By James Phillips & Luke Coffey, The Heritage Foundation: “The U.S. has strategic interests in both Syria and Iraq. The challenge for policymakers is formulating a policy that advances these interests without a risky and costly mission creep toward the overly ambitious goal of nation-building.”
The U.S. Needs a Syria Strategy
By Shlomo Ben-Ami, The Strategist (ASPI): “In the last seven years, nearly a half-million Syrian citizens have been killed and seven million have been made refugees. Meanwhile, an unholy alliance has formed among Shia zealots, represented by Iran and Hezbollah, and a Russian government committed to unravelling the post-Cold War order and radically changing the strategic game in the Middle East.”
By Megan Eckstein, USNI News: “When the Navy participated in the April 13 air strikes on three Syrian targets, it used multiple classes of surface ships and submarines, operating from both U.S. 6th Fleet and U.S. 5th Fleet areas of operations, and in conjunction with joint and international forces.”