Will US, Russia find common ground in Syria?
A common enemy, the Islamic State, should be the first step in an expanded international coalition; does Iraqi Kurdistan face the prospect of "administrative breakup"?
US can defer on Assad until IS is defeated
Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin’s expanded military assistance to the government of Syria could provide an opening to expand the US-led coalition to defeat the Islamic State (IS).
Vitaly Naumkin writes that Putin’s bid can be understood in the context of Russia’s consistent support for the government of Syria, and of a piece with a new multilateral effort to combat terrorism that has been endorsed by Iran, and could at some point include China.
Putin’s moves have put the United States on defense over its Syria policy. On Sept. 16, Gen. Lloyd Austin, commander of US Central Command, testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee that only “four or five” US-trained Syrians were in the fight against IS, far short of the projected 5,400 fighters, as part of program costing $500 million. On Sept. 25, a CENTCOM spokesman said that US-trained “New Syrian Forces” provided trucks and ammunition to al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra in return for safe passage.
