White House Officials Push for Widening War in Syria Over Pentagon Objections
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A pair of top White House officials is pushing to broaden the war in Syria, viewing it as an opportunity to confront Iran and its proxy forces on the ground there, according to two sources familiar with the debate inside the Donald Trump administration.
Ezra Cohen-Watnick, the senior director for intelligence on the National Security Council, and Derek Harvey, the NSCs top Middle East advisor, want the United States to start going on the offensive in southern Syria, where, in recent weeks, the U.S. military has taken a handful of defensive actions against Iranian-backed forces fighting in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
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Despite the more aggressive stance pushed by some White House officials, Mattis, military commanders, and top U.S. diplomats all oppose opening up a broader front against Iran and its proxies in southeastern Syria, viewing it as a risky move that could draw the United States into a dangerous confrontation with Iran, defense officials said. Such a clash could trigger retaliation against U.S. troops deployed in Iraq and Syria, where Tehran has armed thousands of Shiite militia fighters and deployed hundreds of Revolutionary Guard officers.
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I dont think we have a serious Syria strategy or a serious Iran strategy, and they have to go together, said Danielle Pletka, senior vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, who criticized the previous administrations policy on Iran as weak. Syria is Irans soft underbelly. Iranians have proven to us over and over again, theyre committed to keeping Assad in power. The idea of pushing back on Iranians in Syria is a wise one, but what is the end game?
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http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/06/16/white-house-officials-push-for-widening-war-in-syria-over-pentagon-objections/
Because there are always crazies from far right think tanks and fools in Trump's team who want war.
GitRDun
(1,846 posts)ISIS is a criminal gang. We do not fight criminal gangs here in the US with the military.
This country is so fucked up it's hard to imagine we can get thru a day anymore.
We're also adding troops in Afghanistan despite the fact we have had no foreign terrorist activity in this country since 2001.
We need to get ourselves out of these places...not escalate.
Turbineguy
(37,369 posts)Moostache
(9,897 posts)Unless Donnie Jr. and Eric are on the first landing craft and Baron sent to military training ASAP, then you are cordially invited to suck my ass if you think my boys are going to fight in an unnecessary escalation of a war to help YOU obfuscate and hide your involvement in illegal actions to get elected in the first place.
Fuck you Donnie 2 Scoops, I hope you choke to death while tweeting covfefe....
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)dhill926
(16,358 posts)jesus....I'm liking David Frum. I need a fucking drink....