Using power

Trump could solve American disappearance in Syria

The family of a naturalized American who vanished in Syria about two years ago has called on President Donald Trump to help get him back. Mr. Trump’s administration, which already has secured the release of about 20 other Americans held in foreign countries, should make finding Majd Kamalmaz a priority.

While America lacks diplomatic relations with Syria — it has fought against ISIS and supported Kurdish rebels during the Syrian civil war — Mr. Trump is far from powerless. He can use back-channel communication to Syrian President Bashar Assad, put U.S. intelligence on the case, ask the Kurds to help or tap resources not publicly known.

The first task would be to find out what happened to Mr. Kamalmaz, a Syrian-born clinical psychologist who, according to his family, has traveled widely to bring mental health services to people traumatized by wars and disasters. Relatives told news organizations that he had been treating various partisans in the Syrian war when he crossed from Lebanon to Damascus to visit family.

Nailing down the details and providing them to Mr. Kamalmaz’s family should be well within the U.S. government’s wheelhouse. Getting him home — if he is still alive — would be the dicier proposition. But Mr. Trump’s administration has prevailed in such cases, even those involving unfriendly nations, before.

For example, Venezuela, no friend of the U.S., released Utah resident Josh Holt, his Venezuelan wife and their daughter in May. Turkey released an American pastor, Andrew Brunson, last fall despite the U.S.’s refusal to turn over a Turkish cleric in Philadelphia whom the Turkish government accuses of masterminding a failed coup attempt three years ago. In all, the White House counts nearly 20 Americans released from other countries in the past two years.

America is a country of some 326 million people, and the president is responsible for safeguarding every last one.