President Obama is sending a small number of special-operations forces to Syria in support of the U.S.-allied groups that have been fighting ISIS and Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship, but he doesn’t expect them to have a decisive effect in that war, according to his spokesman.
Fewer than 50 U.S. special operators will be sent to the country as “an important force multiplier” for local fighters, but White House press secretary Josh Earnest agreed with a reporter who suggested the mobilization won’t be a “game-changer” in that conflict. “The president has been quite clear that there is no military solution to the problems that are plaguing Iraq and Syria,” Earnest told reporters.
Earnest said the deployment is consistent with Obama’s belief that the crisis can’t be solved militarily. “This military component of that strategy is an important part of the president’s top priority, which is the safety and security of the American public,” he told reporters. “And because of this strategy we have taken extremists off the battlefield inside of Syria who were hoping to use a safe-haven inside of Syria to attack the United States and our interests.”
Obama’s decision marks a departure from his 2013 pledge not to “put American boots on the ground in Syria,” but congressional Republicans derided the move as too little, too late. They said it was indicative of Obama’s lack of strategy for defeating ISIS and removing Assad from power.
#share#Representative Mike Pompeo (R., Kan.) calls the move “a press-release foreign policy” designed to ward off a major disaster for the duration of Obama’s time in office. “To say that there is not a military solution is a straw man,” Pompeo tells National Review. “In World War II, you [needed] a political solution, but make no mistake about it, there was a military component to it. . . . Having the right military posture that convinces the bad guys to come to the political solution you’re looking for.”
#related#The special operators are expected to coordinate air strikes, but avoid combat situations. “We have been focused on intensifying elements of our strategy that have been working, while also moving away from elements of our approach that have proven less effective,” an Obama administration official told NBC.
Pompeo says that the troops could become a target for Assad’s backers — chiefly Iranian forces, but perhaps the Russians as well. “They will clearly be a target,” he says. “I’m hopeful that the commanders on the ground will position these guys in a way that we can do a good job of keeping them safe. But look, any time you put folks in harm’s way, there’s risk. And if America is committed to doing that, we’ve got to be prepared for what potential outcomes might be.”
— Joel Gehrke is a political reporter for National Review.