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Two Syrians Joined the U.S. Department of Defense Office: Get to Know Them

Two young men of Syrian origin joined the Office of the Department of Defense to serve as a special adviser and an assistant, according to al-Souria Net.
Two Syrians Joined the U.S. Department of Defense Office: Get to Know Them

Over the past years, many Syrians have been able to achieve many achievements at various levels and aspects by reaching political positions in several countries of asylum, as has happened in Germany and Sweden. 

In the United States of America, two young men of Syrian origin joined the Office of the Department of Defense to serve as a special adviser and an assistant.   

Adham Sahloul 

The young Syrian in America, Adham Sahloul, announced his move to work in the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden. 

Sahloul tweeted that after three years of working at the U.S. State Department, he joined the Biden administration as a “special assistant” in the office of US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. 

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He considered that in different circumstances, he might have been one of those detained in Assad regime prisons, in mass graves, or in one of the boats Syrians had boarded to escape hell. 

Sahloul is the son of Syrian doctor Zaher Sahloul. He holds a master’s degree in international relations from the Fletcher Graduate School of International Affairs. 

Sahloul founded the “Syrian-American Progress Network,” which supports the emergence and prominence of Syrians in the field of public policy.   

He currently works as a consultant in (Diplomacy – Technology – International Relations) at Accenture, and previously worked at Atlantic Council.   

Sahloul served in the office of Illinois Senator and Democratic Party member Tammy Duckworth, as well as foreign policy adviser to presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg.   

Joumana Kaddour 

The second name is Joumana Kaddour, who joined the Pentagon office last September as a policy adviser on civil protection in U.S. military operations at the Office of International Humanitarian Affairs. 

Hailing from Homs, Joumana Kaddour lived in the United States of America before the revolution. She holds a bachelor’s degree in human biology and international science from the University of Kansas.   

She also received her Ph.D. in Legal Sciences from the American University and became a Juris Doctor student at Georgetown University, focusing on ethnic sectarianism and its impact on constitutional frameworks. 

After 2011, Kaddour co-founded the Syria Foundation for Relief and Development and provided millions of dollars in aid to Syrians.   

Kaddour has served as a policy analyst at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and as a Next Generation National Security Fellow at the Center for New American Security. 

She became a member of the civil society delegation to the Constitutional Committee, which is a meeting between the Assad regime and the opposition in Geneva with the aim of reaching a new constitution for Syria.

 

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.

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