May 21, 2018 | FDD's Foreign Podicy

Of Strikes and Strategy: U.S. Policy in Syria

Episode 12
Clifford D. May

Founder & President
John Hannah

Advisor
May 21, 2018 | FDD's Foreign Podicy

Of Strikes and Strategy: U.S. Policy in Syria

Episode 12

Clifford D. May

Founder & President
John Hannah

Advisor

About

War will always be hell – but the laws of war were meant to make wars at least a little less hellish. In Syria, however, the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad – backed by the Islamic Republic of Iran and by Russia – has many times used prohibited chemical weapons to murder innocent men, women, and children. President Trump has now twice responded with punitive attacks. What has he achieved and what still needs to be done to protect American interests?

Foreign Podicy host Clifford D. May is joined by John Hannah, senior counselor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, who has served on the national security teams of both democratic and republican administrations, to discuss the ongoing crises and potential ways forward in Syria and the broader region.

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Background Resources

Trump Was Right to Strike Syria

Let’s give credit where credit is due. First, U.S. President Donald Trump set a red line and enforced it. He warned that the large-scale use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime would trigger a U.S. attack. When Syrian President Bashar al-Assad crossed that red line a year ago, Trump responded with 59 cruise missiles that took out about 20 percent of Syria’s operational aircraft. A year later, Trump has acted again after Assad chose to challenge him a second time. This attack was twice as big and hit multiple targets, including what U.S. defense officials called the “heart” of Syria’s chemical weapons program, substantially degrading Assad’s ability to produce the deadly agents.

Read in Foreign Policy

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Issues:

Iran Syria