WEST KURDISTAN (SYRIA) How President Trump Should Define Success in Syria / The Institute for the study of War

 26 April 2018 – The recent U.S.-led operation in Syria following the Bashar al Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons was necessary but far from sufficient to achieve America’s interests.

In a new essay published in The National Interest, General (Ret.) Jack Keane, Chairman of ISW’s Board of Directors, and Danielle Pletka of the American Enterprise Institute argue that the Russo-Iranian coalition’s deepening footprint in Syria and a war that continues to fuel the global jihadist movement demand a new approach. The essay highlights that a post-Assad Syria free of Russia’s and Iran’s malign influence and governed under conditions that disenfranchise groups like al Qaeda and ISIS remains an outcome vital to U.S. interests.

How can President Trump begin to work toward such an outcome? Keane and Pletka explain:

“The United States must first consolidate and strengthen its position in Eastern Syria from the Euphrates River to the Eastern Syrian border. This involves clearing out the remnants of ISIS…and ultimately eliminating pockets controlled by the Assad regime and [Iran and its proxies] in northeastern Syria. This would enable the creation of a control zone in the East as a base from which to build a credible and capable partner that is not subordinate to the Kurdish chain of command, while effectively shutting down Iran’s strategic land bridge from Iran to the Mediterranean.”

The authors go on to outline additional recommendations and underscore that President Trump will need not only a serious strategy but a determination to execute it against objections from guardians of the status quo and a genuine desire to deal with both Iran and Russia in a way that will cause them to think twice about their adventurism.  

Read the complete essay online. http://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/way-forward-syria