The remaining chemical weapons in Syria could very well fall into the wrong hands, former Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie told Newsmax on Monday.
Appearing on "Wake Up America," he warned that it's vital to stop that from happening.
Wilkie said Israel has been destroying such chemical weapons facilities to make sure the rebels don't take them over, and he pointed out that during Donald Trump's first administration the U.S. hit Syria's chemical weapons manufacturing plants.
Wilkie emphasized that "the core of this rebellion started with hardcore Islamist factions. They are no friends of the West. They are certainly enemies of Israel. I don't believe their propaganda that they have moderated in their views."
He also said that "if we are lucky and we remain vigilant ... we can see [the possibility of] a new dawn in the Middle East. And I can see relations between Saudi Arabia ... and Israel under a Donald Trump administration improving, [as] the prospect for containing the Iranians are only getting greater."
He stressed that the fall of the Assad regime "is a disaster" for Russia and Iran.
"The Russian fleet moved quickly out of Syria," Wilkie said. "It abandoned its naval base at Tartus. All of its planes left in anticipation of the rebels overturning air force bases."
Wilkie said that not only has Russian President Vladimir Putin "now lost his one warm water port, more importantly for the region, I think the Iranians are now really on their back foot, and they are now afraid that this kind of rebellion will take to the streets again and, unlike the Joe Biden administration, I think Mr. Trump will actively support the Iranian people when they take to the streets against the ayatollahs."
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Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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