President Asks For Review Of U.S. Policy Toward Syria After Realizing ISIS May Not Be Defeated Without Political Transition

Washington (CNN) -- President Obama has asked his national security team for another review of the U.S. policy toward Syria after realizing that ISIS may not be defeated without a political transition in Syria and the removal of President Bashar al Assad, senior US officials and diplomats tell CNN.

The review is a tacit admission that the initial strategy of trying to confront ISIS first in Iraq and then take them on in Syria, without also focusing on the removal of Assad, was a miscalculation.

In just the past week, the White House has convened four meetings of the president's national security team, one of which was chaired by President Obama and others which were attended by principles like the Secretary of State. These meetings, in the words of one senior official, were "driven to a large degree how our Syria strategy fits into our ISIS strategy.

President Obama has also been personally chairing weekly National Security Council meetings on ISIS. The last several of these have focused on Syria.


"The President has asked us to look again at how this fits together," one senior official said. "The long running Syria problem is now compounded by the reality that to genuinely defeat ISIL, we need not only a defeat in Iraq but a defeat in Syria." The U.S. government refers to ISIS as ISIL.

Multiple senior administration officials and diplomats spoke with CNN on condition of anonymity to discuss internal discussions. The White House referred questions about the review to the State Department.

More here: [link to www.cnn.com]

Last Edited by AssaultR on 11/12/2014 05:45 PM