@SecRubio From this perspective, his critics argue that these policies warrant full political and legal accountability, as well as a thorough review of the decisions made during his tenure.
@SecRubio Unfortunately, Ambassador Tom Barrack appears to have contributed to weakening the prestige of the United States and undermining its strategic interests in the region through positions and policies that many perceived as favoring Turkish interests at the expense of Washington's
I think the Syrian government is encouraging the amplification of the Batoul Aloush case, much like they did in the case of Mira Thabet last year.
The flood of attention gives the government the chance to control the narrative. Government affiliated-media counters the claims of the families. These women were escaping their abusive Alawite families! They weren't kidnapped or forced, and here they are to confirm this on camera!
There have been dozens of cases of Alawite women and girls abducted since the fall of Assad, and the two cases getting the most attention are those where the women are conveniently available to appear and deny that they've been coerced...whether or not that's the case.
The government has plausible deniability in these two high profile cases, thus the dozens of other cases become easy to dismiss. And anyone questioning their narrative is smeared as "pro-Assad."
It's really insidious. Straight from the hasbara playbook.