The President's Daily Brief
December 11th, 2024: Who’s Running Syria’s New Government? & Fighter Jets For Kim
Wed, 11 Dec 2024
In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: Syria forms a new interim government under the relatively unknown Mohammed al-Bashir as Israel dismantles Assad's remaining war machine. UNRWA faces new scrutiny as documents reveal Hamas fighters among its top school administrators. Russia reportedly provides fighter jets to North Korea in exchange for thousands of troops, strengthening their alliance. And in today's Back of the Brief: The suspect in the murder of United Healthcare's CEO is extradited to New York to face charges. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Blackout Coffee: https://www.blackoutcoffee.com/PDB Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What is the latest news from Syria?
I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. We'll begin today's show with the latest news from Syria, where a new interim government is taking shape under a relatively unknown figure, Mohammad al-Bashir. This development comes as Israel intensifies its campaign, dismantling what remains of the former President Assad's war machine.
Later in the show, the UN's Palestinian relief agency, UNRWA, is back in the news for its links to the Iranian-backed terrorist group, Hamas. Newly uncovered documents reveal that top administrators at UNRWA schools were, in fact, Hamas fighters. Not that the UN is going to care.
Plus, new developments in the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea, as reports suggest that Russia is supplying fighter jets to Pyongyang in exchange for thousands of North Korean troops.
And in today's Back of the Brief, we'll have the latest on the slaying of the UnitedHealthcare CEO as the man suspected of killing him is fighting extradition from Pennsylvania to New York to face the murder charges. But first, today's PDB Spotlight. As the dust settles in Syria following the overthrow of the Assad regime, the outlines of a new government are beginning to take shape.
Now, Syrian state television reported on Tuesday that the Coalition of Islamist Rebels have named Mohammed al-Bashir as Syria's new caretaker or interim prime minister. In that role, he'll oversee a transitional Syrian government until March of 2025, when the rebels... hoped to establish a more permanent administration chosen by the Syrian people, and that's according to a report from Bloomberg.
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Chapter 2: Who is Mohammed al-Bashir and what is his role?
While an unknown on the international stage, al-Bashir has a long history with the dominant militant rebel group in Syria known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which led the 12-day revolt against Assad.
A former electrical engineer, Al Bashir, has been serving as the head of a quasi-government setup by HTS in 2017 called the Syrian Salvation Government, or SSG, because you have to have an acronym. Headquartered in the Idlib province, the SSG has governed territory in rebel-held areas in northwestern Syria
for the better part of seven years, providing assistance to Syrians that were cut off from government services during the civil war. al-Bashir served in a number of ministerial positions over the years before being named the prime minister of SSG last January.
The decision to tap him to lead the transitional government reportedly came after a meeting earlier this week between al-Bashir, HDS leader Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, and the outgoing Syrian prime minister.
Speaking with al-Jazeera following his appointment, al-Bashir said the transitional government will be made up of members of both the previous administration and officials from the SSG in order to provide some stability and, quote, facilitate all the necessary works for the next two months until we have a constitutional system to be able to serve the Syrian people, end quote.
Al-Bashir's appointment appears to have brought a fragile sense of stability back to Syria. The capital of Damascus showed signs of a return to normalcy on Tuesday, with banks and shops reopening. But there remain widespread concerns over a return to sectarian violence and a resurgence of extremism, particularly among the international community.
Critically, it remains unclear who will take over from al-Bashir come March and how al-Julani, a former al-Qaeda operative, will position himself within the new power structure. But whatever the new government ends up looking like, it's going to need to build its military back from scratch thanks to a series of preemptive strikes by Israel.
Israel has left little to chance regarding their concerns about the large sea change in Syria, launching some 350 airstrikes on targets across the country since Sunday. The operations are intended to neutralize military assets that Israel wants to keep out of the hands of the Islamist rebels, given their ties to radical extremists.
On Monday, the IDF targeted chemical weapons caches along with critical missile and air defense systems. Later that day, the IDF confirmed that they had carried out attacks on Syria's naval fleet, with footage showing extensive damage to vessels at two ports on their western coast. They have also taken out an unknown number of weapons warehouses and ammunition depots.
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Chapter 3: What are the implications of Israel's airstrikes in Syria?
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Turning our attention to the war in Gaza, the scandal-plagued United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, better known as UNRWA, is back in the spotlight over its ties to Hamas. Records seized from the terror group during Israel's campaign in Gaza and reviewed exclusively by The New York Times
revealed that at least two dozen teachers, counselors, and administrators at UNRWA schools across the enclave are members of Hamas or other terror groups. Hamas reportedly used its influence within UNRWA, which administered roughly 288 schools across Gaza before the war began, to foster hatred against Israel and encourage radicalism.
The New York Times report identified 24 employees across 24 different UNRWA schools, mostly principals or deputy principals, who were registered members of Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Even more damning, the records show that at least half of those identified participated in training exercises with the terror groups and were provided with lethal weaponry, including assault rifles and hand grenades. Well, every teacher needs a hand grenade. Nothing to see here folks, just some good-hearted teachers and school administrators trying to help the children.
Despite the UN's many denunciations of accusations made against the agency, its deep ties to Hamas were apparently an open secret inside Gaza. One school principal, who was issued both an assault rifle and handgun by Hamas, has a photo of himself posing in front of a Hamas banner on his Facebook page. Well, that could be considered a clue.
Another educator, according to residents in Gaza, could regularly be seen after school hours patrolling the streets in Hamas fatigues while carrying an AK-47. Well, but to be fair, maybe he was just heading up the after school program for anti-Semites.
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Chapter 4: What new evidence links UNRWA to Hamas?
Chapter 5: How is Russia strengthening ties with North Korea?
All right, coming up in the back of the brief, the latest on the killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO, with the suspect now fighting extradition to New York to face murder charges. I'll be right back.
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In today's Back of the Brief, the latest on Luigi Mangione, the man now officially charged with murder in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The accused killer has decided to fight extradition to New York after being denied bail in Pennsylvania.
As he was being taken into the Pennsylvania courthouse on Tuesday, Mangione resisted officers, shouting, quote, This is clearly an injustice and an insult to the intelligence of the American people and their lived experience. Ah, the old lived experience trope. I guess Brian Thompson won't have that opportunity now. Inside the courtroom, the accused killer seemed a bit more docile.
Dressed in an orange jumpsuit, he sat silently through much of the hearing as his attorney advised against speaking. Mangione only spoke twice, saying, I do, when sworn in, and yes, sir, to the judge when asked if he understood his right to contest arrest.
According to CNN, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has vowed to ensure Mangione's trial in New York by submitting what's called a governor's warrant. Pennsylvania prosecutors have indicated their intent to cooperate, noting that the charges in New York are, quote, more serious. The Mangione family has expressed shock and devastation over his arrest.
A cousin of the accused, who also happens to be a Maryland state delegate, issued a statement on behalf of the family, saying, quote, We only know what we have read in the media. Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi's arrest. We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and ask people to pray for all involved. We are devastated by this news, end quote.
Now, Mangione revealed his motive in a brief manifesto, which frankly reads more like a 260-word confession letter. He described health insurance companies as, quote, parasitic and decried corporate greed for driving up profits without improving life expectancy. And of course, you can do all those things without actually killing someone.
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