Alice Martines, Stars and Stripes/Washington Post: In America's hidden war in Syria, troops face peril on many fronts
RAQQA, Syria — This ruined, fearful city was once the Islamic State's capital, the showcase of its caliphate and a magnet for foreign fighters from around the globe.
Now it lies at the heart of the United States' newest commitment to a Middle East war.
The commitment is small, a few thousand troops who were first sent to Syria three years ago to help the Syrian Kurds fight the Islamic State. President Donald Trump indicated in March that the troops would be brought home once the battle is won, and the latest military push to eject the group from its final pocket of territory recently got underway.
In September, however, the administration switched course, saying the troops will stay in Syria pending an overall settlement to the Syrian war and with a new mission: to act as a bulwark against Iran's expanding influence.
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WNU Editor: There are growing calls for U.S. forces to leave Syria .... When Will Trump Bring Home U.S. Forces from Syria? (National Interest). My prediction is that it will not happen. When U.S. forces left Iraq the country quickly fragmented along sectarian lines and the Islamic State rushed in to fill the security concerns of Iraq's Sunni Arabs. It quickly became a disaster that took three years of war and tens of thousands of casualties to downgrade ISIS into the small terror group that they have become. What happened in Iraq gives legitimacy to those who are arguing that the same thing will happen if U.S. forces withdraw from eastern Syria, and in my opinion they are justified. But should the U.S. be involved in what is now a sectarian conflict, and is this a national security priority for Washington. At the moment the consensus is yes .... but fears of a U.S. military presence staying for years in eastern Syria are also justified, even though only a few people are voicing it right now.
