and the concern that I think we have is that potential terrorists may be flocking to Syria right now, trying to take advantage of that,” he explained.

“We also have a real challenge there because state actors like Russia and Iran, which used to be allies of Syria.” Remember, Russia has a naval base in Tartus. They will not be on the side of solving this problem with us. We have and they have had real challenges, so getting some kind of international consensus on the way forward is also a big challenge.”

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President-elect Donald Trump also spoke out shortly after the news broke, posting on Truth Social.

“Assad is gone,” he wrote. “He fled his country.” His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was no longer interested in protecting him. There was no reason for Russia to be there at all. They have lost all interest in Syria. because of Ukraine, where close to 600,000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or dead, in a war that should never have started and could go on forever.”

“Russia and Iran are currently in a weakened state, one because of Ukraine and the poor economy, the other because of Israel and its combat success,” he continued. “Also, Zelensky and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness.” They lost a ridiculous 400,000 soldiers and many more civilians. There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin.

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