The recapture of Palmyra from the Islamic State puts Syrian government forces at the heart of the fight against the jihadist group.
For President Bashar Assad, recapturing the historic town represents a strategic political coup through which he hopes to convince the West that the Syrian army is a credible partner in combatting terrorism as it ramps up the fight against the Islamic State.
It is an awkward argument that the U.S. has rebuffed repeatedly. Officials in Washington are quick to point out that it was Assad’s brutal crackdown on his own people that created the kind of vacuum that allowed extremists like the Islamic State to flourish in the first place.
An alliance between the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State — similar to the assistance and training provided to the Iraqi military on the other front in the war — seems out of the question.
But with the international focus now on fighting the Islamic State — and a partial cease-fire in place to facilitate that — there appears to be tacit U.S. approval for at least this part of Assad’s offensive in Syria to continue. If that is seen to develop, it could help the authoritarian ruler survive a ruinous 5-year-old conflict that has seen half the country’s population displaced.
The desert town of Palmyra, with its 2,000-year-old ruins, is an archaeological gem and a cherished landmark known endearingly to Syrians as the “Bride of the Desert.” It is also a strategic crossroads linking the Syrian capital, Damascus, with the country’s east and the border with Iraq.
“It’s a fantastic public relations coup,” said Thomas Pierret, a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, describing Palmyra’s recapture. The Syrian government recognizes the Western “obsession” with the town’s ancient ruins, and “they’re exploiting it. And it works very well,” he said.
Government forces recaptured Palmyra on Sunday, scoring an important victory over Islamic State fighters who had overseen a 10-month reign of terror in the town. It dealt the terror group its first major defeat at the hands of government forces in years.
During their stay, the extremists destroyed some of Palmyra’s best-known monuments, including two large temples dating back more than 1,800 years and a Roman triumphal arch. The militants also used the ancient Roman amphitheater for public killings, including a video they released showing 25 boys with pistols shooting captured Syrian soldiers, with the colonnades in the background.
The government troops, joined by Iranian-backed militiamen, were supported by massive Russian airpower throughout their three-week offensive. When they swept victoriously into Palmyra, they emphasized the care taken by the army not to harm the archaeological sites.
